| Weird War Tales | |
|---|---|
 Cover of Weird War Tales #1 (September–October 1971), art by Joe Kubert. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | List
|
| Genre | List |
| Publication date | List
|
| No. of issues | List
|
| Creative team | |
| Written by | List
|
| Penciller(s) | List
|
| Inker(s) | List
|
Weird War Tales is a war comic book title with supernatural overtones published by DC Comics. It was published from September - October 1971 to June 1983.
The original title ran for 12 years and 124 issues. [1] It was an anthology series that told war stories with horror, mystery, fantasy and science fiction elements. [2] Changes in the Comics Code Authority made the use of horror elements possible. [3] The first seven issues were reprinted material. Each issue beginning with issue #8 was hosted by Death, usually depicted as a skeleton dressed in a different military uniform each issue. The title's name was inspired by editor Joe Orlando. [4] Walt Simonson's first professional published comic book work appeared in Weird War Tales #10 (January 1973). [5] Roger McKenzie and Frank Miller's first collaboration was on a two-page story published in Weird War Tales #68 (October 1978). [6] Recurring characters began to appear late in the series run, notably the G.I. Robot, and the return of "The War that Time Forgot" which originally ran in Star Spangled War Stories . Writer J. M. DeMatteis and penciler Pat Broderick created the Creature Commandos in Weird War Tales #93 (November 1980). [7]
Several issues featured a series of short vignettes titled "The Day After Doomsday" featuring largely doomed characters dealing with various threats and harsh ironies of living in a post-nuclear war apocalyptic landscape. The first few stories dealt with a society reduced to medieval ways seven centuries after a war but most others dealt with the near-term aftermath, with the unexpected results of radiation or infrastructure damage almost always catching the characters by surprise.
Other stories featured robot soldiers, ghosts, the undead, and other paranormal characters from different eras of time. [2]
Weird War Tales was revived for DC Comics' Vertigo imprint in 1997. It was published as a four-issue limited series, followed by two one-shot special issues in 2000 and 2010. [1]
John Marc DeMatteis is an American writer of comic books, television and novels.
David Chester Gibbons is an English comics artist, writer and sometimes letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries Watchmen and the Superman story "For the Man Who Has Everything". He was an artist for 2000 AD, for which he contributed a large body of work from its first issue in 1977.
The Brave and the Bold is a comic book series published by DC Comics as an ongoing series from 1955 to 1983. It was followed by two miniseries in 1991 and 1999, and was revived as an ongoing anthology title in 2007 and 2023. The focus of the series has varied over time, but it most commonly features team-ups of characters from across the DC Universe.
The House of Mystery is the name of several horror, fantasy, and mystery comics anthologies published by DC Comics. It had a companion series, The House of Secrets. It is also the name of the titular setting of the series.
The House of Secrets is the name of several mystery, fantasy, and horror comics anthologies published by DC Comics. It is notable for being the title that introduced the character the Swamp Thing. It had a companion series titled The House of Mystery.
Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane is an American comic book series published monthly by DC Comics. The series focusing on the adventures of Lois Lane began publication with a March/April 1958 cover date and ended its run in September/October 1974, with 137 regular issues and two 80-page Annuals. Following the similar themed Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen, Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane was the second comic series based on a Superman supporting character.
Superman is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the DC Comics superhero Superman as its protagonist. Superman began as one of several anthology features in the National Periodical Publications comic book Action Comics #1 in June 1938. The strip proved so popular that National launched Superman into his own self-titled comic book, the first for any superhero, premiering with the cover date Summer 1939. Between 1986 and 2006 it was retitled, The Adventures of Superman, while a new series used the title Superman. In May 2006, it was returned to its original title and numbering. The title was canceled with issue #714 in 2011, and was relaunched with issue #1 the following month which ended its run in 2016. A fourth series was released in June 2016 and ended in April 2018, while the fifth series was launched in July 2018 and ended in June 2021. The series was replaced by Superman: Son of Kal-El in July 2021, featuring adventures of Superman's son, Jon Kent. A sixth Superman series was released in February 2023.
