DC’s combat legends team up
By James Chambers – It’s the height of World War II, and the Nazis have developed a weapon so devastating that nothing is safe from its deadly threat. Only the Unknown Soldier, the man of 1000 faces, can slip past the Germans’ veil of secrecy concerning the project and defuse the lethal forces set in motion. Can he stay alive long enough to succeed when his only allies are a woman who wants him dead and the wounded topkick of the legendary Easy Company?
Robert Kanigher, a veteran comic book scripter and a veteran of war, crafts a fast-paced tale of intrigue and deceit as he follows the Unknown Soldier from Paris to the front lines and finally to his ultimate confrontation with the German forces. Nothing comes easy to the Soldier! After an explosive escape from the streets of Paris, he finds himself in danger from the very woman whose life he saved: Mlle. Marie, battle doll of the French Underground, is as notorious for her fighting skill as she is for her beauty. Following a failed assassination attempt on the Fürher himself, Marie evades Nazi pursuers with the aid of the Unknown Soldier, a man she has sworn to kill.
This is only the first wave in Kanigher’s bizarre battle tale. Leaving Paris behind, he brings us into the wilderness, where Sgt. Rock and Easy Company face a challenge that has broken every company before them—the taking of Alphabet Hill! Only Sgt. Rock can lead his men up the hill, but when he’s seriously wounded in the first sortie, it looks like they’ll have to face it without him. Or will they?
Somehow Sgt. Rock manages to lead his men back up Alphabet Hill, but Rock and Marie lead themselves right into a trap in a German base hidden underground. Kanigher brings the story to a fiery crescendo, neatly tying together all the plot threads laid down and providing a classic crossover among three of DC’s combat legends.
Elias and Tanghal bring to the story the stark atmosphere that characterizes the best war comics. Danger waits in every shadow, and no one’s life is left untouched by the horror of war. Graven on the faces of the characters are every terrible sight they’ve seen during their long days of conflict and death. Rock is as his name describes him—resolute and unswerving in his commitment to do his duty, his eyes sullen and steady. Marie’s great beauty only hides the rage burning inside her. The Unknown Soldier remains an enigma, hidden by disguises and the bandages that cover his true face.
“Heap the Corpses High” is a 30-page war novel that sends readers on a high-action ride through the dark battlefields of World War II.
