Fightin' Marines

Fightin' Marines
Fightin' Marines
FightinMarines14.jpg
Fightin' Marines #14, the first issue published by Charlton.
Publication information
Publisher St. John Publications
Charlton Comics
Schedule Bi-monthly
Format Anthology
Publication date Oct. 1951 – Sept. 1984
Number of issues 174
Creative team
Writer(s) Joe Gill
Artist(s) Pat Boyette, Sam Glanzman, Jack Keller, Sanho Kim, Fran Matera, Warren Sattler

Fightin' Marines was a bimonthly war comic published by St. John Publications from 1951–1953, and Charlton Comics from 19551984,[1] although it was primarily a reprint title from 1978 to the end of its run. Telling fictional stories of the United States Marine Corps, it was a sister title of the other Charlton war comics Fightin' Air Force, Fightin' Army, and Fightin' Navy.

Fightin' Marines was the home of the long-running Vietnam War feature Shotgun Harker and Chicken, written by Joe Gill. Gill wrote the majority of stories for the title during its entire run. Other notable contributors to Fightin' Marines included Pat Boyette, Sam Glanzman, Jack Keller, Sanho Kim, Fran Matera, and Warren Sattler.

Contents

Publication history

As with many comic book titles published at the time, Fightin' Marines did not start with issue number one; it was a renaming of a St. John Publications series originally called The Texan, which published one issue in August 1951. St. John published issues #2–12 of Fightin' Marines from Oct. 1951 - Mar. 1953.

Charlton took over the series in May 1955 with issue #14 (no issue #13 was published). Early issues of Fightin' Marines sported such taglines as "Breathtaking Action Stories," "Leathernecks in Combat," and "Rip-Snortin' Action Tales." Issues #121 – #130 (Mar. 1975 – July 1976) featured painted covers. (Issue #122 was called Fightin' Marines Presents War, which was a tryout issue for the new Charlton title War, which ran from July 1975 – October 1984.) From issue #131 (Sept. 1976) onward, the cover of each issue featured a head shot of a Marine in dress uniform in the upper left hand corner, next to the title.

Like much of the Charlton line, Fightin' Marines went on a publishing hiatus between November 1976 and October 1977 (issues #132 and 133). From issue #136 (Apr. 1978) onward, Fightin' Marines was primarily a reprint title, mostly using material from earlier issues. The series ran through issue #176; Charlton published a total of 163 issues.

Features

The cover art for Fightin' Marines #5 is by Matt Baker, best known for his work on Quality Comics' Phantom Lady.[2]

Among the characters featured in early issues of Fightin' Marines is Canteen Kate, who appeared in issues #2-9 and #14–15. (The character starred in three issues of her own title in 1952.)[3] Another recurring character from early issues of Fightin' Marines is Leatherneck Jack, who appeared in issues #2–15.

A topic addressed in Fightin' Marines #42 is Communist intrigue in Europe.[4] The writer's opinion left no doubt that Communists were the enemy and needed to be eradicated.[5] The bulk of the stories in Fightin' Marines take place during World War II, but as the series moved along, more were set during the Korean War, the better to show the menace of Communism.

Shotgun Harker and Chicken

The ongoing Vietnam War feature Shotgun Harker and Chicken ran in Fightin' Marines issues #78–108, from Jan. 1968 – Jan. 1973. Created by writer Joe Gill and artists Bill Montes and Ernie Bache, the series starred Sgt. Arkie "Shotgun" Harker and PFC "Chicken" Smith of Alpha Company. Harker is the gung-ho, hard-bitten Marine, while the bespectacled, blond-haired Chicken is more reserved — though not actually a coward. Perhaps reflecting 1960s counterculture and the antiwar movement, Chicken was occasionally portrayed with flowers on his helmet.

Shotgun Harker and Chicken stories were reprinted in ''Fightin' Army issues #140, 141, 146, 148, 156, 163, 167, 168, 172, 173, and 175 (as well as the Charlton titles War #45 and Battlefield Action #69 and #81).

References

Notes

  1. ^ A Complete History of American Comic Books, Shirrel Rhoades, Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 2008, Pg. 53.
  2. ^ War Stories: A Graphic History, Mike Conroy, Harper Collins, Pg. 91.
  3. ^ Commies, Cowboys and Jungle Queens, Comic Books and America, 1945 - 1954, William W. Savage, Wesleyan University Press, 1990, Pg. 132.
  4. ^ Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America, Bradford W. Wright, JHU Press, 2003, Pg. 318.
  5. ^ Encyclopedia of Comic Books and Graphic Novels, M. Keith Booker, AbC-CLIO, 2010, Pg. 106

Sources consulted

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Charlton Comics — Former type Comic publisher Industry Comics Founded 1946 Founder(s) Jo …   Wikipedia

  • 1950s in comics — See also : 1940s in comics, other events of the 1950s, 1960s in comics and the list of years in comics NOTOC Publications: 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959Publications1950 See also : 1950 in comics * Adventures into Terror #43… …   Wikipedia

  • Sam Glanzman — Sam J. Glanzman (born 1924) is an American comic book artist, best known for his Charlton Comics series Hercules , about the mythological Greek demigod, his biographical war stories about his service aboard the U.S.S.Stevens for DC Comics and… …   Wikipedia

  • St. John Publications — was an American publisher of magazines and comic books. During its short existence (1947 58), St. John s comic books established several industry firsts. Founded by Archer St. John (1904 1955), the firm was located in Manhattan at 545 Fifth… …   Wikipedia

  • Jack Keller (comics) — Jack R. Keller (born June 16, 1922, Reading, Pennsylvania, United States; died January 2, 2003, St. Joe s Hospital, Reading, Pa.) was an American comic book artist best known for his 1950s and 60s work on the Marvel Comics Western character Kid… …   Wikipedia

  • War comics — is a genre of comic books that gained popularity in English speaking countries following World War II.HistoryAmerican war comicsShortly after the birth of the modern comic book in the mid to late 1930s, comics publishers began including stories… …   Wikipedia

  • Pat Boyette — Infobox Comics creator imagesize = 150 caption = birthname = Pat Boyette birthdate = July 27, 1923 location = San Antonio, Texas deathdate = January 14, 2000 deathplace = Ft. Worth, Texas nationality = American area = Penciller, Inker, Writer… …   Wikipedia

  • List of cartoonists — See also: List of comic strips. Notable cartoonistsNotable cartoonists include: * Charles Addams, macabre cartoons featured in The New Yorker and elsewhere * James Andrews, UK based children s writer and cartoonist. * Murad Ali Shah Bukerai,… …   Wikipedia

  • Comics anthology — Comics anthologies collect works in the medium of comics that are too short for standalone publication. Contents 1 U.S. 2 UK 3 Belgium and France 4 See also …   Wikipedia

  • Warren Sattler — (born 1934) is an American artist and cartoonist, who contributed work to many popular publications from the early 1960s through the 1990s.Sattler started cartooning at an early age and was first published in a newspaper at age 15. He got his… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”