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Archie Goodwin
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Blazing Combat Kindle & comiXology

by Archie Goodwin (Author), Various (Artist) Format: Kindle Edition
4.7 out of 5 stars 140
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Written by Archie Goodwin and drawn by such luminaries as Frank Frazetta, Wally Wood, John Severin, Alex Toth, Al Williamson, Russ Heath, Reed Crandall, and Gene Colan, Blazing Combat was originally published by independent comics publisher James Warren in 1965 and ’66. Following in the tradition of Harvey Kurtzman’s Two-Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat, Goodwin’s stories reflected the human realities and personal costs of war rather than exploiting the cliche´s of the traditional men’s adventure genre. They were among the best comics stories about war ever published.
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  1. Part of Series
    Blazing Combat
  2. Print length
    217 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    Not Enabled
  5. Publisher
    Fantagraphics
  6. Publication date
    January 1, 2010
  7. File size
    795589 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Not Enabled
  9. Word Wise
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  10. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

After its success replicating the classic EC horror comics a decade after their demise, the publisher of the black-and-white horror magazine Creepy followed the same formula in 1965 with a publication that emulated EC’s ahead-of-their-time war comics. Like Creepy, Blazing Combat was drawn by many EC veterans, including Wally Wood, John Severin, and Joe Orlando, as well as such talented artists as Alex Toth and Gene Colan. Scripter Archie Goodwin followed the EC model by eschewing the typical gung-ho, Sgt. Rock approach in favor of a generally antiwar tone and penning stories embracing historic conflicts from the American Revolution and Civil War to the then-current Vietnam War. It was that contemporary touch that led to the title’s undoing. A story in the second issue, told from the viewpoint of a peasant rice farmer whose village was occupied by the Vietcong and then destroyed in an American counterattack, induced wholesalers to reject the magazine and the military to banish it from PXs. Nevertheless, Blazing Combat’s four issues constitute a high-water mark of the war-comics genre. --Gordon Flagg

Review

"Blazing Combat reprints all 4 issues of the ground-breaking war series. These are fascinating stories, drawn by some of the top talent in comics, who did some of their finest works for this short-lived publication. The design work is A+."
― Innocent Bystander

"Blazing Combat collects some of the most beautiful black and white comic art you have ever seen... It also features interviews and some of the most beautiful printing I have seen. From cover to cover, this book is what keeps me in comics."
― Newsarama

"The Blazing Combat cartoonists made powerful contributions to the literature of war. ... Both civilians and veterans may welcome this anthology of comic book stories."
― Spectrum Culture

"Blazing Combat constitutes a high-water mark of the war-comics genre."
― Booklist

"Although the subject matter is bleak, the presentation it’s been given is beautiful. This is as good as war comics get."
― Bookgasm

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0191ZK26Q
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Fantagraphics (January 1, 2010)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 1, 2010
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 795589 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Not enabled
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 217 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 out of 5 stars 140

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
140 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

B.D.P
5.0 out of 5 stars A Magazine That Didn’t Get Its Chance At Greatness
Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2023
Verified Purchase
I stumbled across this magazine while shopping around eBay. I collected a couple and honestly don’t know why this Warren mag failed. Perhaps it was released during a time period where anti-war sentiment was rising due to our increasing involvement in Indochina. I think a lot of anti war movies being released and television media was really starting to sour on war. Like other Warren mags, the contents of these magazines were published in black and white with full color covers. Unlike other Warren magazines, it didn’t have the legs of its other horror mags like Creepy or Eerie, and lasted only four issues. Oh how brightly this magazine had shone in its short lifespan! This book is a chronological collection of all 4 of the magazines published under the Blazing Combat title. The artwork was fantastic with many of the best artists we consider as all time greats (Wood, Colan, Severin, Toth to name a few. The original magazine had Frank Frazetta covers, included in full color in the back of the book). Much in the tradition of EC and it’s combat titles of the early 50’s, it had the same format with each issue containing several short stories of war and combat from different eras. The writing was superb, and even had a few stories covering the then hot war against the Viet Cong. Not overly impressed with the construction of the hardcover for this book (my only real criticism), but the paper is really good and thick. As previously mentioned, the original stories were published in black and white and reprinted in the same manner. This should not be a surprise for people who collect or ever read Warren magazines. Nor should this dissuade anyone, as the action packed art and stories more than make up for this. Included also are some interviews with the creators and story tellers, chief among them publisher Warren and writer Archie Goodwin. A nice book to have and admire. Get it while you can!
One person found this helpful
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EC Fanaddict
5.0 out of 5 stars The next best thing to EC
Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2024
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Archie Goodwin was a card carrying member of the EC Fan-Addict Club, and his writing for Warren Publishing's Creepy and Eerie are highly revered. While that's well deserved, he was even better at war stories than horror! The short lived Blazing Combat was second only to Harvey Kurtzman's Two-Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat for EC...and the art, much of it by EC alumni, is stellar.
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JSS~Stylist
5.0 out of 5 stars Lets get it straight - the FRAZETTA COVER ART is here in FULL
Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2022
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Fantagraphics did an awesome job with this collection! I ended up getting the hardcover version despite the reviews saying the art for the original covers is not here (or the covers are all squeezed on one page). THAT IS NOT TRUE! I don't know what the others are talking about in their reviews but I bought the hardcover version and the Frazetta covers are here in full taking up one image per page and it looks fantastic! The art in these books is beautiful and the stories are just awesome. I kind of like that this was a short series as it makes what we got feel that much more special. If I had to complain, it would be that the cover for the hardcover is generic (the paperback is worse). I wish they would have just used one of the Frazetta covers but oh well. Love this collection!
4 people found this helpful
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Diego Cordoba
4.0 out of 5 stars Finally the wait is over
Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2009
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After waiting for more than a year for this book to come out, it finally arrived. I won't go into the details of how the original Blazing Combat magazine came to be (you can do so by reading the introduction and interviews included within), just bear in mind that between the covers of this book you'll be reading some of the best war stories ever (second only to Harvey Kurtzman's war titles for EC) and viewing the best comic book art ever (from some veteran EC artists and some newer ones like Gray Morrow, Gene Colan, Russ Heath and Alex Toth).

