Battle Action #23

A helmeted soldier fills the foreground of this June 1956 Atlas war anthology, his weary, dirt-streaked face gripping a radio as enemy figures advance through the fiery background behind him — a cover by Joe Maneely and Carl Burgos that captures the grim tension of men under fire. The teaser story title "The Doomed Patrol!" sets a sobering tone, while interior art by Russ Heath promises the kind of grounded, visceral battlefield storytelling he brought to mid-fifties war comics. Battle Action #23 is a fine snapshot of Atlas at its most serious about the human cost of combat.