Two-Fisted Tales #31

(January-February 1953)

Blockade! (Table of Contents: 1)

comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script

Harvey Kurtzman

Pencils

Wally Wood (signed as Wood)

Inks

Wally Wood (signed as Wood)

Colors

Marie Severin

Letters

Ben Oda

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Monitor vs. Merrimac!

Genre

war

Characters

Bob (southern sailor); Eggleston (northern Naval commander)

Synopsis

The famed battle between two ironclad warships during the Civil War is recounted and the battle that effectively ended the reign of the wooden warship.

Reprints

• in Two-Fisted Tales (Russ Cochran, 1980 series) #3 (1980)
• in EC Classics (Russ Cochran, 1985 series) #3 - Two-Fisted Tales (October 1985)
• in Two-Fisted Tales (Gemstone, 1994 series) #14 (January 1996)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #26 - Atom Bomb and Other Stories (2019) [Reprinted in black and white.]

Keywords

American Civil War; ironclads

Campaign! (Table of Contents: 2)

comic story / 8 pages (report information)

Script

Harvey Kurtzman

Pencils

John Severin (signed as Severin)

Inks

Bill Elder (signed as Elder)

Colors

Marie Severin

Letters

Ben Oda

First Line of Dialogue or Text

General McClellan!

Genre

historical; war

Characters

General George M. McClellan [aka The Little Napoleon]; Union sergeant

Synopsis

While General McClellan puts his recruits through practice maneuvers for the Peninsular Campaign, a veteran sergeant brags to the recruits that he has been in several key battles and a bullet has never touched him and never will. He accompanies the recruits in battle at Richmond, then other areas, and at last is felled, not by a bullet, but by fever!

Reprints

• in Two Fisted Tales (Calvert, 1953 ? series) #10 ([1954] ?)
• in Two-Fisted Tales (Russ Cochran, 1980 series) #3 (1980)
• in EC Classics (Russ Cochran, 1985 series) #3 - Two-Fisted Tales (October 1985)
• in Two-Fisted Tales (Gemstone, 1994 series) #14 (January 1996)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #10 - Bomb Run and Other Stories (August 2014) [Reprinted in black and white.]

Keywords

Fort Monroe; Merrimac; Washington D.C.; Yorktown

Donelson! (Table of Contents: 3)

comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script

Harvey Kurtzman

Pencils

Jack Davis (signed)

Inks

Jack Davis (signed)

Colors

Marie Severin

Letters

Ben Oda

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Meanwhile... as the newly kindled fire of war blazed in the east...

Genre

war

Characters

Northern soldiers (some die); General Smith (Union General); General Ulysses S. Grant; Southern soldiers (villains, some die); General Floyd (villain, Rebel General)

Synopsis

Four Union ironclads close in on the gem defense area for the South: Fort Donaldson, aiming to get the Rebels to show some respect for the Union. The battle is successful, although costly for the North.

Reprints

• in Two Fisted Tales (Calvert, 1953 ? series) #11 ([1954] ?)
• in Two-Fisted Tales (Russ Cochran, 1980 series) #3 (1980)
• in EC Classics (Russ Cochran, 1985 series) #3 - Two-Fisted Tales (October 1985)
• in Two-Fisted Tales (Gemstone, 1994 series) #14 (January 1996)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #22 - Death Stand and Other Stories (August 2018) [Reprinted in black and white.]

Keywords

American Civil War; Fort Donaldson

Indexer Notes

Story occurs on February 14th.

Air-Minded Fitz John (Table of Contents: 4)

text story / 1 page (report information)

Script

?

Letters

typeset

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Long before our present day airmen donned their crash helmets...

Genre

war

Reprints

• in Two-Fisted Tales (Russ Cochran, 1980 series) #3 (1980)

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 5)

Combat Correspondence / letters page / 1 page (report information)

Script

?

Letters

typeset

Reprints

• in Two-Fisted Tales (Russ Cochran, 1980 series) #3 (1980)

Indexer Notes

Letters from Ralph Dudley, Dick Gillespie, Jim Murphy, Don Fagans, Jack Parisi, Danny Young, Bobby Alexander, Jim Casale, and Bill Larro.

Grant! (Table of Contents: 6)

comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script

Harvey Kurtzman; Jerry De Fuccio (page 3)

Pencils

John Severin (signed as N. E. Severin)

Inks

John Severin (signed as N. E. Severin)

Colors

Marie Severin

Letters

Ben Oda

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Let us pause!

Genre

historical; war

Characters

General Uylsses S. Grant [aka Sam]; Jesse Grant (Ulysses' father, flashback); Frank (West Point student, flashback)

Synopsis

As Grant rides along, seemingly impervious to the bullets whizzing by and other elements of war, people reflect that, most of his life, Grant was a failure at everything he attempted to do. It was only in the element of war that he truly found his place in life.

Reprints

• in Two Fisted Tales (Calvert, 1953 ? series) #10 ([1954] ?)
• in Two-Fisted Tales (Russ Cochran, 1980 series) #3 (1980)
• in EC Classics (Russ Cochran, 1985 series) #3 - Two-Fisted Tales (October 1985)
• in Two-Fisted Tales (Gemstone, 1994 series) #14 (January 1996)
• in The Fantagraphics EC Artists' Library (Fantagraphics, 2012 series) #10 - Bomb Run and Other Stories (August 2014) [Reprinted in black and white.]

Indexer Notes

De Fuccio credit by Craig Delich.

Much of the story is told in flashback.