Blazing combat comic books issue 1

Add to cart CGC 5.0 $395.00 or Best Offer View scans Paper: White Slab: Scuffing to inner well of case Label #3759457001 Consignment. 3% buyer's premium charged at checkout.

Blazing Combat, which evokes Harvey Kurtzman's Two-Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat, was a short-lived, though critically acclaimed series edited (and mostly written) by Archie Goodwin. The first issue includes the following stories, each of which was written by Archie Goodwin: Viet Cong (art by Joe Orlando); Aftermath! (art by Angelo Torres); Flying Tigers! (art by George Evans); Cong View! (art by Gray Morrow); Cantigny! (art by Reed Crandall); Mad Anthony! (art by Russ Jones, Tex Blaisdell, and Maurice Whitman); and Enemy! (art by John Severin). Cover art by Frank Frazetta. Cover price $0.35.

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b&w. Cover price $3.75.

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1st Edition - 1st printing.

Written and edited by Archie Goodwin. Art by Gene Colan, Frank Frazetta, John Severin, Alex Toth, Al Williamson, Russ Heath, Reed Crandall, and Wally Wood.

Superb reproduction from the original printer's film negativeso Deluxe, hardcover edition featuring breathtaking art from several acknowledged masters of the form, and candid, revealing interviews with Blazing Combat publisher James Warren and writer/editor Archie Goodwin.

Published by Warren Publishing from 1965 to 1966, Blazing Combat featured war stories in both contemporary and period settings, unified by a humanistic theme of the personal costs of war, rather than by traditional men's adventure motifs. As one letter writer in the third issue put it, 'Do you seriously expect to make money with a war magazine that publishes nothing but anti-war stories?' While most stories took place during World War II, they ranged in settings from the 18th century to the present-day. Some dealt with historical figures, such as Revolutionary War general Benedict Arnold and his pre-traitorous victory at the Battle of Saratoga, while 'Foragers' focused on a fictitious soldier in General William T. Sherman's devastating March to the Sea during the American Civil War. 'Holding Action', set on the last day of the Korean War, ended with a gung-ho young soldier, unwilling to quit, being escorted over his protests into a medical vehicle. What proved to be the most controversial were stories set during the contemporary Vietnam War, particularly the classic short 'Landscape', which follows the thoughts of a Vietnamese peasant rice-farmer devoid of ideology, who nonetheless pays the ultimate price simply for living where he does. While writer Goodwin evenhandedly portrays the North Vietnamese Army brutal summary executions of village officials, and a well-meaning U.S. Army fatally bludgeoning its way through the village in a counterattack, the story caused key distributors to stop selling the title.

Hardcover, 8-in. x 10-in., 208 pages, B&W. Mature Readers Cover price $28.99.

3rd Edition - 1st printing.

Written and edited by Archie Goodwin. Art by Gene Colan, Frank Frazetta, John Severin, Alex Toth, Al Williamson, Russ Heath, Reed Crandall, and Wally Wood.

Written by Archie Goodwin and drawn by such luminaries as Frank Frazetta, Wally Wood, John Severin, Alex Toth, Al Williamson, Russ Heath, Reed Crandall, and Gene Colan, Blazing Combat was originally published by independent comics publisher James Warren in 1965 and '66. Following in the tradition of Harvey Kurtzman's Two-Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat, Goodwin's stories reflected the human realities and personal costs of war rather than exploiting the clichés of the traditional men's adventure genre. They were among the best comics stories about war ever published.

Blazing Combat ended after its fourth issue when military post exchanges refused to sell the title due to their perception that it was an anti-war comic. Their hostility was fueled by the depiction of the then-current Vietnam War, especially a story entitled "Landscape," which follows the thoughts of a simple Vietnamese peasant rice-farmer who pays the ultimate price simply for living where he does - and which was considered anti-war agitprop by the more hawkish members of the business community.

Writer Archie Goodwin and the original publisher James Warren discuss the death of Blazing Combat and market censorship as well as the creative gestation of the series in exclusive interviews.

Hardcover, 8-in. x 10-in., 228 pages, B&W. Mature Readers Cover price $29.99.

Volume 1 - 1st printing. Written and edited by Archie Goodwin. Art by Gene Colan, Frank Frazetta, John Severin, Alex Toth, Al Williamson, Russ Heath, Reed Crandall, and Wally Wood. The legendary anti-war comic now in paperback! Written by Archie Goodwin and drawn by such luminaries as Frank Frazetta, Wally Wood, John Severin, Alex Toth, Al Williamson, Russ Heath, Reed Crandall, and Gene Colan. Following in the tradition of Harvey Kurtzman's Two-Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat, Goodwin's stories reflected the human realities and personal costs of war rather than exploring the clichés of the traditional men's adventure genre. They are among the best about war ever published. Softcover, 8-in. x 10-in., 208 pages, B&W. Mature Readers Cover price $19.99.