[The Australian Panther]

https://www.nerdteam30.com/creator-conversations-retro/an-interview-with-sam-glanzman-one-of-the-last-golden-age-artists

Army Attack 1
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=24096

U. S. Marines 1
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=47259

Marines Attack 1
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=65906

D-Day 4
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=24281

I consider Sam J Glanzman seriously underappreciated as an artist and comic creator. The least accessible and appreciated examples of his work would have to be the War comics he did for Charlton.
I don't want to say too much at the jumping on point, except to say the main reason I included D-Day 4 was to make a plea for somebody to find a cover that's in better shape. Be great to see it the way it would have looked on the newsstand. 
Oh, and I note that three of these are #1's, indicating that Sam initiated Charlton's war books.
Enjoy!   

[bowers]

 Excellent choice, Panther! I'll dive into these as soon as I get some reading time! Glanzman was a master of bold blacks and expressions. His renditions of aircraft, armor, and ships were accurate, probably because he had seen them first-hand as a sailor in WW2!
When I was a kid, cash was kind of hard to come by, so I was pretty picky about the comics I bought. Most of the Charltons I did buy usually had a story by Sam!  Cheers, bowers

[SuperScrounge]

Army Attack #1

12 Dead Men
Oddly written story. Being lost and encountering a tank which they easily defeat, then they go to a town that they realize has been taken over by Nazis so they figure out a way to trick and defeat them. There seems to be no story connection between the tank and the town (other than Nazis). The tank was basically a random encounter that had no bearing on the rest of the story. If this had been a DC war comic I can imagine Robert Kanigher making these two separate stories, one focusing on the drama and fear of a mere halftrack going up against a tank and just barely managing to eek out a win, whereas the town story would have had a lot more character work as the men realize they were trapped in a Nazi town with no easy way out. Here, however, it was more of a "this happened, then this happened, then we won, hooray."

The art was good.


Afraid of the Dark
Okay story.


The Army's Aces
Interesting.


The Sniperscope and the Snooperscope
Interesting. The writer (Joe Gill?) is much better at factoid stuff than human stories.


Saving Face
In Afraid of the Dark, Wiznewski got shot in the body armor had trouble breathing (because while the bullet doesn't penetrate the armor, the wearer still feels the force of the bullet hitting), but here Kearsage takes at least three shots in the body armor, but just shrugs them off.


The Fighting Philosopher
Interesting.


Leyte Leap
Okay.

[SuperScrounge]

U. S. Marines #1

Disaster At Tarawa
Ummm... the narrator says he turned chicken, but the actual story shows him leading the charge and playing John Wayne. Where's the scene of him turning chicken?


The Camels Corps
Interesting little historical tidbit, but with a story titled The Camel Corps you'd think the story would actually deal with the camels. They could have called this 'The Assault On Derna' and it would have been a more accurate title.


The Greatest Battle of Them All
Not at all an arrogant title on the part of the writer. Now to read the story and see if he shot himself in the foot. 

Okay, he didn't shoot himself in the foot, it was competent writing. Still devoting 3 pages to the "greatest battle of all time"... they really should have been issue-length, perhaps with some maps showing the battlefield and positions with more character work on more soldiers and some aftermath. For instance did the sergeant at the beginning live or die?


The Choppers
I think Army Attack had a better factoid page on helicopters.


The Last Enemy
Did anyone else laugh at the panel where says he saw civilization sprung up was the one with the beautiful Nell? 

Nice twist with capturing the downed pilot, but considering that he's probably been there weeks or months I'm now wondering about the Japanese pilot's survival story. Probably some good drama there, surviving the plane crash, avoiding US patrols, scrounging for food...


Marine Counter Intelligence
Okay.


Captain Dude
Wow! Multiple people have full names! That's unusual for a Joe Gill story. Was it based on real people? Not a bad tale.

[bowers]

 Okay, let's dive into U.S. Marines #1 ..
  The Tarawa story included some details that actually happened, including the pitifully inadequate naval bombardment and the landing craft dropping thir ramps way too far from the beach, leaving the Marines to get chopped up by machine gun fire while still in the water. Sam was on his game for this one!
  The Camel Corps short was total nonsense! There was a Lt. Preslet O'Bannion and he did lead seven Marines and several hundred tribesmen to attack a fort, but it was in 1805 not 1905! You can see a 1950 Hollwood version  of this daring feat in the film, "Tripoli".
  The Meuse-Argonne tale showed why the Germans learned to respect the Marine's marksmanship and tenacity,  referring to them as Teufelhund, German for Devil-dogs. Good story and art.
  The chopper page was a bit crackers- I don't think anyone dangling from a tow-rope would even be able to fire an M-3 "greasegun"! The recoil would have you swing like a pendulum and you might even hit your own rope!
  Great air combat art in 'The Last Enemy", and finding the downed Japanese pilot holed up in a cave isn't as far fetched as you might think. Some Japanese soldiers were unaware the war was over in 1945, and lived in the jungle for years. The last Japanese soldier to surrender was Lt. Hiroo Onada in 1974! His story: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroo_Onoda
  Capt. Dude was just plain silly! I did like the art, however.
All-in-all, not bad for a Charlton! I actually bought this one, mostly for the art. Cheers, bowers   
   
