From Our Army at War (Vol. 1) #87 (1959)
In 1959, Our Army at War became the home of Sgt. Rock and Easy Company. These comics chronicled the World War II stories of the best sergeant in the DCU. Written by Robert Kanigher with art by Joe Kubert, this issue had Sgt. Rock check into the four men he sent to No-Return Hill to hold the line against incoming Nazis. In the pages of this comic is the story of how these four men gave up their lives to see that no Nazis set foot onto this newly liberated land.
The tension in these pages is palpable. In this page is Sid, a young man who chose the deadliest position in which to face any incoming enemy. From the ache of tense muscles in the page’s beginning to Sid’s frenzy as he attends to find the dropped grenade while temporarily blinded, Kubert’s control is perfect. This page is simply begging to be turned, for the reader to quickly find out Sid’s fate. That makes it great.
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Just looking at the page’s layout with negative space framing is fantastic.
But most impressive is the transition of the upper “panel” showing 3 visual perspectives merged together.
so good!!! I want to read this whole issue!
That’s some damn fine cartooning right there. The sense of claustrophobia and tension is just fantastically portrayed. Joe Kubert was really one of the all-time greats.
great panels. what happened to Sid? i’m not familiar with Sgt. Rock comics. never read one.
Sid did manage to throw the grenade before it went off but he was still killed while defending No-Return Hill. He and his cohorts were able to keep the area free of Nazi though and the way was clear by the time the rest of Easy Company made it to the scene.
thanks for the info, Jeff. i was really curious.
i’ve admired Kubert Sr.’s superhero work for a long time now. it’s high time that i found some time for the work that made him a comics’ God.
any suggestions, Jeff (or Anyone?)
The tension in that one page is incredible! Joe Kubert will be missed; but, thankfully for the medium, his impact on comics will continue for as long as pictures and words make for wonderful stories.
If you’ve never read any Sgt. Rock, do yourself a favor.
Read some when you get the chance.
Joe Kubert was a master.
Wow…
What I love about this page is that you can take away the narration and word balloons and still get what is going on. Fantastic work.
His ‘Joe Kubert Presents’ is still being solicited so I’m curious what’s going to happen to that series. Hopefully DC keeps it going even if he couldn’t, sadly, finish it. Make it a nice dedication to such a great artist.
Suspence….gulp…