We should really be moving along, but I want to watch them cut him open!
Military Comics #18 is an issue of the series Military Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of April, 1943.
Appearing in Blackhawk: "The Thunderer"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Japanese Soldiers (some die)
Other Characters:
- Chen Yu, coolie and scout
- Ashley-Cripp (British agent) (Dies)
- British Intelligence Officer
- The Lama
- Tibetans
Locations:
- China
- Secret Blackhawk Airstrip
- Calcutta, India
- Tibet, in the Himalayas
- Gura Mountain Lamassary (Destroyed)
Items:
- the Thunderer, a kettledrum the size of a house (Destroyed)
Vehicles:
- six Blackhawk Grumman XF5F Skyrocketa
- RAF Hawker Hurricane (crashes)
Synopsis for Blackhawk: "The Thunderer"
- Synopsis not yet written.
Appearing in Private Dogtag: "World's Most Hated Heel"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Cecil
Villains:
Other Characters:
- Hawkins
Locations:
Synopsis for Private Dogtag: "World's Most Hated Heel"
- Synopsis not yet written.
Appearing in The Sniper: "The Ghost of the Maginot Line"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Adolf Hitler
- The Ghost of the Maginot Line (Only appearance; dies)
- German Army
- General Brecht (Dies)
- Major von Steuffin (Only appearance; dies)
- his troops (many die)
Other Characters:
- Parisian Apaches (many die)
Locations:
- Occupied France
- Paris
- Place de la Concorde
- Eiffel Tower
- Nazi Headquarters
- Maginot Line
- Hochwald Fortress (Destroyed)
- Paris
Vehicles:
- French & German passenger trains
Synopsis for The Sniper: "The Ghost of the Maginot Line"
Armed conflict breaks out in occupied Paris as the Apaches swarm out of the sewer system to attack the occupying forces, and from his hide-out in the Eiffel Tower, the Sniper emerges and pitches in. But after thousands of casualties are inflicted, the uprising is crushed. The Sniper breaks into German Headquarters and shoots a roomful of officers, then intercepts a phone call, which tips him off to an important consultation, at Hochwald, a giant fortress on the Maginot Line. The Sniper impersonates one dead officer, Major von Steuffin, and attends the meeting. To his great surprise, Adolf Hitler also attends this meeting, along with many of his staff.
Two German soldiers back in Paris find Major von Steuffin's body, and get on the phone to Hochwald. The disguised Sniper is in a busy hallway when his cover is blown, a brisk fistfight breaks out, he escapes the room, and sprints deeper into the somewhat labyrinthine Maginot fortifications. There he finds a hanging dead Nazi soldier and meets a shell-shocked lunatic, the self-styled "Ghost of the Maginot Line." The mad Ghost claims to have planted charges of dynamite throughout the fortress, and he departs, on a motorized tractor, with the Sniper unable to accompany OR pursue him.
The Sniper gets busy hunting Hitler, while by accident the Ghost blunders into Hitler's party. Bodyguards shoot him, but he eludes them for the moment, leaving behind a trail of blood. Thebodyguards and the Sniper converge on the same spot, in the fort's power-control station. The Sniper lines up a shot at the Fuehrer, just as the Ghost of the Maginot Line reaches his detonator and blows up the whole complex. Many soldiers, and presumably the Ghost, but not Hitler nor the Sniper, are killed.
Appearing in Shot and Shell: "The Bomb Balls of Dr. Murk"
Featured Characters:
Antagonistss:
- Dr. Murk (Only appearance; dies)
- Abd-Ul-Skram (Only appearance; dies)
- his horsemen (probably mostly die)
Locations:
Items:
- Murk's Bomb Balls (drop them in gasoline or oil, casings dissolve, explosion ensues)
Vehicles:
- Shell's home-made airplane
Synopsis for Shot and Shell: "The Bomb Balls of Dr. Murk"
- Synopsis not yet written.
