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Showcase Presents #16
Showcase Presents: The Unknown Soldier, Vol. 1
Assuming a wide variety of disguises to battle the Nazis, the Unknown Soldier plunges deep behind enemy lines in this 560-page black-and-white SHOWCASE trade, collecting stories from his first appearance in STAR-SPANGLED WAR STORIES #151 to issue #190.
576 pages, Paperback
First published November 15, 2006
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71 people want to read
About the author
Joe Kubert
715 books57 followersJoe Kubert was a Jewish-American comic book artist who went on to found the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art. He is best known for his work on the DC Comics characters Sgt. Rock and Hawkman. His sons, Andy Kubert and Adam Kubert, have themselves become successful comic-book artists.
Kubert's other creations include the comic books Tor, Son of Sinbad, and Viking Prince, and, with writer Robin Moore, the comic strip Tales of the Green Beret.
Kubert was inducted into the Harvey Awards' Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1997, and Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1998.
Kubert's other creations include the comic books Tor, Son of Sinbad, and Viking Prince, and, with writer Robin Moore, the comic strip Tales of the Green Beret.
Kubert was inducted into the Harvey Awards' Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1997, and Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1998.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 23, 2021
I always thought the Unknown Soldier was one of DC's more unusual war comics. As much spy story as a war story if told some very different war tales. Excellent wart and writing throughout made it a enjoyable read. Recommended
March 26, 2018
A Showcase that I read without any major delays! That alone is a huge accomplishment, though I managed to plow through the David Michelinie/Gerry Talaoc stories only by realizing how close I was to the end of the book.
Kubert's art is, as always, gorgeous! Bob Haney, Archie Goodwin and Frank Robbins turn in some decently creative scripts, and Dan Spiegle, Jack Sparling and Doug Wildey turn in solid artwork after Kubert moves on to other projects. But Joe's stories are still the book's highlights. Robbins uses some nice continuity to build up to a Nazi plot to eliminate the Unknown Soldier.
Then David Michelinie and Gerry Talaoc take over and the last 80 pages become a real mess. Talaoc's not a horrible artist, but his elastic anatomy feels out of place after 450 pages of Joe Kubert and artists of similar talent. Michelinie's scripts are generally weak though, particularly with regard to how poorly and shallowly he writes women.
Also, the choice to show the Unknown Soldier's real face robbed some of the mystery and didn't really help the strip at all. Nor did Michelinie's choice to write the Soldier as a bitter guy who became the Unknown Soldier because of his rage, rather than his sense of duty or longing to live up to his brother's example. It seemed an out-of-place motivation after 450 pages of completely differing reasons for doing what he did. The Soldier was also more brutal and accepting of "necessary deaths," which might be more realistic, but is a jarring change from the previous stories.
Kubert's art is, as always, gorgeous! Bob Haney, Archie Goodwin and Frank Robbins turn in some decently creative scripts, and Dan Spiegle, Jack Sparling and Doug Wildey turn in solid artwork after Kubert moves on to other projects. But Joe's stories are still the book's highlights. Robbins uses some nice continuity to build up to a Nazi plot to eliminate the Unknown Soldier.
Then David Michelinie and Gerry Talaoc take over and the last 80 pages become a real mess. Talaoc's not a horrible artist, but his elastic anatomy feels out of place after 450 pages of Joe Kubert and artists of similar talent. Michelinie's scripts are generally weak though, particularly with regard to how poorly and shallowly he writes women.
Also, the choice to show the Unknown Soldier's real face robbed some of the mystery and didn't really help the strip at all. Nor did Michelinie's choice to write the Soldier as a bitter guy who became the Unknown Soldier because of his rage, rather than his sense of duty or longing to live up to his brother's example. It seemed an out-of-place motivation after 450 pages of completely differing reasons for doing what he did. The Soldier was also more brutal and accepting of "necessary deaths," which might be more realistic, but is a jarring change from the previous stories.
