The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library #22

In the stark silence of the frontier, a man with a grudge and a loaded revolver contemplates the weight of the final bullet—each shot a step toward an inevitable reckoning. As the Colt Single Action Army Revolver passes through hands marked by violence and regret, its legacy grows heavier with every life it claims, until it returns to Rufe, who faces his own reckoning with one round left.

In the tense aftermath of a brutal ambush, a lone American soldier stumbles through the wreckage of his unit, convinced his survival is thanks to a lucky kewpie doll tucked in his helmet. But when he realizes he’s wearing another man’s helmet—Winiarski’s—he’s left questioning whether fate or chance truly saved him.

In "Enemy Assault!", two soldiers—on opposite sides of a brutal conflict—find themselves face to face on a war-torn battlefield. As the American soldier confronts a Chinese Communist fighter, he’s stunned to realize the enemy isn’t a machine, but a man just like him: a husband, a father, bound by the same fears and hopes. With both sides closing in, the moment becomes a quiet test of humanity amid the chaos.

In the tense silence between battles, a U.S. soldier succumbs to a sudden case of appendicitis during a firefight with Communist forces. With no time to evacuate, a medic performs a desperate field operation guided by a doctor’s voice over the radio, risking everything to save him. But as the wounded soldier lies recovering, the front line is hit again—this time by enemy mortar fire—before American planes finally turn the tide.

In "Bouncing Bertha," a small beetle's desperate struggle in the water catches the attention of American soldiers, a moment that sharpens their focus on the unseen enemy lurking in the hills. With urgency in their eyes, they climb into their Patton M-46 tank—nicknamed "Bouncing Bertha"—and set out, only to become stuck as enemy forces close in. When the tank is destroyed, a sudden aerial assault and a helicopter's arrival rescue four of the crew, leaving Allen Burke behind to face the enemy alone, now furious that four escaped.

In "Death Stand!", Joe and his comrades race toward a downed U.S. fighter jet, hoping to save the pilot—only to be ambushed by an enemy tank that destroys one of their jeeps. With the surviving jeep carrying the rescued pilot, Joe stays behind, armed with a bag of grenades, as the tank advances.

In "Tin Can!", a tense moment aboard a U.S. Destroyer turns dire when Seaman 2/C Yearling is accidentally sealed inside a flooded compartment after a mine strike triggers General Quarters. Amid the chaos of emergency lights and rising water, he’s left trapped in the dark, isolated and unaware of how to escape.

In the frozen trenches of March 1951, a small unit of United Nations soldiers holds a desperate line on Hill 203, their only defense a single air-cooled 50-caliber machine gun. As enemy forces close in, each man falls one by one, yet the gun keeps firing—silent, relentless, the last witness to their sacrifice.

In "Combat Medic!", four medics face a harrowing choice when their unit prepares to retreat under fire, leaving behind a wounded British soldier. As they tend to him through the chaos, the line between duty and survival blurs—especially when the retreat turns deadly and the medics must forge a desperate path through enemy fire to reach safety.

In the muddy trenches of Korea in April 1951, a grumbling squad of soldiers bristles under the relentless grip of "General Mud" and their unrelenting sergeant, Shadburn. When a sudden enemy attack forces them into a deadly standstill, Shadburn’s leadership and courage are put to the test—leading the charge despite his injury, and narrowly escaping death thanks to a quiet act of bravery from a soldier known only as Duck Butt.

In "Stonewall Jackson!", a Confederate soldier recounts the tense, fog-laden night that led to the accidental shooting of General Stonewall Jackson, weaving together the harrowing realities of battle, the burden of command, and the fragile lines between friend and foe. The story unfolds through the soldier’s eyes, capturing the weight of duty and the chaos of war as he reflects on the man he never meant to harm.

In "Yellow!", a young officer faces a harrowing court-martial for cowardice under fire, sentenced to die by firing squad. As the execution looms, his father, Colonel Clark Henderson, makes a devastating choice—telling his son, Lieutenant Martin Henderson, the rifles are loaded with blanks, hoping to spare him the fear of death. With Sergeant Maurer at the radio, Captain Millikan overseeing, and the weight of war pressing in, the line between truth and mercy blurs in a moment that will haunt them all.

In "Hagaru-Ri!", U.N. forces push into a fiercely contested fortress where the odds are stacked against them—five Chinese soldiers for every one in their ranks, all ordered to kill. As the 1st Marine Division and 7th Army Division advance, air support works to clear the way, setting the stage for a tense, relentless clash.

In "Bellyrobber!", a gruff Army cook known as Bellyrobber Boon finds a young Korean orphan boy in his tent, naming him Shnooker and slowly softening around him. When North Korean soldiers infiltrate the mess tent and brutally kill Boon’s fellow cooks—and Shnooker—Boon’s grief ignites a fierce, unrelenting rage that transforms him back into the hardened Sarge he once was.

In the midst of war, Fisher is handed the keys to a brand-new Willys Jeep and names her Katherine. What begins as a simple assignment quickly deepens into something more personal—a bond that defies easy explanation, as the line between soldier and machine starts to blur in ways he can’t quite understand.

In the grim aftermath of battle on Iwo Jima, Woodrow struggles with the weight of war, while his Corporal friend Ralph tries to hold on—reading a letter from his brother, a pilot, as if it might carry him through. When a sniper’s shot shatters the fragile calm and Woodrow steps on a mine, Ralph breaks under the strain, his composure undone by the relentless toll of combat. Just as all seems lost, a B-29 crashes nearby, and out steps Ralph’s brother, David—his return a sudden, surreal revelation that the war may finally be over.