   

[Quirky Quokka]

Army Attack #1

12 Dead Men

Oddly written story. Being lost and encountering a tank which they easily defeat, then they go to a town that they realize has been taken over by Nazis so they figure out a way to trick and defeat them. There seems to be no story connection between the tank and the town (other than Nazis). The tank was basically a random encounter that had no bearing on the rest of the story. If this had been a DC war comic I can imagine Robert Kanigher making these two separate stories, one focusing on the drama and fear of a mere halftrack going up against a tank and just barely managing to eek out a win, whereas the town story would have had a lot more character work as the men realize they were trapped in a Nazi town with no easy way out. Here, however, it was more of a "this happened, then this happened, then we won, hooray."

As I was reading, I wondered if these stories are based on actual battles, as some of the information given in some of the narrative boxes at the beginning of the stories make you think this is something that actually happened. If that's the case, the writer may have been sticking to the facts, but not doing much to make the stories more engaging. I agree with you that the narrative isn't great. It doesn't build like a good story.

Cheers

QQ

[Quirky Quokka]

Army Attack #1 (July 1964)

I must admit, stories about battles in war aren't my favourite things to read. If I'm reading stories set in the war, I prefer something with espionage, mystery, Cold War, the human aspects rather than large battles etc, though I can see the benefit of these types of comics in supporting and honouring military personnel in the work they do. No doubt, there would be plenty of people in the military and their family and supporters, who would have liked to see stories about what the Americans were doing to defeat the enemy.

However, the narrative storytelling wasn't great in these stories. A lot of them are written as if they are true accounts of actual men and actual battles. I don't know enough to know if that is true. I did try googling some of them, but lots of people come up with similar names and I didn't want to spend too long on it. But if they are true stories, that might explain why the story arcs aren't great. As SuperScrounge mentioned for one story, it seemed to be 'this happened and then this happened'. Perhaps they were just trying to get across the facts, but they still could have told it in a more engaging way.

And 'clobber' seems to have been a favourite for the writer/s. People were getting clobbered or were doing the clobbering in several of the stories.

12 Men Dead

At the end of the story, I was left wondering who the 12 men were who died, but then thought it's probably meant in the sense that 12 men would have died if not for the quick thinking of the Americans. Also interesting that it's told in first person. Gives a bit more immediacy.

p. 1 - How likely is it that the CO would fall asleep in the passenger seat while bumping over roads in that truck?

The ending seemed quite abrupt. The battle was all over in a flash.

Afraid of the Dark

I was wondering about the logistics of this. How practical would it have been for a soldier, and later the whole night patrol troop, to be blindfolded during the day to help their night vision? Would be hard to stick to in that kind of situation. And it probably didn't impove their night vision, but maybe trained them to rely on their other senses more.

The Army's Aces

I gather this was an educational page to tell readers about the benefits of helicopters in warfare, but there's nothing particularly startling about it.

The Sniperscope and the Snooperscope

Another informational page. I did wonder when these were invented, as the soldiers in 'Afraid of the Dark' could have sure used them!

Saving Face

Interesting splash page, with the inset blocking some of the detail of the wider shot.

p. 2 - I hadn't really thought about different types of grenades.  You learn something new every day! This is the second story in which body armour or bulletproof vests saved someone's life (though there seemed to be different effects, as SuperScrounge noted). The first story was set in Korea and the second in Vietnam, so I guess they were improving the technology all the time.

p. 4 - First panel - I was interested that they said: 'It's a dirty, murderous kind of war in Viet-nam! The U.S. isn't fully committed even to this kind of fracas ... But we're heavily in it providing arms, money, and military instruction.' I thought the U.S. were committed from the get-go, but hubby tells me it was later that the U.S. really started to back it. I was a kid when the Vietnam War was going on, so maybe some of our U.S. regulars can shed some light on it.

Also, an interesting shot of the Viet-Cong underwater, breathing through reeds.

p. 7 - I thought 'bushwhacked' was an Australian term, mainly because I've heard of the musical group 'The Bushwhackers'.  According to Merriam-Webster, it is someone who attacks someone by surprise from a hidden spot (i.e., an ambusher). But my Macquarie Australian dictionary says it is a colloquial expression in Australian and New Zealand for someone who lives in the bush (i.e., bushland).

p. 9 - 'The transports dropping the special forces behind the village weren't spotted'. Um ... surely it would have been hard for planes to get near enough to drop paratroopers, yet no one saw or heard the planes or the paratroopers?

The Fighting Philosopher

An interesting factual article about a period in history I know very little about. The gist is that people were aghast at Hitler's book burnings, but it had happened centuries before in China.

