The Inglorious Losers! Captain Storm, Johnny Cloud, Gunner & Sarge... They each starred in their own strips, but were eventually thrown into some kind of special forces unit lent out to whatever service needed them. And from Our Fighting Forces #151, they were an assignment handed out to the King of Comics, Jack Kirby. I recently got my hands on the Omnibus, and only halfway through, I'm already ready to tell you about 5 things I like about it. And here I thought it was one of his "lesser strips" because it wasn't quite so hyperheroic...
1. Captain Storm takes grenades like a man
And this happens often! You can see how Storm lost both a leg and an eye. Dude's a sucker for punishment. And he always walks away... or at least gets carried away.
2. Kirby will be Kirby
It doesn't seem to matter what kind of comic it is, Kirby remains true to himself. Nazi-occupied France might as well be the fire pits of Apokalips. I bet his romance comics had trademark "Kirby energy dots".
3. Anything goes
The Losers is principally a war comic, and a pretty intense one at that, but in keeping with Kirby's Comics Gospel (of which I have spoken at length before), he manages to squeeze in giant guns, ghosts, the goddess Kali and battles won through science fiction. Anything can happen in a Kirby story, because it's made of pure comics.
4. Tie: Plenty of exploding Nazis / The sound effects
You can never have too many exploding Nazis. And if they go TZUM, all the better.
5. The occasional Joe Kubert cover
As much as I love Kirby, I've got an even bigger man-crush on Joe Kubert. And Joe was never better than in his war comics. Kubert+Kirby in the same comics? You're at least holding a pair of Kings.
Here's to some of the original basterds! Now back to reading!
1. Captain Storm takes grenades like a man
And this happens often! You can see how Storm lost both a leg and an eye. Dude's a sucker for punishment. And he always walks away... or at least gets carried away.2. Kirby will be Kirby
It doesn't seem to matter what kind of comic it is, Kirby remains true to himself. Nazi-occupied France might as well be the fire pits of Apokalips. I bet his romance comics had trademark "Kirby energy dots".3. Anything goes
The Losers is principally a war comic, and a pretty intense one at that, but in keeping with Kirby's Comics Gospel (of which I have spoken at length before), he manages to squeeze in giant guns, ghosts, the goddess Kali and battles won through science fiction. Anything can happen in a Kirby story, because it's made of pure comics.4. Tie: Plenty of exploding Nazis / The sound effects
You can never have too many exploding Nazis. And if they go TZUM, all the better.5. The occasional Joe Kubert cover
As much as I love Kirby, I've got an even bigger man-crush on Joe Kubert. And Joe was never better than in his war comics. Kubert+Kirby in the same comics? You're at least holding a pair of Kings.Here's to some of the original basterds! Now back to reading!
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