Something Spooky: ‘Weird War Tales’ #117 Has Combat Horror
by Benjamin Hall
Summary
Monsters roam wars! However, they don’t always take human form. Come see the horror of war with the Creature Commandos. Plus can G.I. Robot. save a war photographer?
Overall
7.9/10We continue our look at classic horror comics, looking today at another of DC’s classic anthologies, Weird War Tales #117.
The first tale “A Miracle of Monsters!” stars the Creature Commandos, while the second tale “Family Portrait” features G.I. Robot.
Creative credits for the narratives include writer Robert Kanigher, artist Fred Carrillo, and colorist Jerry Serpe, but the letterer is a mystery. Credit for the cover goes to penciler Rich Buckler, inker Romeo Tanghal, and according to the website Grand Comics Database colorist Adrienne Roy and letterer Gaspar Saladino.
“A Miracle Of Monsters!” has realistic if somewhat standard art for the time. This means that proportions for human bodies and sense of realism are very believable, but still have a cartoonish aspect to them. The cartoonish aspect helps blunt the horror to fit the comics code censorship rules. Meanwhile the coloring has limits that Serpe puts to the test by adjusting the application of hues slightly to suggest differing skin tones. When it comes to the writing Kanigher highlights bigotry on both sides of World War 2 while deftly showing the Creature Commandos in action. Kanigher does border on using too many words, but he arguably does not go over the line with them. Not to mention that the unknown letterer does a good enough job positioning the text so as to avoid confusing most readers.
“Family Portrait” is a quick slice out of G.I. Robot’s existence in World War 2. Those looking for a full action feature of G.I. Robot will unfortunately face disappointment. However, the photographer character is female so Kanigher gets to very slightly explore war photography and comment on sexism. As for the art, Carrillo again does a great job with the realism yet this time with less of a cartoonish aspect. Serpe also does another wonderful job with the limits of the time though without getting to do a lot with skin pigmentations. The unknown letterer of this narrative does a better job presumably because they are either someone else or just have less words to deal with.
When it comes to the cover there is dynamic action and just the right amount of text. It is open to debate if it is an almost timeless piece.