Okay, let's get on with the book itself. Fantagraphics has done a great job as usual. I actually prefer the sturdy mat paper Fantagraphics has used as opposed to the glossy paper Dark Horse used for their Creepy and Eerie reprints. There is no glare on the pages from your source of light and contrary from what you may think, the paper is actually heavy and sturdy and a million times better than the pulp paper used for the original comic. The reproduction is pristine clear, especially concerning the duo-tone and dot screen patterns that most of the artists used at the time. A special treat is of course Russ Heath's Give and take, which is probably the best use ever given to a duo-tone board (and the artwork itself will just blow you away). There are some interesting interviews with Jim Warren, the publisher, and Archie Goodwin, the editor and writer of most of the stories. And even if the series was done in the mid 60s, most of the stories still hold up to date. And the artwork is just the best that there ever was. Most fans, critics, etc. believe that the art in EC comics were the best ever, but to me, all those artists really came around and did their best work in the 60s and early 70s, mostly for the Warren magazines.

My only complaints are:

1. The book size. Smaller than the original magazines and smaller than Dark Horse's Eerie/Creepy reprints.

2. The covers by Frazetta aren't reproduced at the beginning of each chapter, but rather at the end of the book and only as a series of small vignettes.

3. It's a pity there is no input from the artists themselves, as I am sure most of them would have some pretty interesting stories to tell (at least those who are still alive).

4. It's a pity Fantagraphics didn't reproduce the original magazine's letters page section as well (as the Dark Horse reprints did), but this is only a minor complaint.

