Blazing Combat Four!

And then came the fourth and final issue of Blazing Combat's brief run. Despite compelling stories by editor Archie Goodwin and artwork by some of the finest talents in the history of the comic book business including Frank Frazetta who produced all four covers, Blazing Combat was beaten back off the magazine shelves by a widespread decision not to carry it. It's content was considered controversial, too questioning of matters of war and state and so those in power decided it needed to exist and after this issue it didn't.

"Conflict!" is a story written by Goodwin and drawn by Gene Colan of Vietnam and offers up a complex yet simple war tale of men who are not only fighting the enemy but their own  prejudices. A black medic elicits the ire and verbal abuse of a stout warrior who has little regard to the medic's desire to tend to all the wounded, even the enemy. But circumstances make it such that he medic is all that stands between this racist and his final fate, and despite that we learn that some things never change.

"How It Began!" is a small two-page primer on the history of war tactics in the air. It's drawn by George Evans.

It sets up a story titled "The Edge" drawn by Alex Toth which shows that knowledge of air tactics and experience can be the difference maker in the deadly skies.

"Give and Take" drawn by Russ Heath is a somewhat sardonic tale of capriciousness of war. The things we value lose their edge when life and death are on the line.  Some will dare anything for a taste of home, and they may well lose.

"ME-262!" drawn by Wally Wood  shares some history and shows how narrow in some respects the victory in World War II was. A technical advantage in a fighter plane is not fully taken advantage of by order of Hitler himself and that proves crucial in the air war over Britain and beyond.

"The Trench" is a blood and guts tale of World War I drawn by John Severin and written by Archie Goodwin. Severin gives all his stories in Blazing Combat a vital sense of movement and energy and this one no less so. A man curses his days in the trench until he is forced to moved beyond its relative safety. What he finds changes him perhaps forever.

"Thermopylae!" is lushly illustrated by Reed Crandall and while British soldiers await the assault of Hitler's forces in Greece, a soldier learns of the significant history of the place in ancient times when the Persian Empire led by Xerxes was met by a cadre of three hundred Spartans led by a man named Leonidas. While the three hundred fell their defense still proved successful in its own way and serve to inspire the Brits to hold the place for three critical days.

"Night Drop!" is the final story in the final issue of Blazing Combat. It was drawn by Angelo Torres and Archie Goodwin's last tale shows the brutality of the hand to hand fighting of World War II and how soldiers who are "only following orders" lead to atrocities greater than they can imagine.

Blazing Combat was a magazine that was good because of the stellar writing of Archie Goodwin, one of those guys who was so good so often for so long that he is often overlooked. But I have renewed admiration for one of the finest talents the comics field has ever produced.

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