Leyte Leap

Interesting angles in the splash page as the paratroopers are dropped. Nothing particularly grabbed me in the story.

Overall

I learned a few things and it's always interesting to see these types of comic books against the time in which they were written (i.e., the early stages of the Vietnam War for this one). But it's not my favourite type of comic book to read for enjoyment.

Cheers

QQ

[SuperScrounge]

Marines Attack #1

Every Man a Hero
Now this was a moving story. If Sam wrote this he did a good job.


The Corpsman
Not bad.


War Begins
Kinda interesting, but slightly dull.


Shape Up Or Ship Out
Geeze, this is like a summary of the previous story. 


The Loner
Okay.


I'm a Marine
Interesting idea, but probably should have been longer to flesh out the story.

[SuperScrounge]

I must admit, stories about battles in war aren't my favourite things to read.

Mine either. Not that there aren't good war stories, but the mediocre to bad can seem overwhelming.

Hopefully the next few reading groups will choose different genres, although with my luck it'll be Funny Animals go to War, Romance on the Battlefield, and Old West Cowboys vs. Hitler. 

12 Men Dead

At the end of the story, I was left wondering who the 12 men were who died, but then thought it's probably meant in the sense that 12 men would have died if not for the quick thinking of the Americans.

I thought it might be metaphorical, they might be dead if not for some really good luck.

Then again, not every writer cares what a story is titled, so long as they get paid.

p. 1 - How likely is it that the CO would fall asleep in the passenger seat while bumping over roads in that truck?

Depends how tired he was. I've heard of soldiers in foxholes with shooting and explosions going on falling asleep because they'd just been awake too long.

[Quirky Quokka]

I must admit, stories about battles in war aren't my favourite things to read.

Mine either. Not that there aren't good war stories, but the mediocre to bad can seem overwhelming.

Hopefully the next few reading groups will choose different genres, although with my luck it'll be Funny Animals go to War, Romance on the Battlefield, and Old West Cowboys vs. Hitler. 

SuperScrounge, that sounds like a challenge if ever I've heard one. When it's my turn again, I will scour the database for comics that show funny animals going to war, romance on the battlefield and Old West cowboys vs Hitler.  I'm not too keen on Westerns either, but I do like a good funny animal comic (good being the operative word). I just bought a 'Batman and Scooby Doo Mystery' comic yesterday, and last year I bought a T-shirt with Rocky and Bullwinkle on the front. There are still some good ones out there.

Cheers

QQ

[bowers]

 Just a few comments on D-Day 4...I enjoyed the the fact that all the stories were related, creating a book-length narrative. I prefer one complete story rather than three or four shorter ones. By the way, does anyone know if there ever was a D-Day 3?
I don't read many war comics anymore but, in my pre-teens, they were my first choice! I didn't care if the stories were somewhat ridiculous such as haunted tanks, canine demolition experts, and the occasional Nazi robotic super-weapon. When DC added dinosaurs to the mix in 1960, so much the better! Later, I moved more into super-hero territory but I'll always have a fond remembrance of those battle mags! Cheers, bowers

[The Australian Panther]

romance on the battlefield

Well not quite, but there are stories on site featuring soldiers on the battlefield receiving 'Dear John' letters and Romance comics from the opposite point of view, women at home doubting their missing soldier sweethearts. Clearly there was quite an audience for that during the war years.

Funny Animals go to War

I don't know about comics, (Robb would know) but there were animated funny animal war cartoons.
Here is Daffy Duck
Daffy - The Commando (Restored)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFdG8lZ4PJw&list=PLM13LrYfTahHO1WinCjngBxywpeBWx4Dd
And here is Dr. Seuss and Chuck Jones!
WWII CARTOON Private SNAFU Dr. Seuss / Chuck Jones WARNER BROS. ANIMATION
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-w7-sS80xc
and here is Disney! Documentary.
DISNEY AT WAR: A Forgotten Era of Propaganda & Desperation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_xdvkCuX7I
Be careful what you ask for!
Old West Cowboys vs. Hitler Well we have 'Cowboys in Space' and 'Cowboys versus Aliens' so that's got to be out there somewhere! 
cheers!
 

[SuperScrounge]

My 'suggestions' were actually tongue-in-cheek and I even had a winky face at the end to emphasize that, because people at other sites have taken my tongue-in-cheek jokes seriously. I guess I'm going to have to put [joke][/joke] around my attempted 'funny' comments. 

I had forgotten about it until I read your comments, but there was a serious anthropomorphic animal war story. A Japanese manga & anime called *ahem* Cat Shit One. Done around the time of the Gulf War it features anthropomorphic rabbits fighting against anthropomorphic camels. It's... different.

[The Australian Panther]

Scrounge,
I guess I'm going to have to use emoji's more. My post wasn't intended to put you down or show you up in any way.    I just like a challenge. My point, really, is that in 60 years of reading comics there is no crazy genre combination that hasn't been tried. 
Cheers 

[Robb_K]

romance on the battlefield

Well not quite, but there are stories on site featuring soldiers on the battlefield receiving 'Dear John' letters and Romance comics from the opposite point of view, women at home doubting their missing soldier sweethearts. Clearly there was quite an audience for that during the war years.

