''Weird War Tales'' was a

war 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 ...

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

title with supernatural overtones published by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

. It was published from September–October 1971 to June 1983.

Publication history

The original title ran for 12 years and 124 issues. It was an

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

series that told war stories with horror,

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

and

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

elements. Changes in the

Comics Code Authority The Comics Code Authority (CCA) was formed in 1954 by the Comics Magazine Association of America as an alternative to government regulation. The CCA allowed the comic publishers to self-regulate the content of comic books in the United States. ...

made the use of horror elements possible. The first seven issues were reprinted material. Each issue beginning with issue #8 was hosted by

Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

, usually depicted as a skeleton dressed in a different military uniform each issue. The title's name was inspired by editor

Joe Orlando Joseph Orlando (April 4, 1927 – December 23, 1998) was an Italian American illustrator, writer, editor and cartoonist during a lengthy career spanning six decades. He was the associate publisher of '' Mad'' and the vice president of DC Comics, ...

Walt Simonson Walter Simonson (born September 2, 1946) is an American comic book writer and artist, best known for a run on Marvel Comics' ''Thor'' from 1983 to 1987, during which he created the character Beta Ray Bill. He is also known for the creator-owned w ...

's first professional published comic book work appeared in ''Weird War Tales'' #10 (January 1973).

Roger McKenzie Roger McKenzie (22 July 1971 – 25 November 1995) also known under his production aliases of Wildchild or DJ Wildchild, was an English musician and DJ. Biography Born in Southampton, England, he released many singles on labels such as ...

and

Frank Miller Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book writer, penciller and inker, novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on ''Daredevil'' and subsequen ...

's first collaboration was on a two-page story published in ''Weird War Tales'' #68 (October 1978). Recurring characters began to appear late in the series run, notably the G.I. Robot, and the return of "

The War that Time Forgot ''The War that Time Forgot'' was a comic book feature published by DC Comics beginning in 1960 in the title ''Star Spangled War Stories'', created by Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. It ran for eight years, ending in 1968 and return ...

" which originally ran in '' Star Spangled War Stories''. Writer

J. M. DeMatteis John Marc DeMatteis (; born December 15, 1953) is an American writer of comic books, television and novels. Biography Early career J. M. DeMatteis's earliest aspirations were to be a rock musician and comic book artist. He began playing in ban ...

and penciler

Pat Broderick Pat Broderick (born November 26, 1953) is an American comics artist, known for his work on the ''Micronauts'' and ''Alpha Flight'' for Marvel Comics, and ''Legion of Super-Heroes'', ''Captain Atom'' and ''Green Lantern'' for DC Comics. Broderick a ...

created the

Creature Commandos The Creature Commandos are a fictional DC Comics team of military superhumans originally set in World War II. The original team was introduced in ''Weird War Tales'' #93 (November 1980), created by J. M. DeMatteis and Pat Broderick. The team was c ...

in ''Weird War Tales'' #93 (November 1980).Manning, Matthew K. "1980s" in Dolan, p. 189: "A battalion of horror icons created by the U.S. government to aid the American war effort made its debut in an off-beat story by writer J. M. DeMatteis and penciler Pat Broderick". Several issues featured a series of short vignettes titled "The Day After Doomsday" featuring largely doomed characters dealing with various threats and harsh ironies of living in a post-nuclear war apocalyptic landscape. The first few stories dealt with a society reduced to medieval ways seven centuries after a war but most others dealt with the near-term aftermath, with the unexpected results of radiation or infrastructure damage almost always catching the characters by surprise. Other stories featured robot soldiers, ghosts, the undead, and other paranormal characters from different eras of time.

Revival

''Weird War Tales'' was revived for DC Comics'

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...

imprint in 1997. It was published as a four-issue limited series, followed by two one-shot special issues in 2000 and 2010.

Collected editions

* ''

Showcase Presents ''Showcase Presents'' was a line of black-and-white paperback books published by DC Comics (from 2005 - 2016) at an average rate of two per month. Much like Marvel Comics' ''Essential Marvel'' volumes, each book usually included over 500 pages of r ...

: Weird War Tales'' collects ''Weird War Tales'' #1–21, 576 pages, December 2012, * ''America at War'' includes ''Weird War Tales'' #3: "The Pool" by Len Wein,

Marv Wolfman Marvin Arthur Wolfman (born May 13, 1946) is an American comic book and novelization writer. He worked on Marvel Comics's ''The Tomb of Dracula'', for which he and artist Gene Colan created the vampire-slayer Blade, and DC Comics's '' The New Te ...

and

Russ Heath Russell Heath Jr. (September 29, 1926 – August 23, 2018), was an American artist best known for his comic book work, particularly his DC Comics war stories and his 1960s art for ''Playboy'' magazine's "Little Annie Fanny" feature. He also prod ...

, 247 pages, July 1979, * ''Showcase Presents: The Great Disaster featuring the Atomic Knights'' includes "The Day After Doomsday" stories from ''Weird War Tales'' #22-23, 30, 32, 40, 42–44, 46–49, 51–53, 64, 68, 69, and 123, 576 pages, June 2014, * ''The

Steve Ditko Stephen John Ditko Page contains two reproductions from school yearbooks. A 1943 Garfield Junior High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen Ditko". A 1945 Johnstown High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen J. Ditko" under extracurricular act ...

Omnibus Volume 1'' includes stories from ''Weird War Tales'' #46, 49, 95, 99, and 104–106, 480 pages, September 2011, * ''DC Through the 80s: The End of Eras'' includes ''Weird War Tales'' #93, 520 pages, December 2020, * ''The Creature Commandos'' collects ''Weird War Tales'' #93, 97, 100, 102, 105, 108–112, 114–119, 121, and 124, 288 pages, December 2013,

References

External links

* *
''Weird War Tales''
at Cover Browser
''Weird War Tales''
an
''Weird War Tales'' (vol. 2)
at Mike's Amazing World of Comics {{Steve Ditko 1971 comics debuts 1983 comics endings 1997 comics debuts 1997 comics endings Comic book limited series Comics anthologies Comics by Arnold Drake Comics by Bob Haney Comics by Carl Wessler Comics by David Michelinie Comics by Frank Miller (comics) Comics by George Kashdan Comics by Howard Chaykin Comics by J. M. DeMatteis Comics by Robert Kanigher Comics by Steve Ditko Comics by Steve Englehart Comics by Steve Gerber Comics magazines published in the United States DC Comics one-shots DC Comics set during World War II DC Comics titles Defunct American comics Fantasy comics Horror comics Science fiction comics War comics

Publication history

Revival

Collected editions

See also

References

External links