When I think about the comics that have shaped my understanding of human conflict, war comics stand tall as some of the most powerful storytelling ever committed to the page. War Comics have long been a favorite of mine, so today I want to take you on a romp through what I consider the absolute pinnacle of the genre.
War comics have consistently provided all of us comic fans with some of the medium’s most honest, brutal, and emotionally resonant work. These aren’t just stories about soldiers pulling triggers and grenade pins – they’re explorations of humanity pushed to its limits, moral complexities that have no easy answers, and historical narratives that give you a crash course in the horrors of war.
The Pioneers: EC Comics and the Revolution in War Storytelling
1. Two-Fisted Tales by Harvey Kurtzman (EC Comics)
When I first discovered Kurtzman’s groundbreaking work in Two-Fisted Tales, it completely transformed my understanding of what comics could accomplish. Published during the early 1950s when most war comics were jingoistic propaganda, Kurtzman dared to show the true face of combat.
What makes this series so revolutionary is its steadfast anti-war stance and Kurtzman’s obsessive commitment to historical accuracy. The research that went into each issue was staggering – from authentic uniforms to accurate weaponry to realistic military tactics. Kurtzman would sometimes spend weeks researching a single story!
My favorite aspect of Two-Fisted Tales is how it refused to demonize enemies or mythologize American soldiers. Everyone was portrayed as human – scared, confused, sometimes brave, sometimes cowardly. The famous “Enemy Assault” issue showed the same battle from both American and Korean perspectives, humanizing everyone involved in ways that were absolutely radical for the McCarthy era.
2. Frontline Combat by Harvey Kurtzman (EC Comics)
The companion series to Two-Fisted Tales, Frontline Combat deserves its own place on this list. While sharing Kurtzman’s meticulous attention to detail, Frontline often delved deeper into the psychological trauma of warfare.
What continues to astonish me about both these EC titles is that they were published during the Korean War itself, offering critical perspectives on militarism while young Americans were actively dying overseas. The courage this took can’t be overstated. These weren’t retrospective examinations – they were contemporary challenges to the dominant war narrative of their time.
British War Comics: Class Consciousness and Historical Reckoning
3. Charley’s War by Pat Mills and Joe Colquhoun
If I had to rescue one war comic from a burning building, it would be Charley’s War. This masterpiece, which ran in the British anthology Battle Picture Weekly from 1979 to 1985, follows working-class teenager Charley Bourne through the trenches of World War I.
What makes Charley’s War so exceptional is its unflinching portrayal of class exploitation. Mills consistently shows how upper-class officers sent working-class boys to die, how deserters were executed to maintain discipline, and how the war machinery chewed up and spat out the most vulnerable. Colquhoun’s detailed black-and-white artwork depicts the mud, blood, and desperation of trench warfare with devastating accuracy.
The Christmas truce sequence, where British and German soldiers temporarily lay down arms to play football in No Man’s Land, brings me to tears every time I read it. The sequence ends with officers forcing the men back to killing each other – a perfect encapsulation of the series’ themes.
4. Battle Picture Weekly (and Battle Action)
Running from 1975 to 1988, Battle revolutionized British comics with its gritty, working-class perspective. Besides hosting Charley’s War, it featured iconic strips like “Johnny Red” (about a British pilot flying with Soviet forces) and “The Major” (following a shellshocked officer in WWII).
What I find fascinating about Battle is how it reflected Britain’s post-imperial anxieties. Published during a time of national decline, economic crisis, and labor unrest, these comics often focused on characters who questioned authority and fought against impossible odds – mirroring the frustrations of working-class British readers.
5. Battle Action Weekly (Modern Revival)
When legendary writer Garth Ennis helped revive Battle Action for modern readers, he brought his signature unflinching style to these classic properties. As someone who grew up reading the originals, I was skeptical about the revival until I saw how masterfully Ennis honored the source material while updating the storytelling techniques.
What works brilliantly about this revival is that it doesn’t simply trade on nostalgia – it recaptures the original’s willingness to challenge contemporary military mythmaking. Just as the original Battle questioned the glorification of WWII during the tumultuous 1970s, Ennis’s version interrogates our post-9/11 military narratives.
