Losers (comics)

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The Losers
The first appearance of the Losers on the cover of Our Fighting Forces #123 (January-February, 1970). Art by Joe Kubert.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Our Fighting Forces #123 (January-February 1970).
Created by	Robert Kanigher
In-story information
Leader(s)	Captain William Storm
Member(s)	Johnny Cloud Sarge Clay Gunner Mackey

The Losers
Collected editions
Jack Kirby's The Losers	ISBN 1401221653

The Losers is the name of a war comic book feature published by DC Comics. The name was later given to a comic book series of the same name for DC's Vertigo series.

The first Losers comic was a war comics feature set during World War II. It was created by Robert Kanigher and became a regular feature in DC's long-running war comic book series Our Fighting Forces beginning with issue #123, dated January/February 1970.

Contents 1 The Losers 1.1 Beginnings 1.2 Series authors 1.3 The end 2 The Losers (Vertigo series) 3 Publication 3.1 Collected editions 4 In other media 5 Notes

[edit] The Losers

Upon America's entry into the European theater of the Second World War, a Special Forces group composed of personnel from all branches of the armed forces was formed. The members were Captain William Storm, a former PT Boat commander with a wooden leg and an eye-patch; Sarge Clay, one of the oldest serving Marines; Gunner Mackey, one of the youngest; and Johnny Cloud of the U.S. Army Air Force, known as "The Navajo Ace". Because each member had suffered the deaths of personnel under their command for which they felt responsible, they dubbed themselves The Losers.

[edit] Beginnings

Prior to the formation of the group, each character had his own adventures in DC's war anthology comics. Captain Johnny Cloud had appeared in All-American Men of War #82-115 (1960-1966); the two-men team of Gunner and Sarge had first appeared in issue 67 of the same title (March 1959) before transferring to Our Fighting Forces for a fifty-issue run, #45-94 (May 1959-Aug. 1965). Captain Storm had his own title which lasted 18 issues from 1964 to 1967.

Their first appearance as a group was with The Haunted Tank crew in issue 138 of G.I. Combat (October/November 1969), in a story titled "The Losers." Prior to that, Captain Storm, Gunner and Sarge (along with Fighting Devil Dog) had teamed together once before to fight some Japanese naval officers in Captain Storm #13. They got their own series a few months later (January/February 1970), as the main feature of Our Fighting Forces, beginning with issue 123. Their stories as a team were written by Robert Kanigher and illustrated by a variety of artists, most notably Sam Glanzman, Russ Heath, John Severin and Joe Kubert.

The group served in Europe, Africa and the Pacific, meeting other DC World War II characters such as the Haunted Tank and Sergeant Rock. The team briefly had a female member named Ona Tomsen who was part of the Norwegian Resistance movement, who joined the team in issue 135. At the same time, the team briefly lost Captain Storm, who suffered amnesia (and lost an eye) due to a bomb blast. They reunited in issue 141, when Capt. Storm reappeared as a one-eyed, peg-legged pirate. Gunner's pet dog Pooch also joined the team for some missions.

[edit] Series authors

Robert Kanigher was the original writer for the series, and he emphasized the group's bad luck. They were anti-heroes, and the stories emphasized negative aspects of war. During the Vietnam War, Kanigher added this philosophy to many of the DC war books. Also in common with most DC war books of the time were spectacular cover illustrations by Joe Kubert. Ken Barr did the art chores for the first issue, with Ross Andru and Mike Esposito participating beginning with issue 124. John Severin, a veteran of Marvel Comics' Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos began doing the art chores by issue 132. This series lasted until Jack Kirby became artist/writer with issue 151 during the autumn of 1974. While Kirby enjoyed working with the series,^[1] he changed the story's philosophy in a manner that was often disfavored by fans, judging by comments in the book's letter pages. There have been favorable comments about his series in recent years^[2][3] and DC released it in collected form.^[4]

With issue 163 Bob Kanigher was back writing the book with Jack Lehti doing the art. For issue 164, Ric Estrada penciled and George Evans inked, and Evans did all of the artistic duties by issue 166. He continued with the series until the final issue, 181 (September/October 1978). A story that was originally set to feature in issue 182, written by Kanigher and drawn by Evans and entitled "Young Losers - Young Lions," was finally printed four years later in The Unknown Soldier #265 (July 1982).

[edit] The end

According to Crisis on Infinite Earths, the team ended in Markovia during 1945. Along with others, they were attacking the towers created by the series villain, the Anti-Monitor. His minions, shadow demons, touch each one, destroying them.

The re-ordering of the DC Universe resulted in a different ending for the team. In The Losers Special #1, written by Kanigher and illustrated by Glanzman, the Losers (along with Pooch) died in action during 1945 while destroying a German missile site: Sarge was bayonetted, Captain Storm fell on a grenade, and the remainder were strafed by aircraft bullets. The Special was published during 1985, during Crisis' initial printing, and remained the definitive ending of the group for several years.

During the late 1990s, a short-lived revival of the Creature Commandos resurrected Gunner as a cyborg warrior member of the new team. Gunner and Sarge are found alive and out of their own time in the issueBirds of Prey, trapped in a POW-camp in the time-fluctuating Dinosaur Island... now with a "pooch" that is a trained velociraptor. It is not known if they somehow went back in time to conclude their lives or if this brings them into the present.

An alternative ending was presented in the out-of-continuity 2004 miniseries DC: The New Frontier. In it, the group was sent to Dinosaur Island during December 1945 to rescue Rick Flagg. Once they go on the island, one by one, they are killed due to the dangers of the island: Gunner hit by a Tyrannosaurus rex, Storm snatched by raptors, Sarge by being "side tracked", Pooch of booby traps, and Johny Cloud, the member standing, to destroy a T-rex while sacrificing himself. Their epitaph, of sorts, was written by Johnny Cloud: "Ask my family and they'll tell you I was a Navajo. Ask the Army Air Force and they'll say I was an American. But if you ask my brothers, they'll set you straight. John Cloud was a Loser."

[edit] The Losers (Vertigo series)

A new The Losers series begun during 2004, created by writer Andy Diggle and artist Jock and published with DC's Vertigo symbol. The new series, set in the present, concerns a team of special forces soldiers who declare war on the Central Intelligence Agency after their Agency handler tries to assassinate them.^[5]

[edit] Publication

• G.I. Combat #138 (October/November 1969) "The Losers" 14 pages
• Our Fighting Forces #123-181 (January/February 1970-July/August 1978)
• The Unknown Soldier #250 (April 1981) "The Traitor Without a Face!" 25 pages
• The Unknown Soldier #265 (July 1982) "Young Losers - Young Lions!" 8 pages
• Crisis on Infinite Earths #3 (June 1985) "Oblivion Upon Us" 25 pages
• The Losers Special #1 (1985) "Losers Die Twice" 40 pages
• DC: The New Frontier #1 (March 2004) "Our Fighting Forces" 64 pages

[edit] Collected editions

• The Losers by Jack Kirby (collects Our Fighting Forces #151-162, 240 pages, hardcover, March 2009, ISBN 1401221653)^[4]

[edit] In other media

• The original Losers are seen in a newspaper photograph Batman is looking at in the animated film Justice League: The New Frontier.

[edit] Notes