Star Spangled War Stories #175

This November 1973 DC issue puts the Unknown Soldier right in the thick of danger, with Joe Kubert's cover delivering a breathtaking aerial-perspective scene: a bandaged figure rappels down a brick wall while an armed enemy above trains a machine gun directly downward, shell casings scattering across the stone. The vertiginous composition pulls you straight into the tension, making it impossible not to wonder how the Unknown Soldier escapes this particular trap. With Frank Robbins writing and Jack Sparling on interior art, "A Slow Burn... From Both Ends!" promises exactly the kind of taut, grounded war storytelling that made Star Spangled War Stories a reliable read in 1973.