Our Army at War #258 p. 12 (Sgt. Rock vs. Toshiro Mifune by Russ Heath)

For many (if not most) people, Joe Kubert is THE Sgt. Rock artist. For me, Joe was THE Tarzan artist. Russ Heath was my Sgt. Rock artist. I've had a few chances to get some very good Heath pages over the years, but I chose to wait and find one from my favorite of his stories. Unfortunately, in the time it took me to find one, the cost to acquire it went up considerably. Was it worth the wait and extra cash? (Maybe not; I don't know, but the heart wants what the heart wants.)

Heath drew a few Sgt. Rock stories in the late 60s, but his big run was in the early 1970s, during the "MAKE WAR NO MORE" era. And my favorite issue, the one that I read time and time again until the cover's spine was rolled and cracked, was the main story from issue #258, "The Survivor". (Not that I knew this at the time, but Bob Kanigher's scenario was similar to the movie, "Hell in the Pacific," John Boorman's World War II film about two opposing soldiers, Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune, who are marooned on an uninhabited island.)

In the previous issues, Rock left Easy Co. and the European Theater and was sent on a one-man mission to the Pacific Theater. However, as the plane he was riding in had been blown out of the sky by the Japanese, issue 258 started with Rock alone, adrift on a rubber dinghy in the ocean. Heat and lack of drinking water cause Rock to hallucinate that he is back in Europe battling Nazis with Easy. He snaps out of it just in time to be washed ashore on an isolated island. He soon learns that he shares the island with three Japanese soldiers and is forced to kill two of them. Afterward, he makes a truce with the third Japanese soldier, a fellow sergeant who bears a remarkable resemblance to Mifune. As in the movie, with little to no food or drinkable water on the island, the two decide to work together and attempt to escape the island using a raft. The ending (spoilers ahead), which showed the seemingly meaningless death of the Japanese sergeant, stuck with me long after my initial reading.


Anyway, a few months ago, my long wait was over when several pages from the story showed up on Romitaman's site. One of the pages I considered, which was slightly more expensive, was the last page. It contained the final very dramatic confrontation between the two sergeants as well as the "MAKE WAR NO MORE" tag. Initially, this was the page that most caught my interest.

However, the one that I thought best showed off Heath's artistry was page 12 (listed as page 14 on the page itself) and that was the one I chose. Heath's inking, his mastery of lighting and texture as well as his meticulous realism are all on full display. I particularly liked the second panel which showed the raft from below being pursued by a shark. Also, that final panel where Rock rescues his Japanese counterpoint from being washed away by a large wave is a joy to behold.