One of the great things about reading old issues of everything from Captain America to Sergeant Rock is they were written and illustrated by World War Two veterans. Jack Kirby was not just a World War Two veteran but a combat veteran (unlike Stan Lee who spent the entire war stateside). And I agree - verisimilitude matters. I couldn't tell if those aircraft were Wildcats or Hellcats but they were clearly Navy fighter planes - over North Africa? Fighting the Afrika Corps? Someone get this guy a DVD of the first season of RAT PATROL! Even that show had many errors but not ones so blatant. My favorite is the ACE with kills from both the Pacific Theater and the North African theater. There was only ONE Navy ace who shot down both Japanese and German aircraft: Diz Laird.
So…even more rare than I thought. I know some ground-pounders who didn’t have enough “points” at VE Day were sent from the ETO to mop up in the Pacific. But if a pilot had even one confirmed kill, he probably had enough points to be exempted. If it even worked that way in the AAF.
You are right about Kirby and the others. In fact, now that you mention it, I think I remember Chuck Dixon saying most of the writers and artists on the war comics were combat vets.
I have the same pet peeve. My attitude is, if you’re going to write military fantasy or military science fiction, at least do some basic research.
I was recently looking at a crowdfunding page for Ya Boi Zack. He was doing two comics: one on the Korean War (by the Critical Drinker) and the other on Vietnam. In both, the artwork contains historical inaccuracies. In the Korean comic, troops from the 101st Airborne (which did not participate in the Korean War) raid an airbase deep behind enemy lines. On the tarmac is a fuel truck, with the word FUEL written in English on the side. In the Vietnam comic, the infantrymen are incorrectly carrying their M-16s the way infantry in the 21st Century do.
Yellowflash should get you or someone with your level of expertise to Beta read his next comic.
My thought was also that he could have used some beta readers.
I guess film makers and comic creators see stuff in movies (like the Screaming Eagles patch?) and assume it’s all universal or interchangeable. Ya Boi probably watched Band of Brothers (which BTW had very solid military advisors, wink-wink) and decided every military unit was outfitted that way. I started watching a streaming flick once wherein the main characters were members of the same rifle squad but had like 5 different unit patches.
Comic Books? There's a reason John Severin, Wally Wood, and Harvey Kurtzman are still read today, 70 years later. They spent the time and did the RESEARCH!!!
One of the great things about reading old issues of everything from Captain America to Sergeant Rock is they were written and illustrated by World War Two veterans. Jack Kirby was not just a World War Two veteran but a combat veteran (unlike Stan Lee who spent the entire war stateside). And I agree - verisimilitude matters. I couldn't tell if those aircraft were Wildcats or Hellcats but they were clearly Navy fighter planes - over North Africa? Fighting the Afrika Corps? Someone get this guy a DVD of the first season of RAT PATROL! Even that show had many errors but not ones so blatant. My favorite is the ACE with kills from both the Pacific Theater and the North African theater. There was only ONE Navy ace who shot down both Japanese and German aircraft: Diz Laird.
A REAL superhero: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_S._Laird
So…even more rare than I thought. I know some ground-pounders who didn’t have enough “points” at VE Day were sent from the ETO to mop up in the Pacific. But if a pilot had even one confirmed kill, he probably had enough points to be exempted. If it even worked that way in the AAF.
You are right about Kirby and the others. In fact, now that you mention it, I think I remember Chuck Dixon saying most of the writers and artists on the war comics were combat vets.
I have the same pet peeve. My attitude is, if you’re going to write military fantasy or military science fiction, at least do some basic research.
I was recently looking at a crowdfunding page for Ya Boi Zack. He was doing two comics: one on the Korean War (by the Critical Drinker) and the other on Vietnam. In both, the artwork contains historical inaccuracies. In the Korean comic, troops from the 101st Airborne (which did not participate in the Korean War) raid an airbase deep behind enemy lines. On the tarmac is a fuel truck, with the word FUEL written in English on the side. In the Vietnam comic, the infantrymen are incorrectly carrying their M-16s the way infantry in the 21st Century do.
Yellowflash should get you or someone with your level of expertise to Beta read his next comic.
My thought was also that he could have used some beta readers.
I guess film makers and comic creators see stuff in movies (like the Screaming Eagles patch?) and assume it’s all universal or interchangeable. Ya Boi probably watched Band of Brothers (which BTW had very solid military advisors, wink-wink) and decided every military unit was outfitted that way. I started watching a streaming flick once wherein the main characters were members of the same rifle squad but had like 5 different unit patches.
And don’t get me started on hand-arm signals.
If the movies want it done right, they hire Captain Dale Dye, USMC (ret).
Comic Books? There's a reason John Severin, Wally Wood, and Harvey Kurtzman are still read today, 70 years later. They spent the time and did the RESEARCH!!!
And they told some good stories.
July's only real problem is how many character are needed to find the hits. Marvel, DC and the indies are littered with flop.
From what you are saying, the writer and artist could have used a WWII documentary dvd set.
Or even just had somebody look it over who knows about the milleu they were basing their story in.