Our Fighting Forces #121
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeOur Fighting Forces #121 marks the first appearance of Heller, a female soldier who joins Lt. Hunter's Hellcats — making her a notably rare example of a recurring woman combatant in DC's Silver Age war comics lineup. The issue arrives near the tail end of the Hellcats' run, which itself was DC's riff on the then-dominant 'Dirty Dozen' formula, and it adds meaningful roster diversity to that unit in its penultimate phase. Just two issues later, the Hellcats would be replaced entirely by The Losers, meaning #121 is one of the final opportunities for the squad's roster to grow before the feature's close.
In "Take My Place," a terrified lieutenant on the eve of D-Day finds himself caught between past and present when a head injury sends him spiraling into a vivid hallucination of Charles Martel’s legendary battle against the Moors. Written by Bob Haney and brought to life with stark, powerful art by Joe Kubert—both in the interior and on the cover—this gripping wartime tale blurs time and courage in a moment of profound personal reckoning.
In "Take My Place," a new recruit joins the Hellcats on a dangerous wartime mission, her skills quickly proving vital. But beneath her focused demeanor lies a quiet determination—she’s not just fighting for her unit, but for a personal reckoning, hunting the man who killed her father and vanished into the Army’s ranks.
In "Jump into Two Wars!", a terrified lieutenant on the eve of D-Day finds himself caught between timelines when a head injury sends him back to the eighth century, where he crosses paths with Charles Martel during the pivotal clash that halted the Moorish advance. As past and present blur, he must navigate the chaos of two battles—his own war and a legendary one—before the line between memory and mission vanishes.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The Lt. Hunter's Hellcats feature had been running since Our Fighting Forces #106 (March–April 1967), conceived as a World War II-set answer to the massive cultural footprint of the 1967 film The Dirty Dozen — a team of military prisoners given a chance at redemption through near-suicidal missions. By 1969, prolific writer-editor Robert Kanigher was the primary creative force on the title, with Joe Kubert having taken over as editor of DC's war comics line in 1968. The issue carries a cover by Joe Kubert and features new Hellcats material alongside a reprint backup drawn by Kubert, scripted by Bob Haney, which originally appeared in Star-Spangled War Stories.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Heller, a female soldier who joins Lt. Hunter's Hellcats, in the lead story 'Take My Place,' written by Robert Kanigher with art by Art Saaf.
- Cover dated October 1969; the issue shipped around September 1969 and carried a 15-cent cover price.
- Cover art is by Joe Kubert, who had become editor of DC's war comics line in 1968.
- Contains a backup story, 'Jump Into Two Wars,' scripted by Bob Haney with art by Joe Kubert — a reprint from Star-Spangled War Stories #108 (1963).
- Lt. Hunter's Hellcats, the issue's starring feature, was DC's comic-book adaptation of the 'Dirty Dozen' premise: a WWII special-forces unit composed of military convicts led by Lt. Benjamin Hunter, a former homicide detective.
- The Hellcats feature ran from Our Fighting Forces #106 through #122 (approximately March–April 1967 to December 1969), and was itself directly inspired by the 1967 film The Dirty Dozen and the concurrent TV series Garrison's Gorillas.
- Issue #121 falls just two issues before the Hellcats were permanently replaced by The Losers in #123 (January–February 1970), making it part of the feature's final chapter.
- The Losers, who succeeded the Hellcats, had been quietly introduced by Kanigher in G.I. Combat #138 (October 1969) — the very same on-sale period as this issue — illustrating DC's editorial strategy of testing new concepts in parallel before a full handoff.
Full credits
Reprints
↩ Reprints Star Spangled War Stories #108 (1963)
Reprinted in Brûlant #39 (1975)
Key issues in Our Fighting Forces
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