American War Comics: From Propaganda to Critique
6. The ‘Nam by Doug Murray and Michael Golden
When The ‘Nam launched in 1986, Marvel took a huge risk by publishing a realistic Vietnam War comic under its mainstream banner. The brilliant concept – each issue representing one month in-country, with characters aging in real time – created an immersive reading experience unlike anything else in comics.
What continues to impress me about The ‘Nam is how it balances accessibility with complexity. It’s approachable enough for readers with no Vietnam knowledge but sophisticated enough to capture the war’s moral ambiguities. Golden’s artwork in the early issues sets a visual standard few war comics have matched – realistic without being exploitative, detailed without becoming cluttered.
The series eventually faltered when Marvel pushed for more superhero crossovers (the Punisher guest appearance still makes me cringe), but those first 30 issues remain a landmark achievement in war comics.
7. Sgt. Rock by Joe Kubert
Few artists captured the grim determination of the WWII infantry soldier like Joe Kubert. His distinctive rough-hewn linework perfectly embodied the exhaustion and resilience of Rock and Easy Company as they fought across the European theater.
What resonates most with me about Sgt. Rock is Kubert’s ability to convey moral weight through posture and expression. Rock’s perpetually furrowed brow and hunched shoulders carry the burden of command – every death under his watch visibly weighs on him. The famous “cloud of doom” that hangs over Easy Company’s doomed soldiers becomes a visual metaphor for war’s inevitable losses.
Despite being published under the Comics Code Authority, Kubert and writer Robert Kanigher found subtle ways to convey the psychological toll of combat, particularly in the haunting “letter home” sequences that contrasted battlefield realities with civilian perceptions.
8. Enemy Ace by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert
The brilliance of Enemy Ace lies in its radical perspective shift. Following German WWI flying ace Hans von Hammer, the “Hammer of Hell,” this series forced American readers to view combat through enemy eyes.
What fascinates me about this series is its existential approach to warfare. Von Hammer finds no joy in killing – he’s portrayed as a lonely figure who understands the futility of war but remains bound by duty and honor. His only true companion is a wolf he encounters in the Black Forest, symbolizing his separation from humanity.
Kubert’s aerial combat sequences remain unmatched – the fragility of those early canvas-and-wood aircraft conveyed through delicate linework that contrasts with the brutal consequences of their dogfights.
Beyond Traditional Combat: Expanding the Definition of War Comics
9. Weird War Tales by Various Authors
This anthology series holds a special place in my collection for its creative blend of horror and war narratives. By adding supernatural elements to combat stories, Weird War Tales often accessed deeper truths about warfare than more straightforward accounts.
What I love about this series is how it uses the supernatural as metaphor. Zombies in Vietnam become symbols of a conflict that refused to die. Ghost tanks in WWII represent technologies that have taken on lives of their own. These fantastical elements often communicate the surreal nature of combat more effectively than strict realism.
10.The Unknown Soldier by Bob Haney, Joe Kubert, David Michelinie, and Gerry Talaoc
When I first discovered The Unknown Soldier in those yellowed pages of Star Spangled War Stories, I was immediately struck by its brilliant central concept—a disfigured soldier whose bandaged face became a blank canvas for countless disguises. What makes this series so distinctive in DC’s war comics lineup is how it perfectly embodies war’s dehumanizing nature through its protagonist’s literal loss of identity.
Unlike Sgt. Rock’s frontline infantry battles or Enemy Ace’s aerial dogfights, The Unknown Soldier operated in the shadows—a covert operative who could become anyone, infiltrating enemy lines while wrestling with profound psychological trauma. The series reached its creative peak during the Michelinie/Talaoc run, where surreal nightmare sequences showed our hero desperately trying to remember his own face—creating some of the most psychologically complex mainstream war comics of their era.
The character’s enduring power comes from his perfect metaphorical resonance—he represents every unnamed casualty of war, the faceless masses who sacrifice everything yet remain unrecognized. Whether in his original WWII setting or in later reimaginings (like Dysart and Ponticelli’s bold Vertigo series set in Uganda’s civil war), The Unknown Soldier stands as a haunting reminder of war’s human cost and the way conflict erases individual identity. His issue #219, “The Edge of Eternity,” remains one of the most philosophically rich war comics ever published.