Appearing in Atlantic Patrol: "Battle With a U-Boat
Characters:
- Atlantic Patrol
- two junior officers
Villains:
- Nazi Submariners (mostly captured)
Locations:
- Atlantic Ocean
- North-West Africa (Mentioned only)
- Casablanca (Mentioned only)
Vehicles:
- U.S. PT Boat
- German U-Boat (captured)
- U.S. Destroyer
Synopsis for Atlantic Patrol: "Battle With a U-Boat
Off the north-western coast of Africa, a U.S. PT Boat encounters a German U-boat, and captures it with its crew mostly intact.
Appearing in Secret War News: "U.S. Sub Sinks 7 Jap Warships"
Characters:
- Captain Fred Warder, USS Seawolf
- Seawolf Crew
Antagonists:
Locations:
Vehicles:
- USS Seawolf
- Japanese cruisers and destroyers (seven destroyed)
Synopsis for Secret War News: "U.S. Sub Sinks 7 Jap Warships"
(Nonfiction account of USS Seawolf's career, Feb ~ June 1942)
Appearing in Sailor Danny: "The Sabotaged Potatoes"
Featured Characters:
- Sailor Danny
Supporting Characters:
- Davy Jones
- Alice
- Clementine
- Joan Lawford
Antagonists:
- Axis potato saboteurs
Locations:
- small West Coast port
Items:
- explosive potatoes
Vehicles:
- tramp steamer
Synopsis for Sailor Danny: "The Sabotaged Potatoes"
- Synopsis not yet written.
Appearing in PT Boat: "The Trail of the Mako Shark"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- PT Squadron Commander (not yet named)
- PT Boat Crew
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Haitian Sponge Fisherman
Animals:
- Mako Sharks
Locations:
- Caribbean Sea
- hidden Nazi submarine refueling base (Destroyed)
Items:
- diving suit
Vehicles:
- U.S. PT Boat (w/ no hull number)
- two Caribbean fishing sailboats
- U-boat (Destroyed)
Synopsis for PT Boat: "The Trail of the Mako Shark"
A secret submerged German submarine-refueling base is searched for and found. Ensign Harvey, in an air-hose diving rig, encounters and fights a German deep-sea diver. The refueling facility plus one U-boat are destroyed by Tobias and Harvey.
Notes
- Published by Comic Magazines, Inc.
- Last issue for Al McWilliams art and story on Atlantic Patrol, which expands to two pages. He is replaced next issue by Fred Guardineer.
- Like two other PT Boat officers elsewhere in this issue, Perry Tobias (Quality Universe) and Paul Harvey (Quality Universe), the Atlantic Patrol's PT Boat officers go on patrol and into combat in dress white coat-and-tie uniforms.
- No claim is made of this story being true.
- In Blackhawk, Olaf crashes his plane again, for the second time in three issues. He deliberately crashed into a German fighter plane, in Military Comics #16, Feb 1943, and now has accidentally crashed into one of the Himalayas.
- In PT Boat, Harvey and Tobias destroy a U-boat along with the submerged refuling base.
- Last issue for Al McWilliams story and art on Secret War News. He is replaced next issue by Fred Guardineer.
- "This is an actual story based upon inside facts gathered from U.S.N. Information Bureaus."
- The Sniper still has a secret lair in the Eiffel Tower, first seen Military Comics #14. Before that, he simply roved.
- Also featured in this issue of Military Comics were:
- Johnny Doughboy by Bernard Dibble
- Blackhawk: "The Giant of the Air" (text story)
Trivia
- Perry Tobias smokes cigarettes.
See Also
Recommended Reading
- World War II Recommended Reading
- Adventures in the Rifle Brigade (Volume 1)
- Adventures in the Rifle Brigade (Volume 2)
- All-American Men of War (Volume 1)
- All-Out War (Volume 1)
- Blackhawk (Volume 1)
- Blitzkrieg (Volume 1)
- Capt. Storm (Volume 1)
- Four-Star Battle Tales (Volume 1)
- G.I. Combat (Volume 1)
- Men of War (Volume 1)
- Military Comics (Volume 1)
- Our Army at War (Volume 1)
- Our Fighting Forces (Volume 1)
- Sgt. Rock (Volume 1)
- Sgt. Rock (Volume 2)
- Star-Spangled War Stories (Volume 1)
- Unknown Soldier (Volume 1)
- Weird War Tales (Volume 1)
Links and References
  Summary Needed |
