DC’s War Comics Are Hugely Underrated (& JSA Reminds Us Why)

JSA has long been a window to other era of DC Comics, reintroducing the Golden, Silver, and Bronze Age DC heroes of the former Earth-Two. The newest JSA series has pit the team against the Injustice Society in a battle that cost them one of their own — Wildcat. JSA #8 is a flashback issue, taking readers back to World War II to tell a story that shines a light on the plans of Injustice Society. The issue takes place right after Germany’s surrender, and showcases several characters that won’t be very familiar to younger DC fans. The JSA meets with Sgt. Rock, the greatest war hero in comics (sorry, Nick Fury, but it’s true), and are helped out by the Unknown Soldier and the Blackhawks. All of these characters showing up reminded me of something about DC that the publisher has sort of ignored for a long time — the WWII comics that they put out over decades, like Our Army at War.

Comics have changed a lot over the decades. While superheroes became the dominant paradigm from the late ’30s through the ’40s, comics were also the home of detective stories, Westerns, horror, sci-fi, romance, pulp adventures, and war comics. The fall of superhero comics in the ’50s, thank to Frederic Wertham’s Seduction of the Innocent, led those other comics back to the fore and DC was putting out some of the best non-superhero comics of the day (while still publishing Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman comics). DC’s war heroes are amazing, and JSA #8 gives readers a glimpse of why.

Sgt. Rock Was the Best of DC’s Many Amazing War Heroes

Sgt. Rock should be pretty familiar to even casual fans nowadays, as it was announced that DC Studios was working on a move starring the commander of Easy Company, which has since been cancelled for now. Sgt. Rock first appeared in Our Army at War #83, by creators Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert. Kubert would become the auteur of DC’s war comics, co-creating the Unknown Soldier, the Losers, and the men of Easy Company. Kubert’s work on the various Sgt. Rock stories is some of the best of all time; there’s a reason he’s a legend. While DC hasn’t been great about keeping all of his war work in print, there’s still ways to find it. Rock and Easy Company were constantly thrown at the Nazis, tearing through their ranks when defeat seemed certain. The Unknown Soldier’s stories were more like spy stories, with the master of disguise sneaking around behind enemy lines, wreaking havoc. The Losers combined soldiers from across the service — pilot Johnny Cloud, infantrymen Sarge Clay and Gunner Mackey, and PT boat captain William Storm — battling the Axis forces using a combination of their skills. There was also the Haunted Tank, starring Jeb Stuart, the commander of a tank that was possessed by the spirit of Confederate general J.E.B. Stuart, sent by the spirit of Alexander the Great to help fight WWII. Yes, really.

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You’ll notice that I haven’t mentioned the Blackhawks yet, and that’s because the Blackhawks weren’t originally created by DC comics. They were introduced back in 1941 in Military Comics #1 from Quality Comics. The Blackhawks were a group of pilots who volunteered for service against the Axis before the US entered the war, using their special fighter planes to fight the Germans and Japanese. They had a base on Blackhawk Island, where they repaired their planes and created new technology to use against the Axis. The Blackhawks eventually got their own series, and Quality Comics would get bought by DC in 1956. The Blackhawks have since been folded into DC continuity, and the modern Lady Blackhawk has been a member of the Birds of Prey. The Blackhawks still fly state of the art fighters, helping the superhero community in their battles. Finally, there’s Rick Flag Sr., a character introduced in 1987 as part of the origin of the Suicide Squad. Flag Sr. created the Squad after the Justice Society disbanded, creating Task Force X. He’s also been put into the DC war continuity despite his more modern origin.

DC Needs to Reprint Their War Comics

A lot of DC fans were very happy when the rumors that DC Studios was working on a Sgt. Rock movies started making the rounds. Not just because it would be an awesome movie, it definitely would, but because that might mean that DC would reprint many of their classic war books like Our Army at War, G.I. Combat, and the various Sgt. Rock series. It would be worth it just to see reprints of Joe Kubert’s work, who was a master of all comics but especially war comics. Hopefully, that project will get back on track.

JSA #8 throwing in some of DC’s war heroes isn’t exactly uncommon — they’ve appeared in many of DC’s superhero comics and Rock was around until “Our Worlds at War” in the early ’00s — but it was awesome to see them again. DC’s war stories, even the ones with Kubert, are the best of the best. It would take a little work, but you owe it to yourself to hunt down these stories — many of them were reprinted in DC’s Showcase series of black and white reprints (which honestly made Kubert’s work look that much better) that can be found online and at comic stores.

JSA #8 is on sale now.