Funny Animals go to War

I don't know about comics, (Robb would know) but there were animated funny animal war cartoons.
Here is Daffy Duck
Daffy - The Commando (Restored)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFdG8lZ4PJw&list=PLM13LrYfTahHO1WinCjngBxywpeBWx4Dd
And here is Dr. Seuss and Chuck Jones!
WWII CARTOON Private SNAFU Dr. Seuss / Chuck Jones WARNER BROS. ANIMATION
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-w7-sS80xc
and here is Disney! Documentary.
DISNEY AT WAR: A Forgotten Era of Propaganda & Desperation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_xdvkCuX7I
Be careful what you ask for!
Old West Cowboys vs. Hitler Well we have 'Cowboys in Space' and 'Cowboys versus Aliens' so that's got to be out there somewhere! 
cheers!

Yes, The US had the animation studios make soldier training films and general propaganda films. and instruction films on saving used items that could be used towards the war effort, as well as buying War Bonds, to help finance that effort.  Canada had some films like that, as well, and Disney made several films for Canada and USA at the same time, changing only a small amount of text or voiceovers to adapt them to reflect Canada's needs.

Of course there were many funny animal comics that had their heroes defeating Hitler and Tojo in funny ways.  Mighty Mouse, SuperMouse, Super Rabbit, Super Duck, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Woody Woodpecker, Hoppy, The Marvel Bunny, etc.  Some fought fantasy Fascist dictators of non-real animal-populated countries.  Of course, many of the best of those stories, also with the best artwork, were issued by companies that have held them under copyright up till today, so they are not in The public Domain, and not on CB+, so we can't show examples of them on this forum.  Those include Disney, WB, MGM, Walter Lantz all on Dell Comics), and also DC, Marvel, and Paul Terry Productions(Mighty Mouse and Gandy Goose).  Luckily, Ned Pines' "SuperMouse", and even Archie Series' "Super Duck" are both in The P.D..  Unfortunately, "Hoppy, The Marvel Bunny" is NOT, due to DC having won their lawsuit against Fawcett over "Captain Marvel", and they included "Hoppy" as part of "The Marvel Family", and kept up that copyright. 

I will post some front covers and pages showing anthropomorphic animal people fighting The Axis Powers' soldiers and political leaders during WWII from CB+s P.D. comic books from The War Years, below:

(1) Here is Stenchy Skunk, a patriotic American fighting against an attempted Nutzi takeover of his country by the foreign dictator waging a World War to conquer The entire World, Der Fuehrabbit Hitbunny (Adolf Hitler parody).  The Daffy Duck style Duck with the Swastica armband is Der Fuerabbit's right=hand man.
Stenchy is using his only power, the power of a super-strong stink to foil him! It is from Croydon's "Variety Comics 1".  It was a 1945 story drawn by Ellis "Holly" Chambers.


(2) Here is MLJ's "Super Duck", on the cover of "Super Duck Comics 1", from 1944, both this front cover, and his inside story were drawn by Joe Edwards.  Super Duck is taking shrunken Japan's Emperor Hirohito, and Adolf Hitler out into Space, ostensibly to get those two troublemakers off The Earth, so they won't be able to make any more trouble.  Super Duck appeared in stories in 7 issues of MLJ's "Jolly Jingles" from 1942 to 1944, before his own series started.
[

(3) Here is the cover of Orbit/Wanted's "Taffy Comics 2", from 1945, drawn by prolific cover artist, L. B. Cole.


it depicts Wiggles, The Wonderworm, pushing back Der Feuhrer, Sooper Dooper Ant (another Hitler parody), who threatened to have his ant armies take over The World.  Wiggles was the only worm superhero in comics.  Strangely, he has "legs", but no feet.


(4) Here is "The Victory Bug", from Robert Farrell's Four Star Publications' "Great American Comics 1" from 1945.  It was drawn by Ronald Marcus.  This page shows Cosmo, "The Victory Bug" chastising Adolf Hitler for his war crimes against Humanity, and leaves the criminal to his fate, in the hands of The Devil (heavy subject).  This book was a public service (education for the child readers).  The following issue (No. 2) was about The Allies' plan for The Reconstruction of Europe after The War would end.


(5) Here is "B-29" and his friends dive bombing and stinging a Japanese spy, on American soil, whose caricature is similar to that of General Tojo.  It is a page from Spotlight Comics' "Latest Comics 2" from 1945.  The drawing credit says on JCA (Jason Comic Art).  The artwork looks very like Bill Hudson's work, and he is credited with the books last story.  The bees sting all the Japanese soldiers that landed with the spies.  And afterwards, flies attack them, bringing a lethal disease to infect their sting wounds.  Wow!  They didn't spare their young readers the grim realities of that horrible war.