October 3, 2007
Created by the legendary Joe Kubert, The Unknown Soldier follows a hideously scarred soldier who expertly assumes different identities through various World War II espionage missions in the European and Asian theatres. The never-named Unknown Soldier's earliest missions, while entertaining, are standard military-comics fare. The stories are littered with historical events – including a stint impersonating Adolf Hitler – so much so that you begin to wonder if the Unknown Soldier, like some comics version of Forrest Gump, was involved in every major happening of the war. However, the eighth story in the collection, "Totentanz" (Star Spangled War Stories No. 158, August-September 1971) elevated the series. With the aid of scripter Bob Haney, Kubert produced a powerful story that presaged his acclaimed 2003 graphic novel, Yossel: April 19, 1943. To rescue a woman who smuggled Jews out of Nazi-occupied territory, the Unknown Soldier, posing as a Jew, gets placed in a concentration camp. Ultimately, he completes his mission but not before suffering Nazi tortures. This and every story here reads like a mini-Mission Impossible episode and contains some of the best work of Kubert's career.
(This review originally appeared in The Austin Chronicle, January 19, 2007.)
Link: [http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyroba...]
(This review originally appeared in The Austin Chronicle, January 19, 2007.)
Link: [http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyroba...]
October 14, 2008
Five-hundred plus pages of black-and-white stories about a deformed master of disguise kicking the hell out of the Nazis and their Axis allies, printed on appropriately cheap paper. It's trashy and formulaic, but pretty well made, particularly the early sections (drawn by Joe Kubert) and the last handful of stories, drawn by Gary Talaoc.
April 10, 2022
I’m pretty sure I put this on my TBR list way back when I read a similar volume of Enemy Ace comics because the Unknown Soldier starred in Star Spangled War Stories alongside that character. After reading the relatively more recent collection of DC war comics I figured I’d check this one out too.
The Unknown Soldier is firmly in World War II, as I think most of DC’s war comics of the time were. And it’s, as far as I can tell from this volume, World War II largely as it happened in real life. Well, aside from the inclusion of the title character - but there are no super humans here and even the Unknown Soldier isn’t really what I’d class as a superhero. Sure, he’s got an origin, and he wears a mask (or a thousand) but he doesn’t have a civilian identity or most of the other trappings that were common in superhero comics by the 70s. Instead he’s more of a pulp hero, and feels almost like something that could have been created during the war if not for the way his stories play out with a retrospective knowledge of history.
The Unknown Soldier embodies the concept that the right man in the right place at the right time can change history. He was an ordinary GI who joined after Pearl Harbor and was deployed to the Philippines, but his face was horribly scarred and his brother lost his life in combat. The soldier decides to embrace the idea of being the wrench in the Axis’s plans and undergoes combat and espionage training, learning how to create and use masks that allow him to disguise himself as practically anyone. (In this volume he’s even Roosevelt, Molotov, and Eichmann at various points.)
The stories admittedly got off to a rocky start for me. The first few feel like pretty typical war tales where the Unknown Soldier steps in as a regular grunt or officer to fight in some typical action of the war. They’re not bad, but they don’t make real use of the gimmick, and could easily be unconnected one-off stories. It’s the stories where the hero uses his ability to disguise himself as absolutely everyone that are the good ones. There’s an early story where he sneaks into a Nazi death camp to save an important member of the resistance, disguising himself first as her husband and then as Eichmann to carry out the escape.
There are later stories where he has to make multiple changes in identity that are fairly enjoyable. He also has to carry out a variety of missions, including thwarting assassination attempts against Allied leaders and sabotaging Axis plans. There are good stories where he disguises himself as a captured legendary officer to lead the troops on one last offensive and where he does a series of quick changes to ferret out a group still loyal to Vichy France. My favorite story is probably a three parter where the Unknown Soldier has to infiltrate a Nazi V2 construction base, only to discover the Nazis know about him and are plotting to replace him with his Nazi equivalent.
