imported>Bob Picklesnout at 22:19, 9 October 2024

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{{Short description|DC Comics war comics anthology}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2016}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2016}}
{{Infobox comic book title 
| image = Our Fighting Forces 29.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Cover to ''Our Fighting Forces'' #29 (Jan. 1958), art by [[Joe Kubert]].
| schedule = '''Bimonthly:''' #1–11, #53–64, #104–153, #167–181 '''Monthly:''' #12–52, #154–166 '''Eight times a year:''' #65–103
| format =
| ongoing = y
| publisher = [[DC Comics]]
| date = October–November 1954 – September–October 1978
| issues = 181
| main_char_team = Gunner, Sarge and Pooch Larry Rock the Fighting Devil Dog Capt. Hunter Lt. Hunter's Hellcats [[Losers (comics)|The Losers]]
| writers = {{List collapsed|[[Sam Glanzman]], [[Archie Goodwin (comics)|Archie Goodwin]], [[France Herron]], [[Robert Kanigher]], [[Jack Kirby]]}}
| artists = {{List collapsed|[[Jack Abel]], [[Ross Andru]], [[Ken Barr]], [[Gene Colan]], Ed Davis, [[Mort Drucker]], [[Mike Esposito (comics)|Mike Esposito]], [[Ric Estrada]], [[George Evans (comics)|George Evans]], [[Sam Glanzman]], [[Jerry Grandenetti]], [[Russ Heath]], [[Bruce Jones (comics)|Bruce Jones]], [[Jack Kirby]], [[Joe Kubert]], [[Irv Novick]], [[John Severin]], [[Tom Sutton]], [[Frank Thorne]], [[Alex Toth]], [[Wally Wood]]}}
| pencillers =
| inkers =
| colorists =
| editors = {{List collapsed|[[Robert Kanigher]] (#1–113) [[Joe Kubert]] (#114–143) [[Archie Goodwin (comics)|Archie Goodwin]] (#144–150) [[Jack Kirby]] (#151–162) [[Murray Boltinoff]] (#163–181)}}
| creative_team_month =
| creative_team_year =
| creators =
| subcat = DC Comics
| sort = Our Fighting Forces
| TPB = Jack Kirby's The Losers
| ISBN = 1-4012-2165-3
}}
'''''Our Fighting Forces''''' is a [[War comics|war]] [[comics anthology]] series published by [[DC Comics]] for 181 issues from 1954 to 1978.

==Publication history==
''Our Fighting Forces'' began with an October-November 1954 [[cover date]].<ref name="GCD">{{gcdb series|id= 1025|title= Our Fighting Forces}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1= Overstreet|first1= Robert M.|title= [[Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide]]|edition= 49th|publisher= [[Gemstone Publishing]]|date= 2019|location= Timonium, Maryland|pages= 918|isbn= 978-1603602334}}</ref> Writer-editor [[Robert Kanigher]]'s work appeared in most issues of the title. Artist [[Alex Toth]] worked with writer/editor [[Archie Goodwin (comics)|Archie Goodwin]] on the story "Burma Sky" in ''Our Fighting Forces'' #146 (Dec. 1973–Jan. 1974) and Goodwin praised Toth's art in a 1998 interview: "To me, having Alex Toth do any kind of airplane story, it's a joy for me. If I see a chance to do something like that, I will. He did a really fabulous job on it".<ref>{{cite journal|last= Cooke|first= Jon B.|title= Archie's Comics - Archie Goodwin talks about DC in his last interview|journal= [[Comic Book Artist]]|issue= #1|publisher= [[TwoMorrows Publishing]]|date= Spring 1998|location= Raleigh, North Carolina|url= http://twomorrows.com/comicbookartist/articles/01goodwin.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120307162234/http://twomorrows.com/comicbookartist/articles/01goodwin.html|archive-date= March 7, 2012|url-status= live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> "Burma Sky" was reprinted in black-and-white decades later in ''Genius Illustrated: The Life and Work of Alex Toth''.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Arndt|first=Richard J.|title="Nice" Is the Word: A Few Words on Archie Goodwin|journal=[[Back Issue!]]|issue=#103 |page=10|publisher=[[TwoMorrows Publishing]]|date=April 2018 |location=Raleigh, North Carolina}}</ref> [[Jack Kirby]] wrote and drew issues #151 to 162 featuring [[The Losers (comics)|The Losers]].<ref name="GCD" /><ref>{{cite book|last=McAvennie|first= Michael|editor-last = Dolan|editor-first = Hannah|chapter= 1970s|title = DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle|publisher=[[Dorling Kindersley]]|year=2010|location= London, United Kingdom|isbn= 978-0-7566-6742-9|page= 161|quote= Jack Kirby also took on a group of established DC characters that had nothing to lose. The result was a year-long run of ''Our Fighting Forces'' tales that were action-packed, personal, and among the most beloved of World War II comics ever produced.}}</ref> Other contributors include artists [[Jack Abel]], [[Ross Andru]], [[Ken Barr]], [[Gene Colan]], Ed Davis, [[Mort Drucker]], [[Mike Esposito (comics)|Mike Esposito]], [[Ric Estrada]], [[George Evans (comics)|George Evans]], [[Jerry Grandenetti]], [[Russ Heath]], [[Bruce Jones (comics)|Bruce Jones]], [[Joe Kubert]], [[Irv Novick]], [[John Severin]], [[Tom Sutton]], [[Frank Thorne]], and [[Wally Wood]], some of whom would also script. The series was cancelled as part of the [[DC Implosion]] with issue #181 (September–October 1978).<ref name="GCD" />