(6) Here is SuperMouse (who actually started in Comics BEFORE Mighty Mouse) in Ned Pines' Nedor Publishing's "Coo Coo Comics 6", from 1943.  It was written by Richard Hughes, and drawn by Milt Stein.  The page shows SuperMouse, who flew all the way to Germany, punching out the Rat, Hitler, and his mice henchmen, and having taken back his lucky charm (The Luck Worm), which was stolen by German spies because Hitler thought its luck was the reason that The Americans were defeating The Germans in every battle (At the time the story was written, early 1943, The US Army was chasing The German Army eastward into Tunisia, or maybe Libya).


(7) Here is "Hoppy, The Marvel Bunny", in "Fawcett's Funny Animals 1" from 1942.  It was drawn by Chad Grothkopf.  The page shows Hoppy, having said the word "Shazam", and turned into the superhero, "The Marvel Bunny", beating up some Nazi soldiers, who had invaded US soil, and kicking them away from their spies' hideout, which was a food processing factory planned to feed their invasion army that is planned to come soon.  After beating them all unconscious, Hoppy dumps all the German spies and soldiers into the "hopper" of the food canning machine.  We don't see them all get chopped up into small pieces, or turned into a puree.  But we KNOW that they had to have been, as they come out of the machine in the form of bologna sausages, boxes of rat poison, and as liquid in bottles of castor oil!!!  What would Dr. Wertham say about this book???  Incredible that they allowed this depicted in a book aimed at 6-8 year olds.  But these were our enemies, who committed gruesome atrocities against innocent people.  So, I guess they felt it was acceptable to teach their young kids to HATE The Germans and Japanese.


Of course, there were several more P.D. funny animal comic books that depicted the reader's country in a World War against funny animal Germany, Italy, and Japan, heavily stereotyping and mocking them, or from made-up countries that are clones of the real US enemies.  But, I can't remember which series or books they are in, and, in any case, as this side topic is barely tangential to the thread's main spirit, I wouldn't want to take over the thread with more scans and commentary.  Really, this subtopic would deserve a thread of its own.  and in a way, cheated me out of choosing it for my turn, when I often run out of ideas for new threads, and also avoid funny animal topics because most of the posters would be bored to death if I chose them more than once in a great while.

[bowers]

 What I find interesting is YouTube is now censoring at least one wartime cartoon, Bugs Bunny N--s the N--s. This was probably because of the rapid-fire racial slurs. (Even my personal recording now refuses to play!) I have a large collection of wartime cartoons and I haven't checked out the rest yet, but I will! Cheers, bowers
 

[SuperScrounge]

By the way, does anyone know if there ever was a D-Day 3?

According to the GCD, no, there was no D-Day #3. I guess it stepped on a land mine. 

When DC added dinosaurs to the mix in 1960, so much the better!

Dinosaurs make everything better. 


D-Day #4

Funny to see that note to the colorist. Whoopsy.

Good story.

I haven't commented much on the art, but it was good too.

---

Oh, and apparently that anthropomorphic animal war movie with the unfortunate name can be found on YouTube. *shrug* Go fig?

[Robb_K]

Army Attack #1 (1964)
Glanzman's penciling and inking is very good on these stories.  I don't like the unnatural colouring (which was typical of Charlton's comics, especially in the 1960s.  I've always HATED having advertising pages stuck randomly in the midst of stories.  Charlton was one of the biggest offenders in that area.  It's also one of the reasons I didn't liker reading US comic books during the 1960s.  We didn't do that in The Netherlands, even to this day.  Yes there are many advert pages even in European Disney Comics today, but NOT in the middle of story pages.  Even just having to flip the page to continue reading takes me out of "living inside the story" as one does when reading a novel or watching a film.

Front Cover
This cover is staged well for showing action, and seeing what's happening similarly to a soldier sticking his head up, outside the tank's cabin.  The explosion of the cannon fire looks somewhat realistic.

(1) 12 Men Dead
I have to laugh at Charlton's promo slogan "Charlton Comics Give You More!" printed directly above the story's title, as if they are part of the same statement, implying that the "MORE" that Charlton gives you more dead men in their war combat books, than the other publishers, given that you'll get to see 12 men (key characters) die in this story! No cheapies, like silhouetted soldiers in the distant background being blown into the air by grenades and cannon shells, or silhouetted, distant soldiers all in different stages of falling down, being mowed down by high-powered machine guns!

The German gunner using the 88 must have been an awful shot to allow the Half-Track (glorified truck) get all the way side by side, close enough to use a flame thrower, with out hitting them and ending the "battle". This smacks of a "fish story" told by a grandfather to his grandchildren, with extreme exaggeration.  The explosion of the Half-track (armoured truck) on Page 7 was fairly realistic looking, but I would have emphasized the explosion more by drawing ink lines outlining the direction and boundaries of the main masses of flame, with blue sky in between.  A note to The Colourist explaining that the default background of the panel is blue sky, even though the orange, red, and yellow flames take up more of the panel.  The author used the word "clobber" MANY times.  Couldn't he look up a few synonyms?  In fact, using a different word (slaughter, annihilate, smash, etc. could act as a running gag, to bring in a little levity for contrast).

