Showcase Presents: Sgt. Rock, Vol. 4

Showcase Presents

by Robert Kanigher, Joe Kubert (Illustrations), Russ Heath (Illustrations)

Over 500 pages of classic adventures are included in this value-priced volume!

War is hell -- and no one knows that better than Sgt. Rock and the fighting men of Easy Company. These classic tales of World War II take readers deep behind enemy lines, where Easy Company never has it easy -- because battle can break out at any moment. These hard-hitting tales star the man they call Rock and the colorful members of his platoon, including Wildman, Ice Cream Soldier, Bulldozer and more, as they face the enemy in one hopeless situation after another.

In these tales, Sgt. Rock and Easy Company face the specters of battlefield cowardice and the death of an observer, meets ace pilot Johnny Cloud, is taken prisoner by German forces, and leads a new team of youthful soldiers into action.

This volume features the iconic artwork of legendary comics illustrator Joe Kubert, who is illustrating the new series BEFORE WATCHMEN: NITE OWL with his son, artist Andy Kubert.

Genres: Comics

520 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2013

About the author

See also as Bob Kanigher

One of the most prolific writers in comics, particularly in the Silver Age. He took over scripting duties on Wonder Woman after William Moulton Marston's death, and handled the character's transition from the Golden to the Silver Age. He also created Barry Allen, the second Flash, for editor Julius Schwartz's superhero revival of 1956, as well as writing and editing DC's pioneering war titles.
His creations include Sgt. Rock, the Unknown Soldier, Barry Allen, Ragman, the Losers, Black Canary, the Metal Men, Poison Ivy, Enemy Ace, the Suicide Squad, and Rex the Wonder Dog.

Reviews

[Your_Average_Magical_Girls_Fan · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you've seen my review of the previous volume, this is going to be a retelling of it. Because this stuff is GREAT! I've lost the count of times in which Kanigher was able to make me cry, including the penultimate story in which Sgt. Rock advice to a mother that her children represent the future. A sentence 100% emblematic of the whole character, a Rock when it comes to fighting enemies but a caring human in regards to his own men (with them reciprocating), civilians and strong-willed women. The question remains the same: Why the fuck DC never reprinted this series outside these now rare and expensive books? why the fuck they never even cared to collect all the Sgt. Rock stories in one single package, including the solo series which ended in 1988? I don't have the slightest idea, because this is top-notch quality material. I can honestly see this even as a teaching material for actual military courses, TBH. If you can get this book take it with no reserves. I just wonder when and/or if I'm going to find volumes 1 and 2 of this books...TL:DR; edition: Awesome, in both art and writing (Joe Kubert and Russ Heath they're at their best in these pages). HIGHLY recommended.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading any Sgt. Rock Showcase will generally provide the same basic formula over and over. Rock and Easy Co. will be wandering somewhere, either Italy, France, or North Africa. This one had them at the evacuation of Dunkirk by the British and French armies, which I am pretty sure happened before America entered the war, but that's the closest these stories ever come to placing them definitively at any actual event. There'll be some Nazis. Planes come in ones or twos and can be shot down by ordinary small arms fire, often aimed by Rock. Tanks also come in small groups to be dispatched without too much trouble, and German soldiers rarely seem to be anything more than random spawns in a WWII MMO. Rock may have to straighten out some soldier, usually a newcomer, or else the entire company will go bad somehow. Easy Co. seems to rely more and more on fistfights to stop the Germans at this point, and there's always the (hopefully) unintended racism that is anytime Little Sure Shot opens his mouth. And of course, Easy Co. casualties will be limited to nameless or new characters and not the ones that always appear when Rock needs a smaller group for a covert mission.

What made this particular volume stand out, though, was Unit 3, AKA the Kid Guerrillas of Unit 3, a squad of French Resistance fighters who were, despite being described as teenagers in their first appearance, appear to be at most 12 as drawn by Joe Kubert and Russ Heath. Because, you know, having a group of kids with Pepe LePew accents shooting guns in a combat zone is what people really want to see. Rock must be so used to it he lets two French farmkids, a brother and sister, help out during Unit 3's last appearance here, armed only with a scythe and a pitchfork. The brother gets killed. The sister joins Unit 3. Because, you know, there should be armed children in a combat zone.

[Philip S · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved Sergeant Rock as a kid. But coming back to him as an adult, I was completely disappointed at how disconnected these characters and stories are from the reality of combat troops on the western front. Rock and his men truly are cartoons!

Nice artwork though.