All in all, and keeping those minor complaints aside, this book is a real treat and is highly recommended. You won't be disappointed.
33 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Darryl Jones
5.0 out of 5 stars Blazing Combat
Reviewed in Canada on December 29, 2023
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Been looking for this for years, now I have it
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unkas27
4.0 out of 5 stars fond et forme nickel
Reviewed in France on November 12, 2023
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regrette seulement la qualite du papier (un peu cheap)
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Shaundimx
5.0 out of 5 stars War comics done right
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 18, 2021
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I was only aware of blazing combat from the Frazetta covers so had no idea what I was missing. The stories are all great, many way ahead of their time, but the artwork is just incredible. A whole host of classic artists doing some of their best work. Well worth the purchase.
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Duncan de Gross
5.0 out of 5 stars Uno de esos cómics imprescindibles...
Reviewed in Spain on January 3, 2021
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“Blazing Combat. Las historias que el ejército americano censuró” (Norma, 2011) me ha parecido un cómic muy destacable, muy interesante, por varias razones. Apareció en forma de revista en 1965, y solo llegó hasta el cuarto número, a pesar de que detrás tenía a un gran puñado de dibujantes, de los mejores de momento, con Archie Goodwin como guionista, que hubieran atraído, sin duda, con sus historias cortas a una clientela numerosa.
El problema, que llevó a la censura, fue el trasfondo de la Guerra de Vietnam, y que en esta revista, basada en historias cortas de las diferentes guerras donde habían luchado los estadounidenses, ellos no siempre eran los buenos, ni los protagonistas, y que podían verse viñetas en las que los soldados estadounidenses sufrían y morían de lo lindo, tanto contra indios, alemanes de la Primera y Segunda Guerra Mundial, coreanos del norte, británicos en la guerra de independencia, vietnamitas y malvados españoles (si, sale una historia basada en la batalla de la Colina de San Juan, de Cuba), cuando no contra otros americanos en la Guerra de Secesión (1861-1865).
Con un tufillo antibelicista, donde muchos de los personajes se cuestionaban que hacían allí con un fusil en la mano, tanto los militares como muchos mayoristas encargados de la venta de revistas y cómics, decidieron que “Blazing Combat” era anti-americana, e hicieron todo lo posible para que muriera en el cuarto de sus números, aquí recopilados en este integral.
En sus poco más de doscientas páginas, en blanco y negro, encontrarás una entrevista al propietario de la editorial original (Warrwn) que publicó el comic, Jim Warren, que por aquel entonces llevaban también “Creepy”, “Eerie”, “Vampirella o “The Spirit” entre sus publicaciones, y que acabó hundiéndose en 1983, coincidiendo con el fin de una etapa muy concreta del cómic (el terror dejó pasó al cómic subversivo y a los superhéroes que estrenaban películas en el cine, como el caso de “Superman”). Igualmente, una entrevista al guionista Archie Goodwin, las cuatro cubiertas a todo color de Frank Frazetta y las 29 historias cortas dibujadas por Joe Orlando, Gene Colan, Angelo Torres o Alex Toth, por citaros algunos de sus artistas.
Una curiosidad es que la publicación contenía unos “Quiz”, en los que se ponía a prueba al lector sobre sus conocimientos bélicos, con las típicas preguntas y tres posibles respuestas.
Si te interesa el cómic bélico, sinceramente, creo que este cómic debes tenerlo, leerlo, y disfrutarlo. Quizás sea un tanto exagerado lo que afirma el Historiador del Cómic, Richard Arndt, en su frase “Probablemente el mejor cómic bélico jamás publicado”, pero si es verdad que entre sus creadores hay diez Premios Eisner, y que su lectura es de lo más entretenida.
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Duncan de Gross
5.0 out of 5 stars Uno de esos cómics imprescindibles...
Reviewed in Spain on January 3, 2021
“Blazing Combat. Las historias que el ejército americano censuró” (Norma, 2011) me ha parecido un cómic muy destacable, muy interesante, por varias razones. Apareció en forma de revista en 1965, y solo llegó hasta el cuarto número, a pesar de que detrás tenía a un gran puñado de dibujantes, de los mejores de momento, con Archie Goodwin como guionista, que hubieran atraído, sin duda, con sus historias cortas a una clientela numerosa.
El problema, que llevó a la censura, fue el trasfondo de la Guerra de Vietnam, y que en esta revista, basada en historias cortas de las diferentes guerras donde habían luchado los estadounidenses, ellos no siempre eran los buenos, ni los protagonistas, y que podían verse viñetas en las que los soldados estadounidenses sufrían y morían de lo lindo, tanto contra indios, alemanes de la Primera y Segunda Guerra Mundial, coreanos del norte, británicos en la guerra de independencia, vietnamitas y malvados españoles (si, sale una historia basada en la batalla de la Colina de San Juan, de Cuba), cuando no contra otros americanos en la Guerra de Secesión (1861-1865).
Con un tufillo antibelicista, donde muchos de los personajes se cuestionaban que hacían allí con un fusil en la mano, tanto los militares como muchos mayoristas encargados de la venta de revistas y cómics, decidieron que “Blazing Combat” era anti-americana, e hicieron todo lo posible para que muriera en el cuarto de sus números, aquí recopilados en este integral.
En sus poco más de doscientas páginas, en blanco y negro, encontrarás una entrevista al propietario de la editorial original (Warrwn) que publicó el comic, Jim Warren, que por aquel entonces llevaban también “Creepy”, “Eerie”, “Vampirella o “The Spirit” entre sus publicaciones, y que acabó hundiéndose en 1983, coincidiendo con el fin de una etapa muy concreta del cómic (el terror dejó pasó al cómic subversivo y a los superhéroes que estrenaban películas en el cine, como el caso de “Superman”). Igualmente, una entrevista al guionista Archie Goodwin, las cuatro cubiertas a todo color de Frank Frazetta y las 29 historias cortas dibujadas por Joe Orlando, Gene Colan, Angelo Torres o Alex Toth, por citaros algunos de sus artistas.
Una curiosidad es que la publicación contenía unos “Quiz”, en los que se ponía a prueba al lector sobre sus conocimientos bélicos, con las típicas preguntas y tres posibles respuestas.
Si te interesa el cómic bélico, sinceramente, creo que este cómic debes tenerlo, leerlo, y disfrutarlo. Quizás sea un tanto exagerado lo que afirma el Historiador del Cómic, Richard Arndt, en su frase “Probablemente el mejor cómic bélico jamás publicado”, pero si es verdad que entre sus creadores hay diez Premios Eisner, y que su lectura es de lo más entretenida.
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Big Bird
5.0 out of 5 stars Wunderbare Neuauflage
Reviewed in Germany on January 19, 2010
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Wunderbar gestaltete Neuauflage des legendären Kriegscomics 'Blazing Combat', das auf Druck der Veteranenverbände der USA nach der 5. Ausgabe in den 60iger Jahren eingestellt werden musste, da es zu realistisch und unpatriotisch war.
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