Nuke 'Em! - Classic Cold War Comics!

It's the end of the world as we know it! No, I'm not talking about the implacable plague sweeping across our planet and transforming habits and attitudes of generations, I'm talking about an early 1950's comic books which in that time focused the threat which lingered in the mind of every thinking citizen of this country, the seemingly inevitable destruction of the society as a result of atomic warfare. Some few of those awesome memoirs of horrific nostalgia have been gathered together in a little book from Hermes Press titled straightforwardly enough Nuke 'Em! Classic Cold War Comics Celebrating the End of the World.

 In the first issue of the four-issue series titled Atomic War! from Ace Magazines the United States comes under attack by the Soviet Union and atomic bombs drop on New York City, Chicago and Detroit, the cultural, food, and manufacturing centers of the country at that time. The devastation is show in vintage four-color detail. In other stories in the issue the American forces in Berlin are featured and a counter-attack is launched from the most northern outposts of the United States. It's fascinating to read stories of different soldiers and fighters in varied regions operating within a single continuity.

That continuity continues in the second issue of the series when we follow bombers on their vengeance flight into Russian territory and the bombing of three cities is accomplished. A hydrogen bomb is dropped on Moscow utterly destroying it. Other stories follow United States troops looking for action and finding it in Alaska dubbed the "Ice-Box" and U.N. troops defending a bridge in Europe. The tone of these stories is not all that different from typical war stories of the time, but knowing they take place inside a dark world devastated by atomic weapons adds an intensity.
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In the penultimate issue of the Atomic War!'s brief run we continue with the fall out (not literally as there seems to be almost no mention of radiation in this comic so far) of the Russians heinous sneak attack and the reprisals from the United States. The focus is on Europe as we follow a determined commando and his desire for revenge for the deaths of his family when he gives all to destroy a missile base. The series has a vaguely science fiction feel at this point with futuristic weapons coming more and more into play. Then we shift to the Atlantic and the combat between deadly Russian subs and the Allied ships. A text story features a lone man who stops an enemy beachhead and the issue wraps up with futuristic tanks battling it out in the fields of Europe.

In the fourth and final issue of Atomic War! we are far along on some sci-fi concepts. It begins with an arctic attack by the Russians which brings into play a deadly nerve gas and sci-fi tanks but this forestalled by American pluck, know-how and big bad jets. Another story about an old-timer still leading troops who have little respect for him finds the enemy using "pulverizers" which find sound frequencies to disintegrate metal. A text story features a brave man who catches the enemy off guard and blows up a major installation. During one story a mention is made of a balloon for observation and that reminded me that these stories predate satellites, but satellites are the center of a story which features a master of disguise as he tries ti infiltrate a Russian base intent on launching a satellite into space. And finally, we go underwater as an American finds a way to work with his Turkish counterpart long enough to destroy an enemy oil center. And that wraps the series. 

The most amazing thing about these stories is that despite a feel of classic war stories at times, they all fit within a continuity established in the very first issue and pretty much adhered to   throughout the brief four-issue run. These are advertised as cautionary tales of a war which might happen in that relatively brief time between the close of WWII and the advent of "overkill" nuclear missile arsenals on both sides. The threat was bombers loaded with nukes, nukes which were still considered at some level tactical. That is until we made so many that it became madness to use them. 

At the same time that Atomic War! was being published 1952 and 1953, the Ace Comics brand knocked out a second nearly identical comic book title World War III. The two books had pretty much the same premise, the United States undergoes a devastating sneak attack by the Soviets and atomic power is used repeatedly. I don't get the sense the books were part of the same continuity, but it would be really easy to make them so. If anything World War III had a more sci-fi feel than its companion. The cover to the first issue is one of the most iconic in all the lore of the comic field. Alas the stories beneath are more pedestrian in nature than the wild chaotic  cover.

Aside from the first story which does deliver this feel, the rest of the stories are about counter attacks and are more in the traditional war comics mode save with more futuristic weapons and gear. There are a couple of full-page images which really communicate the sense of destruction an atomic attack could wreak.

The second and final issue of World War III, the series is even more like a sci-fi comic and that's evident by the front cover which reminds me less of a war comic and more of the classic cover of Amazing Stories which debuted Buck Rogers. There are three stories here on land, sea, and air and the plot to all of them deal with men who get little respect from their peers due to age or limitation but who prove themselves more than worthy.

These stories though it must be remembered hail from a time when atomic attack was believed to be imminent and so the images carried more weight. These are delivered as cautionary tales, meant to enlighten and warn as much as to entertain.

Note: This post originally appeared in somewhat different form at Rip Jagger's Other Dojo. 

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