The gunner figured out how ton use The Germans' 88 cannon, and BOOM!  They obliterated the buildings in which their enemies were hiding, and the survivors surrendered.  The story ended almost instantly.  I didn't see 12 men die.  So, I guess the title meant that 12 men who appeared to be doomed to death, got a reprieve due to the quick thinking of a couple of their troop.

(2) Afraid of the Dark

I see that "clobber" was still a big word during The Korean War. 

As QQ stated above, it seems illogical that covering one's eyes during all daylight time would make a person's actual night vision significantly better.  However, I DO KNOW from experience, that spending long periods going about one's business in total darkness heightens one's OTHER senses (hearing, touch/feeling, judgement of distances of things), based on the sounds caused by movement, and the vibration you feel if close enough) can be greatly increased.  I was an athletic counsellor for a mixed athletic activity group of disabled and able-bodied members.  I especially encountered the blindfold use for full days while training to be a skiing guide for a blind skier (who I served in that capacity for 9 years).  To get that job, I had to have a training in spending full days wearing thick and heavy blindfolds that allow NO light in, for several full days, and skiing with a sighted guide.  Even after I was his official guide, I would spend a full day, periodically, with the blindfold on, to keep the enhanced other senses in mind, and still have the better knowledge of what my client could do or know, and what he couldn't do or know.  There was also the element of perceived "fairness" to the student (from his point of view).  Many students would be much less confident, and reluctant to try things his guide asks him to do, knowing he can do them, IF the prospective guide didn't spend a day or two skiing blindfolded along with him, guided by a different, sighted guide.  That proves to the student that his guide will know more of what the truly blind skier faces, and thus, know better what he is really capable of doing.  So he will trust the guide/instructor more, and not be as rebellious.  I had the same type of training to be a guide to a one-legged skier.  I had to not only ski all day on one leg, but walk around on one leg all day for some days along with the client.

So, yes, the soldier who blindfolded himself all day DID NOT likely improve his actual night vision enough to mean a lot.  But he DID heighten his other senses to the point where he'd better at his soldiering job in the dark of night.

(3A) The Army's Aces

An educational page introducing The US Army's use of helicopters in The Vietnam war, and also a little propaganda for The US Military, and military spending.

(3B) The Sniperscope and the Snooperscope

QQ stated: "I did wonder when these were invented, as the soldiers in 'Afraid of the Dark' could have sure used them!" The Info Page states that they were developed, and used during World War II.  So "Ski" should have had them available, at least during his stint in Korea.  Maybe they were available only to special units?

(4) Saving Face

Yes, it IS a very interesting splash page, with the inset superimposed over the wider shot.  There are some viewers that have that "hone in feature".  This story reads like it is a true account of an incident during the Vietnam War (whereas, the first 2 stories seemed like the might,, or might not be accounts of actual historical events.

A note at the page's bottom warns the reader that the story continues AFTER the following page.  That would seem to allow the reader to not even glance at the advertising page.  That, it would seem, would lower the amount of money advertisers would agree to pay for placing their ad there, given that there would be a LOT less likelihood that the reader would even see a glancing view of that page, as opposed to other publishers' mid story ads that come without warning, so the reader WILL, at least see them, and have at least some chance of being interested, and maybe even order the product.  As an owner of a company seeking print advertising exposure, I would want a substantial discount to place my ad when the reader gets a warning about it.

I knew about all 3 types of grenade, you can see them used in military training films, and commercial films, as well, shooting out smoke, shooting sharp fragments of metal in all directions, and the concussion grenade causes a big explosion that is extremely loud with an extremely bright light to stun its victims into temporary helplessness that makes them vulnerable to gunfire.  My father got some shrapnel in his leg from a fragmentation grenade in Normandy in WWII.  Yes, the body armour must be improving with time, from WWII to Korean War to Vietnam War. 

I first learned about breathing through reeds in a lake, from a Carl Barks Donald Duck story at age 4 or so.  In was probably 6 or 7 when I tried it in a lake, and it actually worked!

A Viet Cong soldier held a gun on Colonel Ho under water.  Did they have handguns that can fire a bullet while totally immersed in water?  Water is 800 times as dense as average air.  A bullet wood be severely held up by the water pressure, and travel MUCH more slowly, and the pressure on it would move the bullet's trajectory downward as it moves forwards.  Maybe at the close distance shown on the panel, (almost at his chin), the result would be deadly. But, did they have handguns in 1964 that would spark when immersed in water, to set off the firing mechanism and send the bullet shooting out of the chamber?

Bushwacker is a term all Americans and Canadians know well, because it was used in The Old West of the 19th Century.  It probably originally was coined during earlier centuries from the Stone Age level Hunter-Gatherer tribes that struck bushes with sticks to drive the small prey animals out into the open to catch and kill them.  The tribesmen would first hide behind the bushes to quietly and slowly sneak up on their prey.  Then strike the plants' woody parts, to make a lot of noise.

