Weird War Tales #9
December 1972
Cover art by: Nick Cardy
Story: The Promise
Writer: Robert Kanigher
Art: Alfredo Alcala
Before we begin I actually liked what they did on the front page. Someone (GCD has it listed as Howard Chaykin, that's cool) drew a panel depicting each story in this issue. A nice touch.
Anyways, we begin in 1242 at Lake Chud in Russia. Teutonic Knights are attacking Russia, and the spearmen await their advance. The armies clash on the frozen lake, but it soon begins to crack. The Knights all fall and drown. The leader of the Russians vows that at some future date they will have to arise again to protect their homeland from invaders.
700 years in the future the Nazis are making their attack on Russia. They chase the Russian army into the nearly frozen Lake Chud. There they wait for them, but they never come out. The next morning they see the army has been frozen in the lake. The tanks then begin to rumble over the lake, and once again the ice breaks apart. As the Germans escape into the icy waters, the frozen soldiers strangle them. A promise is kept. I guess.
But really shouldn't the Germans who fell into the water be the ones wanting revenge or something? Plus the old Russian soldiers weren't really the ones who stopped the Nazis this time, or were they? Uh, the art is great though. I love me some Alfredo Alcala. One of the most underrated artists ever.
Story: Blood Brothers!
Writer: Robert Kanigher
Art: Gerry Talaoc
This is a story that has been told just about a million times. Two brothers end up fighting each other during the Civil War. The brother fighting for the South (Van) has fortified his position behind stone defenses. The brother from the North (Walter) orders artillery to take it down. After the smoke clears he orders his men to attack the Rebels. The Union troops are once more under gun fire, and Walter takes a vicious wound. He reaches his brother Van and pulls him over a rock about to kill him with his saber, when he realizes his brother has been dead. He and the Confederates have all been dead for hours from the artillery attack.
Then who as firing at them? <Yawn> Not much really to this story, like I've said it is a story I've seen a ton, and the twist didn't really add anything to it.
Story: The Last Battle
Writer: this will shock you but it is Robert Kanigher.
Art: Alex Nino (thanks GCD! Although I should have recognized it)
Earth East and Earth West have fired all of their missiles and bombs at each other, and only one man remains alive. He begins walking around, and is just about to throw his blaster away when a sniper takes a shot at him.
For the next few days there is a game of cat and mouse as the two hunt for each other. The guy finally gets his enemy, but runs over to her(!) once he realizes that she is a woman. He then goes on a long soliloquy about how they could have restarted the world, and remade it into a world of peace. She tells him that he is a fool, and we see that she is booby trapped. She blows up killing them both. As a second twist they are both robots.
Not bad I guess. Which is really my opinion of the whole issue. Not bad, but nothing really good that just wowed me. Except for the Alcala art.
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That cover looks tremendous and the art line-up for the book looks impressive. I just don't know if I could take all of that Kaniger in one sitting.