Two-Fisted Tales #25
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeIn "Mud!", Harvey Kurtzman’s sharp script and John Severin’s gritty art bring a chilling, ironic twist to the chaos of war, as a lone German paratrooper becomes the only one to sense the deadly path of a barrage of buzz bombs—only to be broken by the horror he can’t escape. The story’s stark realism, rendered with precision by Will Elder’s inks and Ben Oda’s lettering, captures the psychological toll of combat in a moment where survival feels like the cruelest joke. The cover, a striking piece by Harvey Kurtzman, mirrors the story’s grim tension with a haunting, close-up view of a man lost in the mud and madness of war.
In the muddy chaos of April 1951 Korea, Sergeant Shadburn pushes his men through the relentless sludge that’s earned the nickname "General Mud," earning plenty of grumbling — and colorful nicknames — in return. When a hidden enemy pillbox erupts with fire, it’s Shadburn who charges forward with grenades, taking a wound before being pulled to safety by the soldier known only as Duck Butt.
In "Bunker Hill!", Colonial soldiers Jeb and Abell stand shoulder to shoulder with their comrades on Breed's Hill, facing off against General William Howe and the advancing British forces. Though outnumbered and outgunned, the American troops hold their ground in a fierce stand that leaves the battlefield marked by sacrifice on both sides.
In the quiet, grim stillness of the Imjin River, an American soldier watches the drifting bodies of fallen soldiers, each a silent question about the cost of war—until a sudden attack shatters the silence, turning one man’s reflection into a final, tragic echo on the water.
In the final push into Germany, American troops brace for the relentless buzz bombs raining down from the sky—only to find the same deadly barrage also striking German forces advancing from the east. When a lone German paratrooper realizes the bombs are turning on his own side, his terror spirals into madness after witnessing the deaths of his comrades. The story follows the grim aftermath, as the Americans encounter the broken man who now sees the war in a way no one else can.
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Reprinted in Den store skrækbog #[nn] (1974), EC Portfolio #6 (1977), Two-Fisted Tales #2 (1980), A Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comics #[nn] (1981), Les Meilleures Histoires de... #[4] (1984), Iskalde Grøss #7/1989 (1989), The New Two-Fisted Tales #1 (1993), Two-Fisted Tales #8 (1994), Tales Calculated to Drive You Mad #7 (1999), Foul Play! The Art and Artists of the Notorious E.C. Comics! #[nn] (2005), EC Archives: Two-Fisted Tales #2 (2007), The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library #1 (2012), The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library #10 (2014), Artist's Edition #30 (2015), The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library #22 (2018), The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library #26 (2019), Choke Gasp! The Best of 75 Years of EC Comics #[nn] (2019), Artisan Edition #[16] (2024), Two-Fisted Tales #25
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