Blazing Combat #3 - Warren

It's been way too long since I last talked about Warren's excellent, short-lived Blazing Combat series, so let's dig into the third issue. Ten-hut!

Behind the majesterial, serious cover by Frank Frazetta(!), is a series of hard-bitten, atypical war comics stories, opening with "Special Forces!" by Archie Goodwin and Joe Orlando, set in Vietnam, which was gutsy alone, considering this issue was published in 1966. Marvel and DC's war heroes were still fighting World War II.

"Foragers", by Goodwin and Reed Crandall, is a bitter tale set right at the beginning of the Civil War. Gene Colan does a superb job at the WWII tale "U-Boat", also written by Goodwin.

Alex Toth draws "Survival!", which does not deal with a specific war but rather about one man's fight for, as the title indicates, survival, as he wanders a war-ravaged countryside. Wally Wood writes and draws the next story "The Battle of Britian!", about the brave men taking on the Nazi war machine over the skies of England.

"Water Hole!" is a brutal story, written by Goodwin and drawn by Gray Morrow, about a cavalry officer lost in the desert. The final story is "Souvenirs!", by Goodwin and John Severin, about a man who lets his inhumanity and greed take over, even on the battlefields.

It's been said before, by better men than me, but Blazing Combat really was about the best material Warren had to offer. Frazetta, Crandall, Orlando, Wood, Toth, Severin, Colan, and Morrow...all in one issue? Amazing.