Yes, it's difficult for me to believe that "The transports dropping the special forces behind the village weren't spotted". The villagers would have first heard the planes, looked upward and seen the planes and paratroopers jumping down.  Maybe this WASN'T a true story, after all?

(5)Leyte Leap

The paratroopers are dropped at lots of different angles in the opening splash page, making it look very realistic. The paratrooper praying that the Japanese riflemen will miss him makes the reader understand the helplessness of those brave soldiers who watched many of their friends cut down and their lives snuffed out at a very young age.

The explosion on the long, bottom panel on Page 29 was coloured well, and looks much more realistic, and provides much more of a feeling of its heat and power  than the explosion in the first story with the all orange sky (background).

Overall Assessment

I learned some details I didn't know, and the artwork is good.  But the arbitrary, and unnatural colouring made it tougher to see what was occurring.  Glanzman's staging does give a personal feeling to the reader that he or she is right with the soldiers and living through the battles.  That demonstrates that he was a quality artist who did his job of placing the reader in the story, very well.

[SuperScrounge]

A note at the page's bottom warns the reader that the story continues AFTER the following page.  That would seem to allow the reader to not even glance at the advertising page.  That, it would seem, would lower the amount of money advertisers would agree to pay for placing their ad there, given that there would be a LOT less likelihood that the reader would even see a glancing view of that page, as opposed to other publishers' mid story ads that come without warning, so the reader WILL, at least see them, and have at least some chance of being interested, and maybe even order the product.  As an owner of a company seeking print advertising exposure, I would want a substantial discount to place my ad when the reader gets a warning about it.

And yet it was a fairly common practice in comics, even promos, PSA's, and text pages were treated that way, so it wasn't unique to ads. Probably because they knew sooner or later the kids would look at the ads since you can't really turn a page and not see some of what is printed. After I read the story I would sometimes go back and see what I missed, and I did order a couple of things from comics. These days I like looking at the old ads as it's a time capsule of the time it was printed.

A few years ago a guy on another website (the College Roomies From Hell!!! forum, maybe) was lamenting how the internet screwed up advertising with click-thru rates (paying based on people clicking the link and going to the site) whereas before advertising was solely based on exposure (no promises of success just visibility). It was up to the advertiser to catch the eye of a potential customer.

[The Australian Panther]

Robb said.

there would be a LOT less likelihood that the reader would even see a glancing view of that page, as opposed to other publishers' mid story ads that come without warning, so the reader WILL, at least see them, and have at least some chance of being interested, 

That's exactly how visual advertising works.
You don't have to consciously look at the ad, if you turn the page you see it and it stays in your consciousness.
I see comics on CB+ from (60years ago) and I remember the ads as images, even though they annoy me., They are apparently indelibly imprinted on my eyeballs.
Same thing with Television ads, you just get hammered by the repetition night after night. Even if you never buy the product you remember the ad. 

A note at the page's bottom warns the reader that the story continues AFTER the following page.

DC used to divide up a story into chapters broken up by the ads. So you knew there was more story, If you weren't already captive to the narrative. Personally that annoyed the hell out of me.
They also used to do half-page ads, so if you read the story you couldn't not read the ad.   
This may sound ridiculous, but there may have been individuals who stopped reading the book when they came to the ad, under the impression that that was the end of the book. And then wrote letters of complaints. Never underestimate the stupidity of the general public.
After all, apparently, when 'Gilligan's Island' was must viewing, a considerable number of letters were received by the US Coastguard asking them why they hadn't attempted to rescue the poor people on that island. 

These days I like looking at the old ads as it's a time capsule of the time it was printed.

True.  Cheers!

[paw broon]

I tried to read these but couldn't make it through any of them.  Not that the art wasn't interesting, it's simply that a lot of war based comics don't float my boat. Like SS, I used to read the DC titles with dinosaurs or Mlle. Marie, something that added to simply fighting whatever war with whatever enemy.
Some of you will be aware of the British title Commando, published by DC Thomson, a pocket library war series which started in 1961and is still going today.  There are swap meets in the UK where the vast majority of comics are Commando plus other war based, pocket libraries from Micron and other publishers.  Despite Commando having had covers often graced by Ken Barr and Ian Kennedy - quite exceptional work - the stories can be repetitive and, imo, boring. Both Ken and Ian were lovely people and are greatly missed.  Ken often turned up at our Kelvin Hall (that's in Glasgow) fairs where there were some comics tables.  Ken would hang about and chat and was excellent company.
Many war based stories appeared in various British comics and story papers.  Most not very appealing. Again, only my opinion.
One of my favourite war based stories is the Corto Maltese adventure, Angel at The Window of The Orient, by Hugo Pratt (if anyone would like a peek, let me know)  Simply superb, as is the Irish Troubles tale in the same volume.
So not all war comics are lost on me, just the examples here, and their likes from Charlton and other companies.
I can understand Panther's admiration for Mr. Glanzman's work.