In "Saipan!", a machine gun company braces under sudden attack when a lone U.S. soldier bursts from a cane field, screaming that the Japanese are charging behind him. With the threat unconfirmed and Leinoff wounded, the tension thickens as the men wait in silence, unsure if the next moment will bring death or false alarm.

In the thick of the September 19, 1863, clash at Chickamauga Creek, Union forces under General Brannan, General Wood, and General Reynolds push forward in a desperate bid to sever Confederate supply lines. As the battle unfolds in chaotic confusion, the weight of command and the fog of war test the resolve of even the most seasoned officers.

In "Korea!", a lone survivor of a brutal ambush by North Korean snipers vows to hunt down the enemy responsible, tracking them to a stolen Jeep. As he closes in, the tension escalates when only one enemy soldier remains—begging for mercy—forcing his comrade to confront the cost of vengeance and the fragile line between justice and bloodlust.

In "Fledgeling!", a seasoned pilot from the 94th "Hat-in-the-Ring" Squadron mentors two young officer cadets, watching closely as one of them, Becker, begins to show the sharp instincts and fearless spirit that mark a true ace in the making.

In "Anzio!", a German Captain and his weary troops brace under relentless fire, only to receive a cryptic order: reinforce Anzio, where Allied forces are landing—despite the fact that the Germans had already abandoned the area two days prior. As he prepares to redirect his men, a chilling realization dawns when the enemy arrives not at Anzio, but right where he stands, at Cisterna.

In "Donelson!", four Union ironclads press forward toward Fort Donelson, determined to force the Confederates into a reckoning. As the guns roar and smoke fills the river air, the clash unfolds with grim urgency—victory comes at a steep price, and the cost of war weighs heavy on both sides.

In "Sailor!", a quiet moment among Marines sharing stories of home and saki is shattered by the sudden violence of war. As explosions tear through their camp, one man stays calm under fire, tending to the wounded—both friend and foe—until even he falls, still determined to help.

In "Silent Service!", a lone American submarine slips through the Bungo Strait, unaware that two Japanese aircraft carriers are moving into the open Pacific. When the sub fires a torpedo, it triggers a relentless 56-minute depth charge assault from enemy forces. With their vessel under siege, the crew makes a desperate signal—sending red paint to the surface—only to watch as the enemy, believing they’ve destroyed the sub, turns back, mourning the loss of a carrier they thought they’d sunk.

In "B-26 Invader!", a B-29 crew braces for a high-stakes bombing run over the front lines during the Korean War, their aircraft a fragile vessel against the vast, unforgiving sky. As they fly toward their target, the tension builds with each passing mile, leading to a decisive strike on a heavily guarded enemy convoy.

In "Signal Corps!", a young soldier in a quiet war zone questions the need for a rifle in his non-combat role, tossing it carelessly as his unit prepares to move. Just as they’re about to leave, the civilians suddenly evacuate their homes—only to be followed by a sudden, deadly attack from enemy snipers hiding in a nearby schoolhouse.

In "Pantherjet!", two Naval sailors trade grim remarks over the battered nose of a Panther Jet after its last mission, only to be quickly summoned for another. With swift efficiency, the pilots are briefed and airborne, returning safely—though one jet bears a damaged rudder, its nose miraculously intact, now offering a chance to patch up the other.

In the dusty frontier town of Red Creek, a man named Miller rides in with a score to settle, claiming he’s taking over the town and demanding a new trial to clear his name. As he taunts old Dan Bagget and the townsfolk, tensions rise—especially when he turns his attention to young Lucy. But when Sheriff Kane steps in, the showdown escalates, and the real surprise comes when the wounded Dan Bagget, barely alive, stumbles in with one last act of defiance. With a single shot, he calls upon the legendary gun Ole Betsy to settle the matter once and for all.

In "Whupped!", a young soldier arrives eager to enlist, driven by his mother’s urging and a boyish thirst for glory. When his unit clashes with the Union Army in a brutal, chaotic battle, his bravado is tested in a moment that changes everything—leaving him in the arms of his sergeant, forever marked by the cost of war.

In the heat of the Civil War, a ragtag unit of Confederate troops pushes toward Chancellorsville, but their advance is derailed by a bumbling soldier named Goober-Head, whose obsession with looting the dead Union soldiers leads to chaos. As tension mounts, his reckless actions spiral into tragedy, setting off a chain of events that alters the course of the battle.

In "Vengeful Sioux!", a lone soldier from the 7th Cavalry finds himself caught between survival and suspicion after a surprise attack along the Redbud River. When a wounded man feigns death and is approached by a Sioux warrior who only wants his hat, the soldier takes him down—only to return to camp and discover a dead comrade, then a strange, unsettling hospitality from the very people who just attacked them. Inside a tepee, he sees the same warrior, now wearing his cap and holding a tomahawk, watching him with quiet intensity.

In "Gunfire!", a young man named Black Jack Slaughter returns to his frontier hometown years after his father’s murder, driven by a warrant and a quiet fury. Now a man of few words and sharper aim, he comes not for vengeance, but to settle a debt written in blood—though the town’s past is not as simple as the law would have it.

In "The Last of the Mohicans!", the fate of a dying people rests on the shoulders of Uncas, the last of the Mohicans, as he joins Hawkeye and Chief Chingachook in a desperate stand against the enemy forces led by the ruthless Chief Magua. With the British Army caught in the crossfire, the trio must defend their allies while navigating betrayal, loss, and the weight of legacy. The battle that follows is fierce and personal—where loyalty is tested, and one young man’s final act may be the only thing that keeps his people’s name alive.