The series bounces around in time and place across the whole war, leading me to suspect that if somebody were to lay out all the stories in chronological order there’d be a couple times he’d be in two places at once, or move impossibly fast from one side of the globe to the other. And the comics do change a bit towards the end of the collection, suddenly showing the Unknown Soldier’s face and making him look rather like a heroic Red Skull (for the first 30ish stories he’s depicted wrapped in bandages when he’s not in a mask). I’ve also looked up the character history on Wikipedia and it seems he ends the war in a somewhat ridiculous, rather more comic booky way, so I feel like while I liked this collection I’m not sure I’d want to read the next volume. This isn’t helped by the trouble I had tracking down this one and thus I suspect I’d have even more trouble tracking down the next one.
With that in mind, I don’t know that I can recommend trying to get your hands on this volume. But should DC ever republish the early adventures of the Unknown Soldier again, they could be worth checking out to see an interesting take on World War II comics. I know I had a good time once the character started to take proper advantage of his gimmick.
The Unknown Soldier is firmly in World War II, as I think most of DC’s war comics of the time were. And it’s, as far as I can tell from this volume, World War II largely as it happened in real life. Well, aside from the inclusion of the title character - but there are no super humans here and even the Unknown Soldier isn’t really what I’d class as a superhero. Sure, he’s got an origin, and he wears a mask (or a thousand) but he doesn’t have a civilian identity or most of the other trappings that were common in superhero comics by the 70s. Instead he’s more of a pulp hero, and feels almost like something that could have been created during the war if not for the way his stories play out with a retrospective knowledge of history.
The Unknown Soldier embodies the concept that the right man in the right place at the right time can change history. He was an ordinary GI who joined after Pearl Harbor and was deployed to the Philippines, but his face was horribly scarred and his brother lost his life in combat. The soldier decides to embrace the idea of being the wrench in the Axis’s plans and undergoes combat and espionage training, learning how to create and use masks that allow him to disguise himself as practically anyone. (In this volume he’s even Roosevelt, Molotov, and Eichmann at various points.)
The stories admittedly got off to a rocky start for me. The first few feel like pretty typical war tales where the Unknown Soldier steps in as a regular grunt or officer to fight in some typical action of the war. They’re not bad, but they don’t make real use of the gimmick, and could easily be unconnected one-off stories. It’s the stories where the hero uses his ability to disguise himself as absolutely everyone that are the good ones. There’s an early story where he sneaks into a Nazi death camp to save an important member of the resistance, disguising himself first as her husband and then as Eichmann to carry out the escape.
There are later stories where he has to make multiple changes in identity that are fairly enjoyable. He also has to carry out a variety of missions, including thwarting assassination attempts against Allied leaders and sabotaging Axis plans. There are good stories where he disguises himself as a captured legendary officer to lead the troops on one last offensive and where he does a series of quick changes to ferret out a group still loyal to Vichy France. My favorite story is probably a three parter where the Unknown Soldier has to infiltrate a Nazi V2 construction base, only to discover the Nazis know about him and are plotting to replace him with his Nazi equivalent.
The series bounces around in time and place across the whole war, leading me to suspect that if somebody were to lay out all the stories in chronological order there’d be a couple times he’d be in two places at once, or move impossibly fast from one side of the globe to the other. And the comics do change a bit towards the end of the collection, suddenly showing the Unknown Soldier’s face and making him look rather like a heroic Red Skull (for the first 30ish stories he’s depicted wrapped in bandages when he’s not in a mask). I’ve also looked up the character history on Wikipedia and it seems he ends the war in a somewhat ridiculous, rather more comic booky way, so I feel like while I liked this collection I’m not sure I’d want to read the next volume. This isn’t helped by the trouble I had tracking down this one and thus I suspect I’d have even more trouble tracking down the next one.
With that in mind, I don’t know that I can recommend trying to get your hands on this volume. But should DC ever republish the early adventures of the Unknown Soldier again, they could be worth checking out to see an interesting take on World War II comics. I know I had a good time once the character started to take proper advantage of his gimmick.
