Blazing Combat

Infobox comic book title
title = Blazing Combat

---

caption = "Blazing Combat" #3 (April 1966).
Cover art by Frank Frazetta
schedule = Quarterly
format =
ongoing =Y
multigenre=y
Anthology = y
War = y
publisher = Warren Publishing
date = October 1965 to July 1966
issues = 4
main_char_team =
writers = Archie Goodwin
artists = Reed Crandall, Gene Colan
Frank Frazetta, Russ Heath
Joe Orlando, John Severin
Angelo Torres, Alex Toth
Al Williamson, Wally Wood
pencillers =
inkers =
colorists =
creative_team_month =
creative_team_year =
creators =
subcat=Warren Publishing
sort=PAGENAME

"Blazing Combat" was an American war-comics magazine published by Warren Publishing from 1965 to 1966. Written and edited by Archie Goodwin, with artwork by such industry notables as Gene Colan, Frank Frazetta, John Severin, Alex Toth, and Wally Wood, it 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.

Publication history

Following the success of Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror-comics magazine "Creepy" in 1964, publisher James Warren expanded into war fiction the following year with the short-lived "Blazing Combat". The black-and-white, 64-page "Blazing Combat" ran four quarterly issues, cover-dated October 1965 to July 1966, and, like "Creepy", cover-priced at 35 cents.

Warren was inspired by the humanistic drama in editor Harvey Kurtzman's EC Comics titles "Frontline Combat" (1951-1954) and "Two-Fisted Tales" (1950-1955), saying in 1999 that, "I thought what Harvey had done for [EC publisher] Bill Gaines should have separated in some way from the EC horror comics. Harvey's early work was the inspiration for "Blazing Combat". I told Harvey "Blazing Combat" editorial was not going to be pro-war or blood and guts. It was going to be anti-war...." [http://twomorrows.com/comicbookartist/articles/04warren.html James Warren interview, "Comic Book Artist" #4 (Spring 1999)] ] Kurtzman, by this time editor of Warren's satirical magazine "Help!", would serve as consultant on the new magazine, which would be edited by fellow Warren staffer Archie Goodwin.

Goodwin wrote all but one of the series' 29 stories, co-writing two with each story's respective artist. The generally six- to eight-page tales were illustrated by such EC war-story veterans as John Severin, Wally Wood — two of the primary "Frontline Combat" contributors — George Evans, Russ Heath, and Alex Toth, as well as by EC horror/sci-fi artists Reed Crandall and Joe Orlando. Other illustrators included Gene Colan, Al McWilliams, Gray Morrow, and Angelo Torres. All four covers were paintings by Frank Frazetta.

While most stories took place during World War II, the ranged 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 (issue #2, Jan. 1966), while "Foragers" (issue #3, April 1966) focused on a fictitious soldier in General William T. Sherman's devastating March to the Sea during the American Civil War. "Holding Action" (issue #2), 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. The final panel leaves ambiguous whether the trauma will be temporary or lasting.

What proved to be the most controversial were stories set during the contemporary Vietnam War, particularly "Landscape" (issue #2), 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. [http://.com/Richard%20Arndt/The%20Warren%20Magazines%20Index%20Only.htm "The Warren Magazines", by Richard Arndt] Last updated 22 February 2007. Accessed 24 December 2007]

"Landscape" controversy

The premiere issue of "Blazing Combat" reached newsstands in mid-1965, during a troop-escalation period years before American public sentiment would turn against the Vietnam War. From the beginning, wholesale magazine distributors cautioned publisher James Warren that the magazine's anti-war stance presented a sales obstacle. Warren said in a 1999 interview, " [H] ere is my distributor, saying, 'Uh oh! Wait until our wholesalers — many of them belonging to the American Legion — see this!' They found out very fast that it was anti-war".

The second issue's Vietnam-set story "Landscape", by writer Goodwin and artist Orlando, solidified wholesalers' stance against the magazine. As comics historian Richard Arndt describes,

Warren said in 1999 that

Critical assessment

Critic Jason Sacks, in his review of the book "The Warren Companion", refers to "Blazing Combat" as "the finest war comics since the EC days", [ [http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/reviews/107834622044831.htm Silver Bullet Comics (March 3, 2004): "The Warren Companion" (book review by Jason Sacks)] ] , while comic-book historian Richard Arndt assesses "Blazing Combat" as, "Probably the best war comic ever published". Writer and critic Steve Stiles, in an overview of writer-editor Archie Goodwin's career, said, "The stories were both gritty and realistic ... showing the true horror of war". [ [http://www.stevestiles.com/goodwin.htm "Archie Goodwin and his Golden Age at Warren" (n.d.), by Steve Stiles] ]

Reprints

*"Blazing Combat" (Warren Publishing, 1978) ISBN #8485138260::Trade paperback reprinting 17 black-and-white stories and all four color covers
*Cover of "Creepy" #89 (June 1977)::Cover of "Blazing Combat" #1
*"Creepy" #139 (July 1982)::"Survival" ("Blazing Combat" #3): Art by Alex Toth
*"Creepy" #142 (Oct. 1982)::"Night Drop!" ("Blazing Combat" #4): Art by Angelo Torres::"Kasserine Pass" ("Blazing Combat" #2): Art by Angelo Torres & Al Williamson]

Footnotes

References

* [http://www.comics.org/series.lasso?SeriesID=1692 "Blazing Combat"] at Grand Comics Database
* [http://www.tcj.com/253/n_warren.html Dean, Michael. "The Vampirella Wars: The Untold Story of James Warren's Custody Battle with Harris Comics"] Excerpted from "The Comics Journal" #253. Posted June 6, 2003