Fightin' Marines #145

Set against the chaos of Okinawa, this Charlton war title delivers a cover by Pat Boyette that pulls no punches — a Marine shields a young child from the mayhem while a Japanese Zero roars overhead and comrades engage the enemy through fire and smoke. The speech bubble's blunt challenge, "You can't protect every kid on Okinawa!", gives the scene an immediate human stakes that goes beyond battlefield action. Fightin' Marines #145 from 1979 is the kind of gritty, earnest war comics that Charlton did well, and this opening chapter of "Not So Tough!" looks like a compelling start.