An ''Our Fighting Forces'' [[one-shot (comics)|one-shot]] was published in November 2010.<ref>{{Gcdb issue|id= 779009|title= ''Our Fighting Forces'' one-shot}}</ref>

== Recurring features ==
Features published in ''Our Fighting Forces'' include:
* Gunner and Sarge (from issue #45 [May 1959] to issue #94 [August 1965]) — two "Mud-Marines" and their white [[German Shepherd]] dog Pooch on a small island in the Pacific.<ref name="Irvine">[[Alexander C. Irvine|Irvine, Alex]] "1950s" in Dolan, p. 73</ref>
* The Fighting Devil-Dog Lt. Larry Rock (the brother of ''[[Our Army at War]]'s'' [[Sgt. Rock]]) (from issue #95 [October 1965] until #98 [February 1966]) — Marine wounded at the [[Battle of Corregidor]] by [[Shrapnel (fragment)|shrapnel]] in his head that literally makes him see red on a Pacific island.
* Capt. Phil Hunter (from issue #99 [April 1966] until #105 [January–February 1967]) — Green Beret in the [[Vietnam War]] searching for his twin brother Nick, a pilot shot down by the [[Viet Cong]].
* Lt. Hunter's Hellcats (from #106 [March–April 1967] until #123 [January–February 1970])— Capt. Hunter's father Ben in World War II who formed a unit of military prisoners (a comics copy of ''[[The Dirty Dozen]]'').<ref name="Irvine" />
* [[The Losers (comics)|The Losers]] (issues #123 [January–February 1970] to #181 [September–October 1978]) — DC Comics war heroes<ref name="Irvine" /> who had lost their own features:
** Capt. Storm of the Navy who appeared in his own series ''Capt. Storm'' which lasted 18 issues.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.toonopedia.com/capstorm.htm|title= Captain Storm|first= Don|last= Markstein|date= 2010|publisher= [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]]|archive-url= https://archive.today/20120913063617/http://www.toonopedia.com/capstorm.htm|archive-date= September 13, 2012|url-status= live|df= mdy-all}}</ref>
** Johnny Cloud of the [[Army Air Forces]] who appeared in ''[[All-American Men of War]]''.
** Gunner & Sarge of the Marines who appeared in their own feature in ''Our Fighting Forces''.

==Collected editions==
* '''''America at War''''' includes ''Our Fighting Forces'' #49: "Blind Gunner!" by [[Robert Kanigher]] and [[Jerry Grandenetti]] and ''Our Fighting Forces'' #102: "Cold Steel for a Hot War!" by Kanigher and [[Jack Abel]], 247 pages, July 1979, {{ISBN|978-0671249533}}
* '''''[[Showcase Presents]]: The Losers''''' collects ''G.I. Combat'' #138 and ''Our Fighting Forces'' #123–150, 456 pages, April 2012, {{ISBN|1-4012-3437-2}}
* '''''[[USS Stevens (DD-479)|U.S.S. Stevens]]: The Collected Stories''''' includes "U.S.S. Stevens" stories from ''Our Fighting Forces'' #125–128, 132, 134, 136, 138–141, 143, and 148, 424 pages, July 2016, {{ISBN|978-0486801582}}<ref>{{Gcdb issue|id= 1661481|title= ''U.S.S. Stevens: The Collected Stories''}}</ref>
* '''''The Losers by Jack Kirby''''' collects ''Our Fighting Forces'' #151–162, 240 pages, March 2009, {{ISBN|1-4012-2165-3}}<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.dccomics.com/graphic-novels/the-losers-by-jack-kirby|title= ''The Losers'' by Jack Kirby|date= March 11, 2009|publisher= DC Comics|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130114202753/http://www.dccomics.com/graphic-novels/the-losers-by-jack-kirby|archive-date=January 14, 2013|url-status= live|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Jack Kirby bibliography]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{comicbookdb|type=title|id=7411|title=''Our Fighting Forces''}}
* [http://www.coverbrowser.com/covers/our-fighting-forces ''Our Fighting Forces''] at Cover Browser
* [http://www.mikesamazingworld.com/mikes/features/series.php?seriesid=1535 ''Our Fighting Forces''] and [http://www.mikesamazingworld.com/mikes/features/comic.php?comicid=69210 ''Our Fighting Forces'' one-shot] at Mike's Amazing World of Comics

{{DC Comics War Titles|state=collapsed}}
{{Jack Kirby}}

[[Category:1954 comics debuts]]
[[Category:1978 comics endings]]
[[Category:Bimonthly magazines published in the United States]]
[[Category:Comics about the United States Marine Corps]]
[[Category:Comics anthologies]]
[[Category:Comics by Archie Goodwin (comics)]]
[[Category:Comics by Bob Haney]]
[[Category:Comics by Jack Kirby]]
[[Category:Comics by Robert Kanigher]]
[[Category:Comics magazines published in the United States]]
[[Category:Comics set during the Vietnam War]]
[[Category:DC Comics one-shots]]
[[Category:DC Comics set during World War II]]
[[Category:Defunct American comics]]
[[Category:Eight times annually magazines published in the United States]]
[[Category:Magazines established in 1954]]
[[Category:Magazines disestablished in 1978]]
[[Category:Monthly magazines published in the United States]]
[[Category:War comics]]

Our Fighting Forces - Revision history

imported>Bob Picklesnout at 22:19, 9 October 2024