Monster of the Day #1165

Updated on June 12, 2015 By Ken Begg 21 Comments

Seriously, I again call for a Tales of the Crypt-type anthology series adapting crazy comic book stories, of which there are a ton in the public domain. Dammit, SyFy, do something cool for a change. (In this case, Warners, get on it. Oh, wait, then they’d be all grim ‘n gritty.)

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  • Luke Blanchard

    The cover story was from a series that ran in STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES from 1960-67. DC published a B&W collection of the instalments from #90-#128 a few years ago called SHOWCASE PRESENTS: THE WAR THAT TIME FORGOT. The feature was briefly revived in WEIRD WAR TALES in 1980-82.

    The few instalments I’ve read were all basically the same: something or other happens to put US soldiers fighting WWII on an island where they have to fight off dinosaurs. The above issue was apparently a return appearance by the pterodactyl rider.
    It’s beyond me why there’s no movie version.

  • Flangepart

    Hummm…Russ Heath or Joe Kubert?

  • Gamera977

    So the Japanese made fun of Cary Grant’s pink submarine but they had a mauve one themselves???

  • Ericb

    Rocks vs. Machine Guns and Anti-Aircraft guns. Don’t like those odds.

  • Beckoning Chasm

    Is it wrong of me to point out that there aren’t any birds in this scene?

  • Gamera977

    ‘Why don’t you try dropping rocks on IJN Yamato Baka san, um (snicker) I mean Birdman san!!!

  • CaptNemo

    Toho Studio’s interpretation of ‘Das Boot’ was going as expected.

    True to form, 30 years later, the American studios remade it using a CGI submarine as the main character.

  • bgbear_rnh

    He can be a Bird-Man if he feels that way inside.

  • Beckoning Chasm

    It looks more like Heath than Kubert, but I have a feeling it’s neither.

  • sandra

    The sad thing is that rock won’t even hit the submarine, so even as a futile gesture, its … futile.

  • Gamera977

    You’re right it’s got to be a German U-boat- if it were a Japanese submarine we all know it would have a giant corkscrew on the bow…

  • Eric Hinkle

    Weren’t there also some Japanese soldiers marooned on the island? Or am I remembering another series?

  • bgbear_rnh

    If the rock hits its mark, they’ll be marooned.

  • Rock Baker

    The thing that sticks out to my eye is that the flag may be wrong. Didn’t all Imperial Japanese craft during the war bear the rising sun flag? I more associate the plain red circle version with the post-war period. I’m no expert, of course, this flag may well’ve been in use at the time, but it doesn’t look quite right.

  • bgbear_rnh

    No expert but, just from memory and googling pictures, I think the plain red sun was standard marking for the military vehicles.

  • Rock Baker

    The more I think about it, I do recall seeing it on most Japanese tanks and trucks. I guess I must’ve seen a sub carrying the rising sun flag, though, because it still doesn’t look right to me!

  • Luke Blanchard

    I’ve only read a few instalments, two or three from WEIRD WAR TALES and one from the original series. Apparently there were some recurring characters during parts of the feature’s 60s run, but I’d be surprised if there was very much continuity. So it could be some stories had Japanese on the island and others didn’t.
    The writer was Robert Kanigher, who created series with good premises but often wrote in a rote way. The one I’ve read from the original run is “My Buddy – the Dinosaur!” from #124, which is even dottier than it sounds.

    #130 and #135 both have covers with an American and a Japanese working together to survive. The title was a bimonthly, so the issues appeared ten months apart.

  • Eric Hinkle

    Thanks. Was this also the title that introduced the GI Robot? I remember reading several stories about him.

  • Luke Blanchard

    The were a trio of stories with the first G.I. Robot in STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES in #101-#103, and another with a second one in #125. Those were all “The War That Time Forgot” ones, so they’re in the collection.

    A new G.I. Robot, J.A.K.E. 1, was introduced in WEIRD WAR TALES #101 in 1981. It returned in #108 and was destroyed in #111, in a “Creature Commandos” crossover. J.A.K.E. 2 was introduced in #113, and appeared in its own stories or as a member of the Creature Commandos to the title’s end, but not in every issue. There was a final G.I. Robot/War That Time Forgot story in #120. (That’s also one with a King Kong surrogate; that idea was also used in the 60s, e.g. in STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #111.)

  • Eric Hinkle

    Thanks. I didn’t know there were two GI Robots.

  • rtpoeman

    The “Rising Sun” flag was official for the Japanese Navy (and Army, too). There were a few variants using different numbers of rays and either a central or offset “sun”. A remote possibility is that the sub is some sort of merchant vessel, but I’d say it’s more likely that it’s a “false flag” operation by the Soviets out of Vladivostok, attempting to start an international incident that would help them seize all of the Kuril Islands. Figure the Commies would get the flag wrong.