11. The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman
Is Maus a war comic? After years of consideration, I firmly believe it belongs in this category. Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel recounts his father’s experiences during the Holocaust, with Jews depicted as mice and Nazis as cats.
What makes Maus so devastating is how it connects historical trauma to present-day relationships. The narrative alternates between Vladek Spiegelman’s survival story and Art’s difficult interactions with his father decades later, showing how war’s psychological damage echoes through generations.
The anthropomorphic approach, far from diminishing the horror, heightens it by making the abstract concrete. When we see mice-people hiding from cat-people, the power dynamics of persecution become viscerally clear in ways that sometimes get lost in photography or realistic drawings.
Modern Masters: Carrying the Tradition Forward
12. Garth Ennis’ War Stories
Nobody writing today understands war comics better than Garth Ennis. His anthology series War Stories (and its spiritual successor Battlefields) continues the tradition of Kurtzman while updating it for contemporary readers.
What impresses me most about Ennis’s war writing is its emotional range. He can shift from dark humor to profound tragedy within a few pages. Stories like “Nightingale” (about Royal Navy sailors) or “Johann’s Tiger” (following a German tank crew on the Eastern Front) show his remarkable ability to humanize figures from all sides of a conflict.
Ennis’s research rivals Kurtzman’s, with accurate technical details and historical context enriching every story. Yet he never lets historical minutiae overshadow the human element at the core of each narrative.
The Rest of the Best: Completing Our Survey
13. Commando Comics
These pocket-sized British comics have been publishing since 1961, with over 5,500 issues to date! Their distinctive format – 64 black-and-white pages with painted covers – created a uniquely immersive reading experience.
What I appreciate about Commando is its global perspective. While American war comics tend to focus on US forces, Commando featured stories from all theaters and all nationalities – Polish resistance fighters, Australian jungle troops, Russian snipers, and countless others received their spotlight.
14. Blazing Combat by Archie Goodwin
Though it lasted only four issues before conservative pressure shut it down, Blazing Combat represents one of comics’ bravest anti-war statements. Published during the Vietnam War’s escalation, its unflinching depiction of combat’s futility proved too controversial for 1965 America.
What makes this series remarkable is how it connects different wars to show conflict’s cyclical nature. A story might begin with American soldiers in Vietnam before flashing back to similar scenarios in Korea, WWII, or even the Civil War – suggesting that the lessons of history remain perpetually unlearned.
15. Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Before Nick Fury became Marvel’s super-spy, he led the most diverse combat unit in comics. What made Sgt. Fury revolutionary was its integrated squad – featuring an African American, a Jewish soldier, an Italian American, and others at a time when segregation was still reality in much of America.
What I’ve always loved about this series is how it balanced bombastic Kirby action with genuinely progressive social messages. While less realistic than other entries on this list, it used its exaggerated approach to smuggle in surprisingly nuanced discussions of prejudice and brotherhood.
16. Our Army at War
This long-running DC title (1952-1977) served as the launching pad for characters like Sgt. Rock and Enemy Ace. Its 301-issue run chronicles the evolution of American war comics from straightforward patriotic adventures to more complex examinations of combat.
What fascinates me about reading through this series chronologically is watching how the genre evolved alongside American attitudes toward warfare. Early issues reflect Cold War certainties, while later issues – published during Vietnam – begin questioning military authority and purpose in subtle but significant ways.
The Lasting Power of War Comics
Looking across these fifteen titles, what strikes me is their ability to use a visual medium to capture something fundamentally chaotic and incomprehensible. The best war comics don’t just tell us about conflict – they make us feel the confusion, terror, and moral ambiguity of combat through their unique combination of words and images.
These comics matter because they cut through abstraction. They refuse to let us think about war as a strategic game or ideological crusade. Instead, they force us to confront its human dimensions – the individual lives caught in machinery too vast for any single person to control.
Whether you’re a longtime comic reader or someone curious about the medium’s capabilities, these fifteen titles offer profound insights into both warfare and comics artistry. They represent not just great war stories, but great storytelling, period – using every tool the comics medium offers to explore humanity’s most challenging experiences.
What war comics have affected you most deeply? Which titles would make your personal list? I’d love to continue this conversation in the comments below. So let me know, Weirdos!
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