Two-Fisted Tales 22 (2)

Two-Fisted Tales 22

Jul-Aug 1951

Dying City!

by Harvey Kurtzman, Alex Toth

An elderly Korean man recalls how the war destroyed his family and the city in which he lives.

Thoughts

There are lots of little moments in this 7-page story. I could describe them all but I think a very basic description is better in a case like this. There are a number of wordless panels in this story. I like this use of sound effects and captions. This story is told entirely from the old man’s perspective. American soldiers do appear in this story but they don’t get very many lines and they are not the main characters. Ultimately this story is about the havoc and destruction caused by war, specifically on civilian populations. The story is, in the end, a little preachy or moralistic but I didn't feel like that brought the story down. 

Frontline Combat 12 (2)

Frontline Combat 12

May-Jun 1953

F-86 Sabre Jet!

by Harvey Kurtzman, Alex Toth

Four F-86 fighter pilots engage 4 MiG-15s in aerial combat over Korea during the Korean War. The sky is very overcast and one of the pilots sails into a seemingly endless cloud bank. He loses sense of direction and has trouble believing what the instruments on his dashboard are telling him. He goes with the readings on the instruments despite feeling that he is making a mistake. His instruments turn out to be correct and he emerges from the cloud bank safely.

Contact

By Harvey Kurtzman
Frontline Combat 2
Sep 1951

Reprinted in Corpse on the Imjin and Other Stories by Harvey Kurtzman

The story is set in Korea, during the war that was ongoing at the time the story was originally published. A better title for this story might be Ambushed but that title or at least a variant on it had already been used. The main character is Weems, a young American soldier. He is part of a patrol that encounters a much larger unit of the North Korean Army. Only two men, Weems and the sergeant he served under escape. Up to this point the story seemed fairly standard for a Harvey Kurtzman war story. The left turn occurs when the story ends with the sergeant telling Weems about the might of American air power and tanks.

GCD: https://www.comics.org/issue/9120/

Search!

By Harvey Kurtzman
Two-Fisted Tales 21
May-Jun 1951

Reprinted in Corpse on the Imjin and Other Stories by Harvey Kurtzman

In 1943 near Anzio two GI's man a machine gun post and fight to stay alive. During breaks in the fighting Joe tells his ammo man about how he is  searching for Mario, his brother. Joe was born in Italy. Mario stayed behind years before when Joe and their ma moved to the United States.

There ain't a lot to this story. What struck me the most about it isn't the twist at the end but the relationship between Joe and the ammo man whom he calls kid. It felt real, not forced or fake.

This is the first Kurtzman drawn war story in this collection. From the looks of it the rest of the stories, whether drawn by Kurtzman or not, are all war stories. I suppose arguably the first story in this collection, Conquest, could also be considered a war story.

3/3

GCD: https://www.comics.org/issue/8951/

Pirate Gold!

By Harvey Kurtzman
Two-Fisted Tales 20
Mar-Apr 1951

Reprinted in Corpse on the Imjin and Other Stories by Harvey Kurtzman

Long Ben Sawkins slowly recovers his memory of his life as a pirate, his shipmates who double crossed him, and the treasure they stole together.

The twist at the end of this story wasn't quite enough for me. It was s little too simple to suit my tastes.

2/17

GCD: https://www.comics.org/issue/8836/

Jivaro Death!

By Harvey Kurtzman
Two-Fisted Tales 19
Jan-Feb 1951

Reprinted in Corpse on the Imjin and Other Stories by Harvey Kurtzmsn

Slick Charlie kills a diamond courier in South America and takes his credentials. He gets away with it thanks to some help from Garcia, whom he later double crosses. After impersonating the diamond courier he takes a roundabout route to get to the Pacific coast. He gets caught by the Jivaro people. Smitty his new assistant is tortured to death while Charlie listens to his screams. Charlie avoids torture but not death at the hands of the Jivaro.

The twist at the end of this story wasn't the strongest. It felt a bit weak and tacked on at the end. The strength in this story is the way in which it is told up to that point.

1/30

GCD: https://www.comics.org/issue/8669/

Conquest!

By Harvey Kurtzmsn
Two-Fisted Tales 18
Nov-Dec 1950

Reprinted in Corpse on the Imjin and Other Stories by Harvey Kurtzman

A story of violent and bloody conquest set in 16th century Mexico. Captain Juan Alvorado leads a force of Spaniards who have come for gold. They use their superior weapons to capture the city. Soon the Spaniards grow bored and less vigilant. The natives return and return bloodshed with bloodshed.

I have read this story before in color in Two-Fisted Tales Archive Vol. 1. I had my doubts going in but it really works well in black and white.

There's nothing particularly spectacular about the subject matter but the visual story-telling is great. Love the sense of motion in the action scenes. There's something about the shading effect Kurtzmsn uses in some panels that I really like.

If I had to single out one panel I guess it would be the opening splash page but there are no wasted panels in this story.

1/11