Battle #69

Two soldiers locked in desperate hand-to-hand struggle dominate this April 1960 cover — a helmeted GI in blue gear grappling fiercely with a green-coated enemy rifleman against a fiery, smoke-filled battlefield — captured with real urgency in Jack Kirby's pencils and Dick Ayers's inks. The tagline "Every Battle Thrill Taken From Real Combat!" sets the tone for what's inside, with Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Russ Heath, Stan Goldberg, and Artie Simek among the talent delivering the goods. At just ten cents, Battle #69 offered readers exactly what the cover promises: raw, ground-level war action with no shortage of intensity.