American Update: The Atlas Explosion! The Lighter Side of War — Devil-Dog Dugan, Sailor Sweeney, Sgt. Barney Baxter and more
*War: While many of the Atlas war titles focused on gore and violence – understandably, given the subject matter – there was often an undertone of sarcasm and black humour in series like Combat Casey and post-Code, when excesses of violence were prohibited, the editors creatively tried to parley this into a sub-genre which might be termed ‘funny war’ – stories set in the wartime milieu, but focusing on humour. An early experiment was Devil-Dog Dugan – primarily all-action, but with a comedic twist – while others were basically military sitcoms such as Sailor Sweeney and Sergeant Barney Baxter – the latter of whom was blatantly TV’s Sgt. Bilko with the serial numbers filed off! Our new war selection showcases the softer, chucklesome side of bloody combat, with Devil-Dog Dugan #1-3, Sailor Sweeney #14, Sergeant Barney Baxter #1-3, and Tales of the Marines #4, which is basically leftovers from what would have been Devil-Dog’s fourth issue. John Severin brought the humorous style he used to good effect in Cracked magazine to the covers and occasional interiors of these series. Illustrated here are Devil-Dog Dugan #1 VG £30, Sailor Sweeney #14 VG £33 and Sergeant Barney Baxter #3 VG £26. You know where to find details of the rest.