Battle #12

This September 1952 Atlas war anthology delivers the kind of gut-punch imagery that defined the genre — Russ Heath's cover depicts a shirtless, anguished American soldier raising a weapon amid a chaotic battlefield, enemy figures scattering in the background against a burst of explosive light, with a fallen foe sprawled at his feet. Heath's linework crackles with raw intensity, capturing the brutal desperation promised by the lead story title, "Torture." A solid entry in the "Battle Adventures of Troops in Combat" series for fans of early 1950s war comics done with genuine craft.