Battlefield Action #56

Charlton's Battlefield Action #56 puts you right in the surf with a grim-faced Marine wading ashore under fire, rifle and bayonet in hand, while a Japanese soldier raises his weapon from a nearby boat flying the Rising Sun flag — explosions and a warship blazing on the horizon behind them. The cover copy teases the featured story "Tushari's Gun," promising a First Marine Division assault straight into artillery, mortars, and bayonets against Tushari, described as the best gunner in the Japanese Imperial Marines. Sam Glanzman's cover art captures the chaos and tension of a Pacific beach landing with a raw intensity that makes this 12-cent 1965 issue hard to put down.