[The Australian Panther]

Paw said,

Despite Commando having had covers often graced by Ken Barr and Ian Kennedy - quite exceptional work - the stories can be repetitive and, imo, boring. 

You and I are on the same page there, Paw.
The characters in those stories were indistinguishable, and the writing dull, so for me there was nothing there to sustain my interest.
I tried, but no go.

[Quirky Quokka]

Some of you will be aware of the British title Commando, published by DC Thomson, a pocket library war series which started in 1961and is still going today.  There are swap meets in the UK where the vast majority of comics are Commando plus other war based, pocket libraries from Micron and other publishers.  Despite Commando having had covers often graced by Ken Barr and Ian Kennedy - quite exceptional work - the stories can be repetitive and, imo, boring. Both Ken and Ian were lovely people and are greatly missed.  Ken often turned up at our Kelvin Hall (that's in Glasgow) fairs where there were some comics tables.  Ken would hang about and chat and was excellent company.

Hi Paw - They still sell those Commando ones in newsagents here in Australia. I've actually bought two of them recently when I wanted something to read while having lunch out and about. Art was really good, and stories okay. One was a Cold War story, so I liked that one better. But I can imagine they would get repetitive if you were reading a lot of them. I'm like you in that I'm not a big fan of war stories, especially ones that recount battles and military operations, but I like ones that have something else happening. I actually have a compilation volume called 'Superman at War' which collects some of the Superman comics published during WWII and I liked that. But it was a real snapshot of the culture at the time.

Cheers

QQ

[Robb_K]

Paw said,

Despite Commando having had covers often graced by Ken Barr and Ian Kennedy - quite exceptional work - the stories can be repetitive and, imo, boring. 

You and I are on the same page there, Paw.
The characters in those stories were indistinguishable, and the writing dull, so for me there was nothing there to sustain my interest.
I tried, but no go.

I don't enjoy just "snapshots of war" 5 to 10 page stories, especially fro times in which I was alive, or that were close enough to my time that they aren't "history" to me.  I enjoyed hearing my father and uncle and a few of my great uncles talk about their experiences in WWII and WWI.  And I like, long, saga-type comic book stories about long wars back, deep in history.  But these Charlton stories are dull to me, and very much the same, one to the other, because they show little emotion, and it's tough to identify with the characters we know nothing about.  It's tough to get emotionally involved in stories that have little setting established, and no real character development.  War is a heavy thing which takes a heavy toll on the emotional state of people who see their buddies and sometimes family members killed, or their houses bombed to smithereens, or burnt to ashes, or watched people get their heads chopped off in one blow, or watch their wife raped in front of them, while they are helpless.  Having grown up hearing such horror stories from the first-hand victims from my earliest age to my teenage years (and beyond), seeing depictions of war in comic books or films that just emphasize combat and destruction, and don't have a good personal story as the focus, is not the kind of "entertainment" I enjoy, or seek out.  I've liked a fair amount of War-centric films made between 1910 and 1965 or so.  But a lot of the more recent war films that don't include a quality story, leave me cold, especially those that are just made to glorify violence for its own sake, catering to "prurient" interest.  Hundreds and hundreds of such films have been made since the start of the 1970s.

The fact that I'm able to say that about all the stories in the first Charlton Glanzman book, make me feel that I can't afford taking the time out to read all 4 of this thread's featured Charlton combat genre books.  I'll take a look at the 2nd., but if I feel it is similar, I'll just flip through it.  I have to admit that the artwork is good.  But it isn't phenomenal enough for me to look at the pages just to see the art.

[Quirky Quokka]

DC used to divide up a story into chapters broken up by the ads. So you knew there was more story, If you weren't already captive to the narrative. Personally that annoyed the hell out of me.
They also used to do half-page ads, so if you read the story you couldn't not read the ad.   
This may sound ridiculous, but there may have been individuals who stopped reading the book when they came to the ad, under the impression that that was the end of the book. And then wrote letters of complaints. Never underestimate the stupidity of the general public.
After all, apparently, when 'Gilligan's Island' was must viewing, a considerable number of letters were received by the US Coastguard asking them why they hadn't attempted to rescue the poor people on that island. 

Hi Panther - I've bought some facsimile issues of a few Justice League comics (DC) and Fantastic Four comics (Marvel) where they've broken the story up into chapters, and I don't mind that. I prefer that to some of the modern ones that have ads every few pages. I can also imagine that it might be good for kids who don't read the whole thing in one sitting. They can break the reading into chunks.

And your comment about Gilligan's Island reminds me of the scene in 'Galaxy Quest' when Tim Allen's character is trying to explain to the aliens that the 'historical documents' they've been watching are just make-believe. He says something like, 'Surely you don't think Gilligan's Island is real?', and the aliens all look sad and say, 'Those poor people'. Love that movie. 

Cheers

QQ