In our first piece on War Comics, we focused on top Golden Age war comics to target, specifically those that debuted before World War II and those that came out during the war.  In this second part, we’re going to begin to take a look at Atomic Age war comics. These comics were first published between the end of World War II and the start of the Silver Age of Comics.

The Atomic Age

Solely for the purpose of more finely delineating time periods for this blog, I will refer to the Atomic Age as taking place between the end of World War II and the beginning of the Silver Age.  While some historians use this as a label for comics published between 1945 and 1956, these are still technically Golden Age comics.  Although, that does lead to a thought that maybe we should begin borrowing from geology’s time scale to describe different comic eras.

So, just as the Mesozoic Era consisted of the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Periods, we could refer to the Golden Era of Comics as consisting of the Super-Heroic Origin Age and the Atomic Age.  But I digress… Thoughts for another blog perhaps?

Anyway, the Atomic Age was a boom time for war comics.  It’s during this age that we see many major publishers – DC, Atlas, EC, Quality, and St. John, among others – begin pumping out more and more comics focused on fighting men and battle.  So enormous was the output, in fact, that we will only be able to feature a few publishers in this blog.  The rest will be featured in an upcoming Part 2 blog.

Two-Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat

While war comics had continued publication throughout World War II and the boom years of the later 1940s, it wasn’t until 1950 that they exploded.  Not surprisingly, EC Comics was the publisher to start the boom with Two-Fisted Tales #18, published in November 1950.

Two-Fisted Tales offered up gritty tales of combat with an anti-war attitude that hadn’t been seen in comics before.  So successful was the title that EC soon began publishing a companion series with Frontline Combat #1, published in August 1951.

I covered Frontline Combat #1 in an Undervalued & Overlooked Golden Age Comics blog in April, so I won’t detail it here.  Two-Fisted Tales #18, the first issue of the series, is the one that war comics collectors focus on.  There are only 41 copies in the CGC census, with a surprisingly high four of them in 9.8 grade. The last sale in this grade was in May 2019 for $4,800, down considerably from its peak sale in July 2002 for $8,913.  The most recent recorded sale was a 2.5 graded copy, which went for $180 in July 2020.

This is a very affordable book if you can find a copy, and definitely worth considering adding to your collection.

Atlas Floods the Market

As was their wont in the 1950s, Atlas Comics – the precursor to Marvel – was quick to copy EC’s success. It began publishing series after series of comics focused on fighting men.  All told, Atlas would publish 28 different war titles between 1950 and 1955, beginning with War Comics #1 in December 1950.

War Comics would prove to be one of their longer-running war series, lasting 49 issues.  Their most enduring series, and the one most sought-after by collectors, began with Battle #1, published in March 1951.  This was quickly followed by Combat Kelly #1 in November 1951, and Battlefront #1 and Combat #1, both series beginning publication in June 1952.

Atlas Comics, in general, are notoriously hard to find in high grade. This is due to the poor paper quality used in printing the books and the infamous “Marvel chipping,” caused by the dull blades of industrial paper trimmers cutting the edges in a fashion that would lead to many defects.  In many instances, we don’t see grades for most of these books higher than 8.5.  In addition, there are very low census counts for many Atlas war comics.

What's the value?

War Comics #1 has a present-day value of slightly above $1,000 in the 8.0 grade and is the most valuable of these first issues.  You can expect to pay $400 to $500 for a mid-grade copy.  The highest grade in the census for Battle #1 is a 7.5, and its present-day value is $760.  Combat Kelly #1 has a present-day value of $650 in an 8.5 grade, and both Battlefront #1 and Combat #1 have present-day values between $325 and $375 in their highest grades sold.

Besides these hard to find first issues, War Adventures #12, with a classic Carl Burgos cover, a number of Russ Heath covers, Battlefront #15 and Battlefront #26 being two fine examples, and flamethrower covers, including War Comics #11 and Battlefield #6, are issues to consider for your collection.

Those two flamethrower covers are the ones that command top dollar:  a 5.0 graded copy of War Comics #11 sold in a January 23 eBay auction for $1,392, while a 6.5 Battlefield #6 sold in a Heritage auction on March 22 for $1,200.

Next Time: Atomic Age War Comics – Part 2

Join us next time as we look at DC’s war comics output in the 1950s. This includes a number of titles that would continue publication into the 1980s, as well as war comics from Quality, St. John, and others.

Want more classic goodness?

Do you collect war comics?  If so, what are some of your favorites?  Let us know below.

*Any perceived investment advice is that of the freelance blogger and does not represent advice on behalf of GoCollect.