War Heroes #1 — F+ 6.5
May 1952 • Ace Magazines • Korean War stories • Classic early-’50s war anthology
Ace’s first issue of War Heroes is pure early Cold War combat comics — hard-nosed infantry action, battlefield heroics, and a steady drumbeat of Korean War realism. Tank charges, trench firefights, and exhausted GIs fill the pages in a no-nonsense style that defined the genre before the Code era softened the edges. The cover says it all: soldiers pinned down under fire, wounded men being dragged to safety, and a last-stand energy baked into every panel.
Inside you get a full slate of war features including “Showdown for a Shavetail,” “Last Chance on Hopeless Hill,” “Operation: Pots and Pans,” and “The Sacrifice Platoon,” plus a mood-setting text piece in “What Price Courage.” The stories span frontline combat, leadership under fire, field rations, and doomed platoons — the whole emotional architecture of post-WWII war comics captured in one issue. Loud, gritty, and historically tied straight to the era it was printed in.
Maj. Picto’s Grading Notes (F+, 6.5)
Cover presents with clean color and solid visual impact for the grade, with moderate edge wear, light spine stress, and small surface scuffs. Corners show rounding with minor creasing. Back cover has toning and light handling wear, typical for early ’50s Ace books. Interior pages are off-white to cream, complete and well-attached with good readability throughout. A strong Fine+ copy with honest age wear and excellent shelf presence for a 1952 war title.
War Heroes #1 — F+ 6.5
May 1952 • Ace Magazines • Korean War stories • Classic early-’50s war anthology
Ace’s first issue of War Heroes is pure early Cold War combat comics — hard-nosed infantry action, battlefield heroics, and a steady drumbeat of Korean War realism. Tank charges, trench firefights, and exhausted GIs fill the pages in a no-nonsense style that defined the genre before the Code era softened the edges. The cover says it all: soldiers pinned down under fire, wounded men being dragged to safety, and a last-stand energy baked into every panel.
Inside you get a full slate of war features including “Showdown for a Shavetail,” “Last Chance on Hopeless Hill,” “Operation: Pots and Pans,” and “The Sacrifice Platoon,” plus a mood-setting text piece in “What Price Courage.” The stories span frontline combat, leadership under fire, field rations, and doomed platoons — the whole emotional architecture of post-WWII war comics captured in one issue. Loud, gritty, and historically tied straight to the era it was printed in.
Maj. Picto’s Grading Notes (F+, 6.5)
Cover presents with clean color and solid visual impact for the grade, with moderate edge wear, light spine stress, and small surface scuffs. Corners show rounding with minor creasing. Back cover has toning and light handling wear, typical for early ’50s Ace books. Interior pages are off-white to cream, complete and well-attached with good readability throughout. A strong Fine+ copy with honest age wear and excellent shelf presence for a 1952 war title.
