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Star Spangled War Stories

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Star Spangled War Stories
Cover to Star Spangled War Stories #3 (November 1952), art by Curt Swan.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
ScheduleMonthly:
#1–87, #167–179, #185–199
Bimonthly:
#88–166, #180–184, #200–204
FormatOngoing series
Publication dateVol. 1: August 1952–October 1952
Vol. 2: November 1952 – February–March 1977
Vol. 3: September 2014–May 2015
No. of issuesVol. 1: 3
Vol. 2: 202
Vol. 3: 8 and a Star Spangled War Stories: Futures End one-shot
Main character(s)Mademoiselle Marie
"The War that Time Forgot"
the Enemy Ace
the Unknown Soldier
Editor(s)
List

Star Spangled War Stories is the title of a comics anthology published by DC Comics that featured war-themed characters and stories. Among the features published in this series were writer-editor Robert Kanigher and artist Jerry Grandenetti's "Mademoiselle Marie", about a World War II French Resistance fighter, debuting in #84 (Aug. 1959); The War that Time Forgot featuring the Suicide Squad, the "Enemy Ace" and the "Unknown Soldier".

Publication history

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Original series

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Initially, Star Spangled War Stories was a retitling of Star-Spangled Comics[1] and continued the numbering of its predecessor with #131. That lasted until #133,[2] when DC rebooted the numbering with issue #3 — even though there had already been three issues before that.[3][4] The end result was that there are two separate comics numbered as Star Spangled War Stories #131, #132 and #133 — the ones issued in 1952 and the ones issued in 1967. "The War that Time Forgot" was an ongoing feature introduced by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Ross Andru in issue #90 (May 1960).[5] The Unknown Soldier became the lead feature in #151 (June–July 1970).[6]

Star-Spangled War Stories ran for over 200 issues from 1952 to 1977. The series ended with issue #204. With #205, the numbering resumed under the title of The Unknown Soldier.[7][8]

The New 52

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An ongoing series, Star Spangled War Stories Featuring G.I. Zombie, set in the present-day New 52 DC Universe debuted in September 2014.[9][10] This series was canceled as of issue #8 (May 2015) which went on sale in March.[11][12]

Creators associated with Star Spangled War Stories

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Writers who worked on Star-Spangled War Stories include Kanigher (its editor) and David Michelinie, Ed Herron, Bill Finger, and Bob Haney. Among the artists who contributed were Neal Adams, Ross Andru, Gene Colan, Mort Drucker, Mike Esposito, Russ Heath, Carmine Infantino, Bernard Krigstein, Joe Kubert, Leonard Starr, and Curt Swan.

Awards

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The series won the 1969 Alley Award for "Best War Title".[13]

Collected editions

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  • America at War includes Star Spangled War Stories #87: "T.N.T. Spotlight" by Robert Kanigher and Mort Drucker; #134: "The Killing Ground" by Kanigher and Neal Adams; and #183: "8,000 to One" by David Michelinie and Gerry Taloac, 247 pages, July 1979, ISBN 978-0671249533
  • Showcase Presents: The War that Time Forgot Vol. 1 collects "The War that Time Forgot" stories from Star Spangled War Stories #90-137, 560 pages, June 2007, ISBN 978-1401212537
  • DC Universe Illustrated by Neal Adams Vol. 1 includes Star Spangled War Stories #134: "The Killing Ground" by Robert Kanigher and Neal Adams and #144: "Death Takes No Holiday" by Kanigher, Adams, and Joe Kubert, 192 pages, January 2009, ISBN 1401219179
  • Showcase Presents: Enemy Ace Vol. 1 collects "Enemy Ace" stories from Star-Spangled War Stories #138-152, 158, 181-183, 200, 552 pages, February 2008, ISBN 978-1401217211
  • Showcase Presents: The Unknown Soldier Vol. 1 collects "Unknown Soldier" stories from Star Spangled War Stories #151-190, 544 pages, November 2006, ISBN 978-1401210908
  • The Art of Walter Simonson includes Star Spangled War Stories #170: "U. F. M." and Star Spangled War Stories #180: "Return" both by Gerry Boudreau and Walt Simonson, 208 pages, June 1989, ISBN 0930289412
  • Showcase Presents: The Unknown Soldier Vol. 2 collects "Unknown Soldier" stories from Star Spangled War Stories #191-204, 592 pages, July 2013, ISBN 1-4012-4081-X

References

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  1. ^ Irvine, Alex (2010). "1950s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.). DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. Star Spangled Comics had brought adventure stories to the reading public since October 1941, but its name change to Star Spangled War Stories turned the focus of the title to war-themed characters and stories.
  2. ^ Star Spangled War Stories at the Grand Comics Database
  3. ^ Star Spangled War Stories vol. 2 at the Grand Comics Database
  4. ^ Overstreet, Robert M. (2019). Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide (49th ed.). Timonium, Maryland: Gemstone Publishing. p. 1031. ISBN 978-1603602334.
  5. ^ McAvennie, Michael "1960s" in Dolan, p. 100: "What was most memorable about the initial installment of "The War that Time Forgot" by writer/editor Robert Kanigher and artist Ross Andru was that it was the first cross-genre story to blend war comics with science-fiction".
  6. ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p.140: "This war anthology series found its most recognizable face when Joe Kubert wrote, drew, and edited the first of a slew of...Unknown Soldier [stories]".
  7. ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 172: "Writer Bob Haney and artist Dick Ayers had no intention of terminating the Unknown Soldier...allowing DC to rename the [Star Spangled War Stories] series after the [character], starting with issue #205".
  8. ^ Unknown Soldier at the Grand Comics Database
  9. ^ "Star Spangled War Stories Featuring G. I. Zombie #1". DC Comics. July 23, 2014. Archived from the original on October 23, 2014.
  10. ^ Siegel, Lucas (March 20, 2014). "DC Announces Star Spangled War Stories Ongoing, New Harley SDCC One-Shot". Newsarama. Archived from the original on October 23, 2014. The series will star 'G.I. Zombie', a character who fights for his country throughout war after war.
  11. ^ Star Spangled War Stories Featuring G. I. Zombie at the Grand Comics Database
  12. ^ Kamen, Matt (December 16, 2014). "DC Comics cancels half its line from March 2015". Wired UK. Archived from the original on September 8, 2015.
  13. ^ "1969 Alley Awards". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. n.d. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016.
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