September 6, 2012
I am kind of obsessed with these Showcase Presents editions lately this is the third of about ten I have bought in the last month. This was another edition of DC war comics,something that I had not really read before. The adventures were pretty good but the art was best in the beginning of the book when Joe Kubert did it. While the stories stayed at the same quality, by the end of the book the art was pretty dreadful.
December 31, 2010
If I were only reviewing the Kubert illustrated stories from the beginning of this collection, I would give it 5 stars. His work is fresh, exciting, and shows a fascinating variety in ink line and brush.
I was surprised how quickly I lost interest in these tales as soon as they switched artists -- I just didn't care anymore.
I was surprised how quickly I lost interest in these tales as soon as they switched artists -- I just didn't care anymore.
February 19, 2024
The greatest GI in World War II…his activities classified…his identity Unknown…
Showcase Presents the Unknown Soldier collects the earlier unknown soldier stories, when they were published as Star Spangled War Stories before eventually being renamed Unknown Soldier (as the character had already been the lead in the book for years by then).
Most of the stories are set in 1943 and 1944 but they are spread out and not in any kind of chronological order. From the pacific theater to North Africa to all over occupied Europe, the unknown soldier is dispatched on key missions where the right soldier in the right spot at the right time can make all the difference.
A lot of these stories (usually involving the Soldier passing himself off as a mundane GI or civilian, or even impersonating a major figure in the war) are pretty cheesy at times, but you can’t argue with some of the eye catching covers.
DCs war comics had a ton of great covers, and the Unknown Soldier’s were the best in my opinion. It’s not until much later that the series takes a serialized format with multi issue stories and regular antagonists like the Black Knight. The only major supporting character in these stories is Chat Noir, an African American GI with the French resistance that later assists the Soldier on his own secret operations.
If you like weird war stories and WWII comics then unknown soldier ranks pretty high up there (though I understand why folks might prefer Sgt Rock instead).
Showcase Presents the Unknown Soldier collects the earlier unknown soldier stories, when they were published as Star Spangled War Stories before eventually being renamed Unknown Soldier (as the character had already been the lead in the book for years by then).
Most of the stories are set in 1943 and 1944 but they are spread out and not in any kind of chronological order. From the pacific theater to North Africa to all over occupied Europe, the unknown soldier is dispatched on key missions where the right soldier in the right spot at the right time can make all the difference.
A lot of these stories (usually involving the Soldier passing himself off as a mundane GI or civilian, or even impersonating a major figure in the war) are pretty cheesy at times, but you can’t argue with some of the eye catching covers.
DCs war comics had a ton of great covers, and the Unknown Soldier’s were the best in my opinion. It’s not until much later that the series takes a serialized format with multi issue stories and regular antagonists like the Black Knight. The only major supporting character in these stories is Chat Noir, an African American GI with the French resistance that later assists the Soldier on his own secret operations.
If you like weird war stories and WWII comics then unknown soldier ranks pretty high up there (though I understand why folks might prefer Sgt Rock instead).
May 4, 2024
Once you accept the “comic book logic” of a World War II American intelligence agent that can perfectly disguise himself as almost anyone, this is a lot of fun. The Unknown Soldier is sent into crisis situations to turn the tide of battle in favor of the allies. The earlier stories tend to be formulaic, but around the time the Soldier confronts a Nazi equivalent to himself, it gets really good. Some of the later stories have a gritty, hard edge, forcing the Soldier to make difficult life-or-death decisions, sacrificing lives to accomplish his missions. It can get pretty dark for a 70’s war comic.
August 22, 2025
Another superb entry in the GI COMBAT series of war comics. The Unknown soldier always keeps his face bandaged, the better to assume different guises to battle the Nazis. Best and scariest issue: The Unknown is sent to a concentration camp and learns the horrors of being a civilian during World War II.
December 25, 2020
Arts great but the stories are pretty meh.
August 13, 2014
Rereading this and other old comics that I read as a kid is like visiting a childhood friend and discovering the relationship hasn't changed a bit.
Want to read
January 9, 2015Edición en blanco y negro que traduce al castellano varias historias deThe Unknown Soldier.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews