Battlefront #22

Atlas Comics' Battlefront #22 (August 1954) puts you right in the thick of it with a cover by Joe Maneely that crackles with frontline tension. Two soldiers hunkered down in a foxhole face a massive enemy advance — one frantically clearing a jammed machine gun while his buddy quips, "Then you'd better get the carving knife out… we're having company for dinner!" — dark humor in the face of chaos that perfectly captures the series' gritty, ground-level spirit. Inside, Gene Colan brings the art for "Ploesti," making this a fine example of mid-1950s war comics firing on all cylinders.