Overview
In the 1970s, Jack "King" Kirby was hard at work at DC Comics on mind-bending epics including THE NEW GODS, THE FOREVER PEOPLE, OMAC, and THE DEMON. At the same time, Kirby also created a series of stories that drew on his own experiences in World War II.Starring DC war heroes including Captain Storm, Johnny Cloud, Gunner and Sarge, this volume features inventive stories in which The Losers stop a German attack using a strategy found in a comic book, German and American athletes who faced each other at the 1936 Berlin Olympics meet again on the field of combat, and much more.
Synopsis
In the 1970s, Jack "King" Kirby was hard at work at DC Comics on mind-bending epics including THE NEW GODS, THE FOREVER PEOPLE, OMAC, and THE DEMON. At the same time, Kirby also created a series of stories that drew on his own experiences in World War II.
Starring DC war heroes including Captain Storm, Johnny Cloud, Gunner and Sarge, this volume features inventive stories in which The Losers stop a German attack using a strategy found in a comic book, German and American athletes who faced each other at the 1936 Berlin Olympics meet again on the field of combat, and much more.
School Library Journal
Gr 8 Up—During the '70s and before becoming a comic-book great, Kirby took his style and sensibilities to the DC title Our Fighting Forces. Bound in hardcover, these collected stories feature The Losers, a four-man combat team (Captain Storm, Johnny Cloud, Gunner, and Sarge), sent on a variety of dangerous missions around the globe during World War II. While Kirby aficionados will appreciate the nostalgia, the action-packed plots complete with fists, bullets, or grenades flying will be the draw for newer readers. The artwork, containing images worthy of inspiring a Roy Lichtenstein painting, is structured in a traditional comic-book format, so pages of square panels abound. Though lacking slickness and gloss, and at times promoting either idealized or antiquated stereotypes, the emotional depths explored by some of the characters as well as the portrayal of war's cruelties are indicative of the masterful work Kirby would do throughout his career. As Neil Gaiman writes in his introduction, the stories are "filled with action and power and humour, and the unstoppable narrative drive of a tank." World War II buffs and ardent comic book fans will find much to love.—Joanna K. Fabicon, Los Angeles Public Library