GoCollect Blog: This Means War! Atomic Age War Comics Part 2 (this-means-war-atomic-age-war-comics-part-2 )

In part one of this series on Atomic Age War Comics, we focused on the output of EC and Marvel. In this second, we’re going to take a look at DC’s war comics, as well as those of a few other publishers.

Our Star-Spangled Men of War

DC may have been a little late to the game when it came to publishing comics about fighting men, but they more than made up for it with five fantastic new titles, one of which would survive clear into the Copper Age of comics. August 1952 was a big month for DC war comics.

In that month alone, Our Army at War #1 came out, as did Star Spangled War Stories #131 (a retitling of Star Spangled Comics) and All-American Men of War #127 (a retitling of All-American Western, which had previously been All-American Comics). All three were anthology series focused on soldiers and their stories.

Let’s take a look at these three premiere issues.

Our Army at War #1

There are 54 graded copies of Our Army at War #1 in the CGC census. The highest price paid was the top graded single 8.0 copy, which went for $3,107 in a Heritage auction back in November 2007. The most recent sale was that of a 4.0 graded copy for $840 in a Heritage auction on June 14.

While there are few sales and thus little data for sales of the higher grade copies, we have seen an upward climb in the 4.0 grade since a low sale of $311 in November 2015.

Star Spangled War Stories #131

Being that it’s not a first issue, there are fewer copies of Star Spangled War Stories #131 in the CGC census; 25, to be precise. The most recent sale is also the top-dollar sale – a 6.5 graded copy that went for $1,440 in a March 15 Heritage auction. There isn’t enough sales data to make any determination of trends.

All-American Men of War #127

All-American Men of War #127 is also a comic with few copies in the census – only 20. The most recent copy sold was a 1.5 eBay sale for $195 on April 26. The highest price paid was back in November 2006, when an 8.0 graded copy sold for $687 in a Heritage auction. Again, little sales data means we can’t determine any trends.

Our Fighting Forces

DC’s fourth war title was released in October 1954: Our Fighting Forces #1. While we can’t definitively say that this is the top Atomic Age DC war comic for collectors, we can say that collectors have spent the most for this book. There are 76 graded copies in the CGC census, with two of them reaching as high as the 9.2 grade. Only one of those 9.2 graded copies has changed hands, and it sold in a May 14 Heritage auction for $5,378.

Most recently, a 5.5 graded copy sold on eBay for $550 on February 18. With DC’s publication of Our Fighting Forces, they were nearly complete. However, there was a fifth war title on the horizon, but to tell its story, we have to go back in time a little bit.

G.I. Combat and How it Moved to DC

G.I. Combat #1 was published by Quality Comics in October 1952. By 1956, however, Quality Comics was going under. They first leased and then sold their characters to DC Comics. The two series DC found to be worth continuing publication were Blackhawk (referenced in This Means War! Golden Age War Comics for Collectors) and G.I. Combat. The first DC issue released was G.I. Combat #44 in January 1957.

Quality Comics in general are much sought after by Golden Age collectors, and G.I. Combat #1 is no exception. There are only 34 graded copies in the CGC census, and the highest-graded copy is an 8.0. There is no registered sale of that 8.0 graded copy.

The most recent sale and the highest price paid was for a 7.5 graded copy that sold for $5,380 in a Heritage auction in June 2021. Curiously, that $5,380 is the exact same price paid for a 6.5 graded copy in a Heritage auction in September 2020. While that may cause one to think that his comic has decreased in value, it wasn’t until that September 2020 sale that any graded copy had sold for more than $800.

G.I. Combat #44

Looking at the first DC issue – G.I. Combat #44 – we see 43 graded copies in the CGC census. The highest price paid was for the highest-graded copy, a 9.0 which sold in an August 2007 Heritage auction for $2,629. It had last sold in a Heritage auction in November 2003 for $978 and hasn’t sold since.

The most recent sale was that of a 4.0 graded copy which went for $285 on February 23. There has been an upward trend in 4.0 graded copies since January 2016 when it sold for $131.

G.I. Joe and Charlton

Ziff-Davis began publication of a character ahead of his time in February 1951 with G.I. Joe #10. The series would last for six years. Despite the pedigree of the name, this earliest comic book appearance of G.I. Joe is not sought after by collectors. There are only 8 copies in the CGC census and none have sold for more than $450.

Foxhole #1

Two series that would go on to be Charlton series began at other publishers. Foxhole #1, with a classic Jack Kirby cover, was published by his company Mainline in October 1954. There are only 24 graded copies in the CGC census, none higher than 7.0. There have been some high sales of low grades that are notable: a 3.5 copy selling for $1,134 in January 2020 and a 3.0 selling for $1,080 on January 17.

Fightin’ Marines #15

The other noteworthy series that moved to Charlton began with Fightin’ Marines #15, published by St. John in August 1951. The series was one of many that changed publishers in 1954 and 1955 when Charlton went on a buying binge and acquired Fawcett Publications, Mainline Publications, Superior Comics, and – most notably – Fawcett Publications. Fightin’ Marines would stay in publication until 1984 and would be one of the longest-running war comics. Unfortunately, there are no graded copies currently listed in either the CGC or CBCS census.

Next Time: Silver Age War Comics – Part 1

As big as the Golden and Atomic Ages were for war comics, the best was yet to come in the Silver Age. Join us next time as we begin to take a look at some of DC’s most enduring war characters.