Star Spangled War Stories was the title of a comics anthology published by DC Comics that featured war-themed characters and stories. Among the features published in this series were writer-editor Robert Kanigher and artist Jerry Grandenetti's "Mademoiselle Marie", about a World War II French Resistance fighter, debuting in #84 ; The War that Time Forgot featuring the Suicide Squad, the "Enemy Ace" and the "Unknown Soldier".
Our Fighting Forces is a war comics anthology series published by DC Comics for 181 issues from 1954–1978.
Pat Broderick is an American comics artist, known for his work on the Micronauts and Alpha Flight for Marvel Comics, and Legion of Super-Heroes, Captain Atom and Green Lantern for DC Comics. Broderick also pencilled the four-part "Batman: Year Three" storyline, written by Marv Wolfman, which detailed the first meeting of Batman and Dick Grayson as well as Tim Drake's first appearance.
Superman: The Man of Steel was a monthly American comic book series that ran for 136 issues from 1991 to 2003, featuring Superman and published by DC Comics. As a result of introducing this series alongside its already existing titles, DC Comics was able to publish a new Superman comic each week. Included in these 136 issues were two special issues: #0 and #1,000,000, which were tie-ins to Zero Hour: Crisis in Time and DC One Million, respectively.
G.I. Combat was an American comics anthology featuring war stories. It was published from 1952 until 1956 by Quality Comics, followed by DC Comics until its final issue in 1987. In 2012 it was briefly revived.
The Unexpected was a fantasy-horror comics anthology series, a continuation of Tales of the Unexpected, published by DC Comics. The Unexpected ran 118 issues, from #105 to #222. As a result of the so-called DC Implosion of late 1978, beginning in 1979 The Unexpected absorbed the other DC horror titles House of Secrets, The Witching Hour, and Doorway to Nightmare into its pages. Horror hosts featured in The Unexpected included The Mad Mod Witch, Judge Gallows, Abel, and the Witches Three.
Weird Worlds is an American comic book science-fiction anthology series published by DC Comics that originally ran from 1972 to 1974 for a total of 10 issues. The title's name was partially inspired by the sales success of Weird War Tales and Weird Western Tales. A second series was published in 2011.
Michael Lawrence Fleisher was an American writer known for his DC Comics of the 1970s and 1980s, particularly for the characters Spectre and Jonah Hex.
Weird Mystery Tales was a mystery horror comics anthology published by DC Comics from July–August 1972 to November 1975.
Our Army at War was an American comic book anthology published by DC Comics that featured war-themed stories and featured the first appearances of Sgt. Rock and Enemy Ace. The series was published from August 1952 to February 1977, then was renamed Sgt. Rock in March 1977, continuing the numbering sequence of Our Army at War.
Ghosts is a horror comics anthology series published by DC Comics for 112 issues from September–October 1971 to May 1982. Its tagline was "True Tales of the Weird and Supernatural", changed to "New Tales of the Weird and Supernatural", as of #75, and dropped after #104.
Weird Western Tales is a Western genre comics anthology published by DC Comics from June–July 1972 to August 1980. It is best known for featuring the adventures of Jonah Hex until #38 when the character was promoted to his own eponymous series. Scalphunter then took Hex's place as the featured character in Weird Western Tales.
Secrets of Haunted House was a horror-suspense comics anthology series published by American company DC Comics from 1975 to 1978 and 1979 to 1982.
With the Comics Code Authority relaxing its decades-long stance on censoring the use of monsters and the undead in mainstream comics, DC placed an emphasis on the horror of combat with Weird War Tales.
'Carmine Infantino and I found out that the word weird sold well', [editor Joe] Orlando recalls. 'So DC created Weird War and Weird Western'.