Daddy Mojo reads: Sgt. Rock, The Lost Battalion As a kid I didn’t read St. Rock often. A friend of mine had a big stash of war and western comics, like Weird War, Sgt. Rock and Jonah Hex; while I had Spiderman and Superman. Mine were more mainstream and my friends’ comics had a historic feel like you were looking back at real events in time. Sgt. Rock was the personification of a Sergeant in World War II. He wasn’t a certain individual and is a work of fiction, but many military veterans said that they served with somebody like him. Sgt. Rock ended his comic book run in 1988 and I understand why. War isn’t sexy, it’s a brutal, savage thing, and while wars were still happening in the late 80’s, the style of warfare had changed dramatically. The Lost Battalion is based on the true story of the 141rst Infantry who were going through the Vosges Mountains in the north of France. On October 24, 1944 they were surrounded and outnumbered by the German forces.
They spent six days dug into deep trenches, experienced massive losses and had two failed rescue attempts. The third rescue attempt was successful and conducted by the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. The 442 is the most decorated unit in U.S. military history. As a graphic novel this is an amazing story. It’s beautifully illustrated with soft, muted colors that you’d find in a late fall mountainous region. Partially because it’s a true story you can feel the emotion in the words and pictures. Hundreds died in this battle and hundreds more were wounded. When you see a character get shot you know it’s just a picture, but you also know that it represents one of the hundreds that did get killed that day. Billy Tucci illustrated The Lost Battalion. His artwork is very distinctive and comic fans will remember his work from Shi. He traveled overseas to research the story, interviewed dozens of survivors and it really shows in his drawings. There is so much respect that is conveyed on each page.
He’s not gratuitously drawing scenes of violence. He’s telling a piece of history. Sgt. Rock, The Lost Battalion came out in 2009, but we just discovered it at our local library. It’s an amazing graphic novel that fans of war comics need to read if they haven’t already. Previous post: Week 21-Mom and Dad your baby is the size of a banana! Next post: Dad wears a Land’s End Mesh Polo, giveaway and reviewOur Fighting Forces #134. Other artists in this issue include Frank Redondo. See , or Sgt. Rock issues. See also this blog's or . Find on ebay: > > > >Apparently based on an amalgam of African American heavyweight boxing champs, Jack Johnson and Joe Louis, the character of Jackie Johnson fought as a representative of his race like the original Johnson, and fought against a Nazi just as Joe Louis had fought against a German, Max Schmeling, who was not a Nazi but whose victory was used as propaganda by the Nazis. Our Army At WarThe Watchmen is without a doubt the most highly anticipated superhero film since, uh, last summer’s The Dark Knight.
But even if Zack Snyder’s film adaptation of Alan Moore’s influential graphic novel will be hard-pressed to match the Bat in terms of either box office or cultural clout, it has already proven to be a more substantive event for nerds who like their muscled heroes accompanied by a little music — Bob Dylan’s “The Times They are a-Changin'” plays over a scene-setting montage and the Smashing Pumpkins’ “The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning” is featured in the trailer. So in honor of that film’s nod to music, I’ve compiled a list of my nine favorite songs that mention comic book characters. From one of the glam rock era’s most underrapreciated bands, this music hall-influenced number is basically a lark, but there’s a slight edge of perversity to Harvey’s raspy delivery and proto-DLR scatting that makes the shout-out to the title character (aka Nick Fury) feel appropriately trashy. Remember kiddies: Comics, like rock’n’roll, are bad for your brain.
Like everything the band ever recorded, this cover of the theme to the ’60s cartoon, is short, catchy, and fast. And like almost everything the band did, it’s a ton of fun. Worth it just to hear Joey sing “Spider-Myaaan” in that adorable Noo Yawk voice of his. Look, I know this 1991 song is hunk of cheese drizzled with maudlin sauce, and that lead singer Brad Roberts baritone is sort of gimmicky, but I am from Canada, and thus have an abiding affection for these Winnipeg folk-poppers. Plus, rather than make the easy Lex Luthor reference, the villain in the song is little-known zombie baddie Solomon Grundy. Even more than most glam rockers, T. Rex mainman Marc Bolan seemed like he dropped in from some other, cooler, freakier world. And when, accompanied by a strip club beat and greasy guitars, he purrs, “I’m Dr. Strange” for you… well, you believe him. Named after a second rank DC Comics character, this song from the Britpop legends’ 1968 classic mixes a typically pretty Ray Davies melody with some tough acoustic guitars.
“They call him Judge / Last name Dredd / So break the law / You wind up dead.” Not that different from a typical Anthrax lyric, really. The New York City thrashmasters based this song on the tales of futuristic badass Judge Dredd. Just do yourself a favor and never, ever, see the Stallone film based on the comic. Taken from his soundtrack to the 1989 Tim Burton-helmed Batman, “Batdance” is one of the Purple One’s most forward-thinking tracks — a wild collage of samples of dialogue from the film, hard funk rhythms, and wailing guitar solos. Alan Vega’s evil rockabilly sneer, Martin Rev’s burbling, sinister keyboards, lyrics about a black clad motorcycle demon “a-blazin’ away.” The more I think about it, the more the idea of a flaming skeleton riding a motorcycle and whipping people with a chain creeps me the fuck out. Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding’s herky-jerky melodic pop outfit were about as awkward and unsuperherolike as pop musicians could be.