Random Happenstance

Remember when I said I needed a lower-profile scanner so I could watch TV? Well, we're testing it out here, on the first comic I could grab! From 1981, Weird War Tales #106, featuring "The Dame or the Dinosaur" Created and written by Robert Kanigher, pencils by Joe Staton, inks by Jerry Ordway; "Old Soldiers Never Always Die!" Written by Mike W. Barr, art by E.R. Cruz; "Ambushed by the Dead" Written by Robert Kanigher, pencils by Mark D. Bright, inks by Gerry Talaoc; and "Return Engagement" Written by George Kashdan, art by Steve Ditko.

The lead story was another of Kanigher's semi-regular War That Time Forgot stories, wherein three Navy frogmen are distracted from their mission first by one of them following a girl only he can see, then dinosaurs. The frogmen weren't recurring characters, yet you still get the feeling this happened to them all the time. Next, "Old Soldiers Never Always Die!" is a more grounded and serious story, as an aged World War I veteran suits back up for action, while the rest of his nation celebrates the election of Adolf Hitler!

"Ambushed by the Dead" is a dark two-pager, then "Return Engagement" is a Scottish bit of nonsense with feuding clans, witches, and monsters. Still, not a bad issue!