Frontline Combat is an anthology war comic book written and edited by Harvey Kurtzman and published bi-monthly by EC Comics. The first issue was cover dated July/August, 1951.[1] It ran for 15 issues over three years, and ended with the January, 1954 issue. Publication was discontinued following a decline in sales attributed to the end of the Korean War. The title was a companion to Kurtzman's comic book Two-Fisted Tales. Both titles depicted the horrors of war realistically and in great detail, exposing what Kurtzman saw as the truth about war without glamorizing or idealizing it.

Frontline Combat
Frontline Combat #8 (September–October 1952)
Cover by Harvey Kurtzman
Publication information
PublisherEC Comics
ScheduleBi-monthly
FormatAnthology
Publication dateJuly/August 1951 – January 1954
No. of issues15
Creative team
Created byHarvey Kurtzman
Written byHarvey Kurtzman
Artist(s)Various
Editor(s)Harvey Kurtzman

Artists and writers

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Artists who contributed included Kurtzman and EC regulars such as John Severin, Jack Davis, Wally Wood, George Evans and Will Elder. Non-EC regulars who contributed included Alex Toth, Ric Estrada, Joe Kubert and Russ Heath.

Kurtzman wrote the majority of the comic's stories with Jerry DeFuccio contributing one-page text stories and an occasional regular story. The issues included writing contributions from artists Davis, Wood and Evans.[2]

Stories and themes

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In addition to contemporary stories about the Korean War and World War II, Two-Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat contained a number of stories taking place in historical settings, including the Civil War, the Revolutionary War and ancient Rome.

A series of special issues dedicated to the Civil War included issues 31 and 35 of Two-Fisted Tales and issue 9 of Frontline Combat. Although originally planned to be seven issues in total, the series was never completed. Other special issues of Frontline Combat included an issue dedicated to Iwo Jima (issue 7) and an issue dedicated to the Air Force (issue 12).

Development

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Kurtzman's editing approach to Two Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat was a stark contrast to EC editor Al Feldstein's style. Whereas Feldstein allowed his artists to draw the story in any manner they desired, Kurtzman developed detailed layouts for each story and required his artists to follow them exactly.[3] Kurtzman's writing tended to have a lot less text in them than Feldstein's, which enabled the two war titles to be hand-lettered rather than machine-lettered like the remainder of EC's titles.[4] Kurtzman was also dedicated to making the stories as historically accurate as possible and, along with assistant DeFuccio, put a lot of research into each story. As a result, where Feldstein took generally about a week to complete each issue he edited, Kurtzman took approximately a month.

Reprints

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Frontline Combat has been reprinted several times in the years since its demise. It was fully reprinted in a series of three black-and-white hardbacks by publisher Russ Cochran as part of The Complete EC Library in 1982. Between August 1995 and February 1999, Cochran (in association with Gemstone Publishing) reprinted the full 15 individual issues. This complete run was later rebound, with covers included, in a series of three softcover EC Annuals. In 2008, Cochran and Gemstone began to publish hardcover, re-colored volumes of Frontline Combat as part of the EC Archives series. One volume (of a projected three) was published before Gemstone's financial troubles left the project in limbo. Dark Horse resumed publication of the series in 2019, releasing the third and final volume in 2021.[5][6]

Issue guide

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# Date Cover Artist Story Story Artist
1 July/Aug 1951 Harvey Kurtzman Marines Retreat! John Severin & Harvey Kurtzman
Enemy Assault! Jack Davis
O.P.! Russ Heath
Unterseeboot 113 Wally Wood
2 Sept/Oct 1951 Harvey Kurtzman Bouncing Bertha Jack Davis
Zero Hour! John Severin & Bill Elder
Gettysburg! Wally Wood
Contact! Harvey Kurtzman
3 Nov/Dec 1951 Harvey Kurtzman Tin Can! Jack Davis
Desert Fox! Wally Wood
Prisoner of War! Harvey Kurtzman
How They Die! John Severin & Bill Elder
4 Jan/Feb 1952 Harvey Kurtzman Combat Medic! Jack Davis
Light Brigade! Wally Wood
Air Burst! Harvey Kurtzman
Bomb Run! John Severin & Bill Elder
5 March/April 1952 Harvey Kurtzman 442nd Combat Team John Severin & Bill Elder
Stonewall Jackson! Jack Davis
War Machines! John Severin
Big 'If'! Harvey Kurtzman
6 May/June 1952 Harvey Kurtzman A Platoon! John Severin & Bill Elder
War of 1812! Wally Wood
Ace! John Severin
Bellyrobber! Jack Davis
7 July/Aug 1952 Harvey Kurtzman Iwo Jima! Wally Wood
The Landing! John Severin & Bill Elder
The Caves! John Severin
Mopping Up! Jack Davis
8 Sept/Oct 1952 Harvey Kurtzman Thunderjet! Alex Toth
Caesar! Wally Wood
Chickamauga! Jack Davis
Night Patrol! John Severin & Bill Elder
9 Nov/Dec 1952 Harvey Kurtzman Abe Lincoln! Jack Davis
First Shot! John Severin & Bill Elder
Choose Sides! Wally Wood
Bull Run! John Severin
10 Jan/Feb 1953 John Severin & Bill Elder A Baby! Wally Wood
Geronimo! John Severin & Bill Elder
Napoleon! George Evans
Anzio! Jack Davis
11 March/April 1953 Jack Davis Bird-Dogs! John Severin & Bill Elder
Rough Riders! Ric Estrada
Lufbery! George Evans
Sailor! Jack Davis
12 May/June 1953 Jack Davis F-94! George Evans
F-86 Sabre Jet! Alex Toth
B-26 Invader! Jack Davis
H-5 Wally Wood
13 July/Aug 1953 Wally Wood Pantherjet! Jack Davis
War Dance! John Severin
Wolf! Wally Wood
Frank Luke! George Evans
14 Oct 1953 Wally Wood Albatross! Wally Wood
Bonhomme Richard! Joe Kubert
Immelman! George Evans
Whupped! Jack Davis
15 Jan 1954 Wally Wood Perimeter! Wally Wood
McCudden! George Evans
Vengeful Sioux! Jack Davis
Belts N' Celts! John Severin

References

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  1. ^ Schelly, William (2013). American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1950s. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 48. ISBN 9781605490540.
  2. ^ Von Bernewitz, Fred and Geissman, Grant. Tales of Terror: The EC Companion (Gemstone Publishing, Fantagraphics Books, Timonium, Maryland and Seattle, Washington, 2000) p. 150-3
  3. ^ Diehl, Digby Tales from the Crypt: The Official Archives (St. Martin's Press, New York, NY 1996) p. 52
  4. ^ Diehl, Digby Tales from the Crypt: The Official Archives (St. Martin's Press, New York, NY 1996) p. 46
  5. ^ Grunenwald, Joe (2019-10-01). "EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW: Experience Iwo Jima in the EC ARCHIVES: FRONTLINE COMBAT VOLUME 2". The Beat. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
  6. ^ Johnston, Rich (2021-05-21). "Unbelievable Unteens in Dark Horse Comics' Full Solicits August 2021". bleedingcool.com. Retrieved 2023-06-16.

Works cited

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  • Goulart, Ron. Great American Comic Books. Publications International, Ltd., 2001. ISBN 0-7853-5590-1.
  • Overstreet, Robert M.. Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. House of Collectibles, 2004.
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