Historical Comic Books

We’ve talked about movies and books about WWII and other historical events which brings me to the question: What is your favourite WWII (or other historcal period) themed comic book?
For me is the Italian Sturmtruppen, a dark humor comic that depicts the bleak and absurd aspects of the common soldiers in a Kafkaesque and absurd atmosphere (no precise time-frame and the enemy is never seen, off screen at best).
Here are some strips with my amateurish translation.

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“Fantastic! They forgot to relieve him since three months and he’s still guarding”
“Admirable!”

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                           "I think the Sergeant is ready for officer promotion"
                                                "Agreed"          

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“This guy was captured at night in our trenches while he was carrying a sack”
“Sounds fishy”
“Call the Gestapo”

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“Oh Franz my little soldier…I love you like no one ever did”
“I can’t live without you, I’m only happy in your arms”
“My dear Lilì, license’s over, how much?”
“Two hours of love phrases…30 marks”
“Ah women…how shallow would be a man’s life without them”

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“Believe me Dr. Frank you’re wrong when you say that our society destroys individualism…No no…a fair place for everyone according to his own merits and possibilities…and everyone’s equal with respect to the just authority of the state”
“And most important: in our society there’s free choice for everybody!”
“In your case for example, do you prefer Auschwitz or Belsen?”

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I’d say, for me, it’s Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941). Thanks, Dad!

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Boy, I love me some dark humor.

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I’ve got several Sturmtruppen comics in my possession. Great stuff. I love the humour.
The real fun begins when “our dear allies” (An Italian and a Japanese) join the story.!
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“I’ve heard there is constant gossip about the soldier HEINZ! I find it improper to gossip about a comrade behind his back!”
“You’re right in principle, mister Ally! But the case with Heinz is, that we suspect him of HIDING a WOMAN in his foxhole!”
TILT
“What’s the matter, mister ally? Aren’t you well? Should I get a medic?”
“He seems a bit mentally ill, no?”

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@markuskoester85 Didn’t know that Sturmtruppen is also popular abroad.
Moving on from WWII here’s the beautifully drawn Warren Ellis’ Crecy: a comic about the battle from the perspective of a British archer.

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English Archer: Land is crucial because they don’t make it any more. What there is on this world is all there is.

The Netherlands: Am I a joke to you.

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Well since I’m Italian let’s talk about the history of my country as well, this is Enrico Marini The Eagles of Rome, a tale about the life of Arminius and how he came to lead the German tribes against the Roman Empire in the decisive battle of the Teutoburg Forest.
(note: Wodan is the old German name for Odin)

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I found these old war-time images from Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories so I decided to revive this topic.

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Buck Danny is a FrancoBelgian (pro-US) comic about a group of US pilots AAF/USN/USAF who joined after attack on Pearl and still fly around today without visibly aging (or growing I up😼). A lot of the stories have an historical setting and it has pages with info on the planes or battles. It got my love for planes started.

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https://www.asterix.com/en/the-collection/albums/asterix-the-gladiator/

Asterix And Obelix, a French comic about the classical world is fun. Most people here learned their first Latin from this comic. :slight_smile:

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I’ll stick with Daffy Duck of the 600th Bombardment Squadron, thank you very much.

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I know a person can be sceptic about a manga that talks about vikings but I tell you, Vinland Saga is really something different. The story is about the life of viking explorer Thorfinn Karlsefni, the author has a deep respect for viking culture, he personally made a trip to Iceland in order to do a better research for the manga.
After chapter 18 the art goes from good to great imo, surprisingly enough the story also offers many occasions for psichologycal develepoment.
Here are some panels.

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Here’s the trailer for the anime.

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'68 published by Image Comics , its more historical fiction than anything
but i really enjoyed it.
Its an alternative history comic book based on the vietnam war
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Spoiler alert!
There might be zombies involved…
It has lots of historical events gone wrong and lots of cool 'nam moments
In most pages its like i can hear “better run through the jungle” playing in the distance.

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That looks great! Never heard of the eagles of rome before.
And i finished reading The last Legion by Manfredi last month, which i really enjoyed.
I’ll probably give this one a try! :grin:

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Before batarangs and other strange gizmos the caped crusader fought evil with other means during the 40’s.

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I kinda miss that gun-toting Batman.

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Seeing as today is this issue’s 80th anniversary, I thought it would be cool to post it here.
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In the story The Icebox Robber by Carl Barks (1945) Huey, Dewey and Louie try to stop Donald from sleepwalking with various methods includong firecrackers, this causes a full scale PTSD on the duck.

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This is my Dad’s reaction when communists enter his house.

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This month 79 years ago, Timely Comics published the first issue a new superhero. In a time when comic books were thought of as solely a kid’s medium, this new hero comic caused a lot of controversy & even death threats on co-creators Joe Simon & Jack Kirby. The reason for all of this was because of his openly political nature. The cover showed him assaulting a real life foreign leader of a country the United States was not at war while doing so in an overtly patriotic costume.

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Happy Birthday Cap!:us:

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