Star Spangled War Stories #172

Joe Kubert's cover for this 1973 DC issue delivers an immediately gripping image: a soldier in combat fatigues descends beneath a parachute, desperately fending off a crashing biplane that erupts in dark smoke and debris all around him. The sheer vulnerability of a man suspended mid-air while wreckage closes in makes for a striking visual, perfectly suited to the Unknown Soldier's world of desperate, behind-the-lines warfare. With Sam Glanzman handling the interior story "A Cocktail for Molotov!" on his own, Star Spangled War Stories #172 is a fine example of DC's war line firing on all cylinders.