''Fightin' Army'' was a bimonthly

war comic War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

published by

Charlton Comics Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1945 to 1986, having begun under a different name: T.W.O. Charles Company, in 1940. It was based in Derby, Connecticut. The comic-book line was a division of Charlton ...

from

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

–

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

(though it was primarily a reprint title from 1978 to the end of its run). Telling fictional stories of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, it was a sister title of the other Charlton war comics '' Fightin' Air Force'', ''

Fightin' Marines ''Fightin' Marines'' was a bimonthly war comic magazine published by St. John Publications from 1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time ...

'', and ''

Fightin' Navy ''Fightin' Navy'' was a bimonthly war comic published by Charlton Comics from 1956–1966, and then again from 1983–1984 (though it was then a reprint title). Telling fictional stories of the United States Navy, it was a sister title of the othe ...

''. In the late 1960s, ''Fightin' Army'' was the host of the ongoing feature "

The Lonely War of Willy Schultz Captain Willy Schultz is a fictional comic-book soldier, a German-American U.S. Army captain during World War II, who after being falsely accused and convicted of murder, escapes and blends into the German Army while seeking a way to clear his n ...

," written by

Will Franz William Franz, who wrote as Will Franz, Willi Franz, and Willie Franz, is an American comic-book writer and occasional penciler, best known for his Charlton Comics War comics, war stories, mostly published from 1967 to 1970. Franz is particularly ...

and illustrated by

Sam Glanzman Samuel Joseph Glanzman (December 5, 1924 – July 12, 2017) was an American comics artist and memoirist. Glanzman is best known for his Charlton Comics series ''Hercules'', about the mythological Greek demigod; his autobiographical war stories abo ...

. Other notable contributors to ''Fightin' Army'' included

Jon D'Agostino John P. D'Agostino Sr., generally credited as Jon D'Agostino (June 13, 1929November 28, 2010) was an Italian-American comic-book artist best known for his Archie Comics work. As well, under the pseudonym Johnny Dee, he was the letterer for the le ...

Sanho Kim Sanho Kim (born 1939 in Korea) is a South Korean comic book artist, considered the first artist working in a manhwa style to be published regularly in the United States. The bulk of Kim's American work was for Charlton Comics' horror comics, a ...

, Jack Keller,

Rocke Mastroserio Rocco A. "Rocke" Mastroserio (June 8, 1927 — early March 1968Dates per AdditionaWebCitation archivemade June 15, 2010. Note: The Social Security Death Index lists Rocco Mastroserioof New York City, born September 15, 1901, died December 1966.) w ...

, and

Warren Sattler Warren Sattler (born September 7, 1934) is an American artist and cartoonist, who contributed work to many popular publications from the early 1960s through the 1990s. Biography A lifelong Connecticut resident, Warren Sattler started cartooning a ...

Don Perlin Don Perlin (; born August 27, 1929) is an American comic book artist, writer, and editor. He is best known for Marvel Comics' ''Werewolf by Night'', ''Moon Knight'' (a character he co-created), '' The Defenders'', and ''Ghost Rider''. In the 1990s ...

drew a majority of covers in 1972–1973. Editors Pat Masulli (1957–1966) and

George Wildman George Wildman (July 31, 1927 – May 22, 2016) was an American cartoonist most noted for his work in the comic books industry. From 1971 until 1985 he was a top editor at Charlton Comics, where he also became the long-time regular artist on ...

(1971–1984) both had long tenures in charge of the title.

Publication history

As with many comic book titles published at the time, ''Fightin' Army'' did not start with issue number one; it was a renaming of a series called ''Soldier and Marine Comics'', which published five issues, numbered #11–15, from Dec. 1954 - Aug. 1955. The title became ''Fightin' Army'' with issue #16, published in January 1956. Early issues of ''Fightin' Army'' sported such

tagline In entertainment, a tagline (alternatively spelled tag line) is a short text which serves to clarify a thought for, or is designed with a form of, dramatic effect. Many tagline slogans are reiterated phrases associated with an individual, so ...

s as "Breathtaking Action Stories," "Action Packed Battle Stories," "Thrill Packed Combat," and "Rip-Snorting Combat Tales." Issues #120 – #126 (Sept. 1975 – Oct. 1976) featured painted covers. Like the entire Charlton line, ''Fightin' Army'' went on a publishing hiatus between January and August 1977, issues #126 and #127. From issue #132 (Apr. 1978) onward, ''Fightin' Army'' was primarily a reprint title, mostly using material from earlier issues, as well as the 1963–1970 Charlton title ''Army War Heroes''. ''Fightin' Army'' ran through issue #171, publishing a total of 157 issues.

Features

The ''Fightin' Army''

letter column A comic book letter column is a section of an American comic book where readers' letters to the publisher appear. Comic book letter columns are also commonly referred to as letter columns (or lettercols), letter pages, letters of comment (LOCs), or ...

was called "Weapons, Wars, and Wisdom." Reader letters were answered by the fictional "General Knowett." The bulk of the stories in ''Fightin' Army'' take place during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, but as the series moved along, more were set during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. The

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

was only rarely featured, and only made the cover of two issues, #65 (Dec. 1965) and #135 (Nov. 1978).

"The Lonely War of Willy Schultz"

From 1967–1970, ''Fightin' Army'' ran an ongoing

feature called "

," written by

and illustrated by

. "Willy Schultz" was a departure from most other combat features of this time, with its conflicted hero caught between loyalties, in part because of his German heritage. During combat in the

European Theater The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main theatres of combat during World War II. It saw heavy fighting across Europe for almost six years, starting with Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and ending with the ...

, U.S. Army captain Schultz is falsely accused and convicted of murder; he escapes and blends into the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

while seeking a way to clear his name and retain his

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

allegiance. The feature, reprinted as late as 1999, was serialized in Charlton's ''Fightin' Army'' #76–92 (Oct. 1967 - July 1970), skipping only issue #81.

In popular culture

John Taylor of the band

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...

can briefly be seen reading issue #157 (

cover dated The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...

April 1982) of ''Fightin' Army'' in the

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for their song "

Rio Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

".''Rio'' (1982), directed by Russell Mulcahy, EMI/Harvest Records

Notes

References

* *

External links

''Soldier and Marine Comics''/''Fightin' Army'' cover gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fightin' Army Comics magazines published in the United States War comics Comics set during World War II 1956 comics debuts 1984 comics endings Magazines established in 1956 Magazines disestablished in 1984 Charlton Comics titles Defunct American comics