[MarkWarner]

Last week's Bouncer proved to be a slightly bemusing minor hit with the group.

I would hope that at least one of us will score this week's choice highly. The reason being that it was recommended by one of our regular group readers who suggests:

"a higher class of Charlton Never Again 1"

The story we'll be concentrating on is "The Beginning of the End" starting on our page 5. I for one am intrigued to see what heights of excellence Charlton achieved!

Oh ... I almost forgot here is the link https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=18222

[Morgus]

Very very cool. One issue I actually got to read as an actual comic book as well...It would have been about 10 years old or so at the time...the art is great for Charlton. The stories move along well. Probably factual as far as comic books can go. (I know they still talk about Chief Joseph at West Point.) The narrator angle was nicely handled and DID look like the Mysterious Traveler. NO MORE NOISE FROM SNAFU I particularly like. The first panel was my fave art in the whole mag. Well done. The US forces got into bomb sniffing dogs in a big way after Korea, and pretty much used the techniques you'd see here. Only the dog would sit down when they found a bomb and wait for their reward. Sad thing: until 2000 the dogs would be just left behind as ordnance. One relative helped bring some home from Viet Nam, before the mass evacuation. They felt the cost of the dogs training justified it. And they just plain loved them. "One of those dogs was worth three of THEM." Was the motto. (There were other nastier mottos like not wanting them turning up on supper plates, but we'll let that slide...) A mere handful got out, but it was a start.  From what I was led to understand, a lot of people just turned a blind eye and let them go. You watch. This will become a Disney movie in five years.   

[crashryan]

Despite my distaste for war comics, I was favorably impressed by this one.

Clearly it's not a "real" Charlton, which is already a point in its favor. Art and story are superior to the native Charlton product. The notes suggest these stories were intended for a Standard comic. Given the Ross Andru presence I wonder if it might be an unpublished Mikeross book instead. The second Charlton Never Again has a Toby character in it.

The stories are pretty good. "Beginning of the End" and "Battle of the Bows" remind me of Harvey Kurtzman's early EC war stories. Kurtzman liked to build stories around "ordinary guys" trying to make sense of the craziness of war. These stories are less confrontational in tone than Kurtzman's, but they still pack a punch. Especially the ending of "Battle of the Bows," when the peasant foot soldier is convinced he's fought the war to end all wars.

The artwork is good, too. Bob Forgione does right by the scripts, and while he uses a lot of silhouettes you never get the impression he's copping out. The art in page 19, panel 2, is totally out of context. I'm sure it's a Code change. The dialogue doesn't seem to have been reworked, so the original picture must have been objectionable Maybe it was a gory shot of Henry pulling the arrow out of John's leg.

Speaking of Code changes, I'll bet that's what's going on in page 27. The enormous sound effect surely couldn't have been in the original panel, but for the life of me I can't guess what it's covering up. The dialogue in page 28, panel 2 has also been changed for some reason. Maybe the Code didn't like letting  enemy planes get away after strafing our troops.

The artist on "No More Noise from Snafu" drew a million war stories. I don't recall seeing a name attached to him. He may later have worked on real-Charlton books. I'm not sure. He has a certain Bill Molno vibe, as if Molno finally buckled down and put in an honest day's work. To me the Forgione stories look like they were inked by Jack Abel.

[SuperScrounge]

This Is The Unknown Soldier - Interesting intro.

The Beginning of the End - Okay.

Battle of the Bows - A bit better.

Fire Mission - Okay.

No More Noise From Snafu - Okay, but depressing.

[narfstar]

The title was apt. This is an anti-war war books and pretty effective. This is one of Chartlon's high spots.

[misappear]

Frontline Combat and Two-Fisted Tales set the bar very high.  This was a very respectable effort. 

I've just acquired a Fantagraphics copy of Blazing Combat.  I've never read these stories, but have heard that they are of this tone as well. 

So as I look here, look there, look everywhere, I know I will eventually find that elusive "spare time".

[MarkWarner]

So here we go with Never Again #1. War comics are a genre which I really am not very keen on. In fact I rank them pretty much on a par with romance!

WOW! What a really excellent start. I agree with FinFangFoom's comment, I like the Unknown Soldier who immediately reminded me of the Mysterious Traveler. The sentiments expressed  in the introduction" "This is the Unknown Soldier!" and the main feature "The Beginning of the End" were spot on

I was not so keen on the "Battle of the Bows!" & it strayed a bit off message.

I have always been a truly awful dancer, so I think I could only have benefited from the "new speed-method" offered in this advertisement,



We end with "No More Noise from Snafu" which was a rather silly and sentimental story.

Verdict: A hit. But that is only because of the first half, the second half stunk a bit.

[crashryan]

The dance advertisement's generous guarantee--double your money back--sounds impressive. But it works out to $3.98, which seems not much solace for the humiliation of using their lessons and being laughed off the dance floor.

[paw broon]

As someone who's not a fan of war comics, I approached this one with some trepidation.  I usually find a Charlton comic is for for basic entertainment, particularly masked heroes, and don't expect much else.  This comic, however, seems a bit above the usual Charlton fare.  It's a bit Donovan + Mysterious Traveller + warning about man's  inability to live peacefully.  There is an attempt to to get a message over, although I'm not sure it succeeds, but, surprisingly, I enjoyed the first story, which I found a bit sad and I enjoyed the art.  The Crecy story was well done with the visual depiction of the first use of massed arrows in that way and the tactics of the knights.
The minefield and that wee dug was very unappealing to me.
On balance it's a, well done, Charlton.