Men of War #1

History

The series title drew directly on DC's earlier All-American Men of War, which had run from 1952 to 1966 before going dormant; Men of War relaunched in 1977 as a stripped-down anthology, edited by Joe Orlando as managing editor with Paul Levitz serving as story editor. The lead Gravedigger feature in issue #1 was written by David Michelinie — then an emerging Bronze Age writer who would soon become closely identified with Marvel — with art by penciler Ed Davis and inker Romeo Tanghal, a team whose grounded, realistic style consciously echoed the gritty look of DC's other contemporaneous war books. The cover of issue #1 was itself drawn by Ed Davis, making it the sole issue of the 26-issue run whose cover was not supplied by Joe Kubert, who handled all remaining covers. Managing editor Orlando oversaw a roster of regular contributors across the series that eventually included writers Robert Kanigher, Roger McKenzie, Cary Burkett, and Jack C. Harris, alongside artists Dick Ayers, Jerry Grandenetti, and Howard Chaykin.

Trivia · 7 facts

• First appearance and origin of Captain Ulysses Hazard, code-named Gravedigger, created by writer David Michelinie and artist Ed Davis.
• Gravedigger is widely recognized as the first Black character to serve as the lead protagonist of the primary feature in an ongoing American comic book series.
• The origin story establishes that Hazard, a Birmingham, Alabama native who overcame childhood polio, was assigned to graves detail by a segregated U.S. Army; after his best friend was killed by a Nazi fighter plane, he went AWOL and broke into the Pentagon to prove his combat ability to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
• The issue contains a second story featuring Enemy Ace (Hans von Hammer), DC's German WWI fighter-pilot character, in a story written by Robert Kanigher — Enemy Ace would appear in approximately half of the series' 26 issues.
• Edited by Joe Orlando (managing editor) and Paul Levitz (story editor); the cover was drawn by Ed Davis — the only issue in the 26-issue run not covered by Joe Kubert.
• Gravedigger appeared in every single one of the series' 26 issues (August 1977 – March 1980), making the character one of the longest-running continuous leads in DC's war-comics history.
• The Gravedigger feature and selected other series content were later collected in Showcase Presents: Men of War (DC, 2014), and Enemy Ace material from the run was also reprinted in Showcase Presents: Enemy Ace (DC, 2008); a version of the Gravedigger character (adapted as Tyson Sykes) appeared in Season 3 of the CW television series Black Lightning, portrayed by Wayne Brady.

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