A Rock revival - Entertainment, Books - Navy Times

A Rock revival

‘‘Suddenly, the grizzled old sergeant rose, and while shouting to no one in particular, ordered everyone to … FOLLOW ME!”

So begins the latest WWII comic book mission of grizzled, no-nonsense Army Master Sgt. Frank Rock and his ragtag band of Easy Company heroes. And if you’re like most Rock fans, you’ll gladly follow Sarge and his men as they storm the Atlantic wall and face half a million Nazis.

Leonidas of Sparta, Rock muses, would have loved the odds.

DC Comics is bringing back the iconic Sgt. Rock for a six-issue miniseries that began Nov. 5, this after a 20-year hiatus of the massively popular pulp fiction classic.

Graphic illustrator Billy Tucci, himself a former Army paratrooper, has picked up the baton of Rock’s creator, Joe Kubert, in a suitably gritty tale of battle that begins on the beaches of Normandy and plunges deep inside enemy lines.

In a new twist for Rock, the storyline blends fact with fiction, using the combat plight of the real life 1st Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment — Texas National Guard — which went deep behind enemy lines in France and soon got cut off by German forces. Members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, composed mostly of Asian-American soldiers, were sent to rescue their comrades in a real-life “Saving Private Ryan” scenario.

In the “Lost Battalion” comic book, Rock and the men of Easy Company help save the day.

“History is given a coat from a fictional brush, as readers and real events join forces with Sgt. Rock,” DC Comics spokesman Alex Segura said in a press release. “From the bloody beaches of Normandy to the muddy forests of the Vosges Mountains, a cut-off Easy Company led by Sgt. Rock will be joined by Johnny Cloud and the Haunted Tank as they battle for their lives behind enemy lines against a force 10 times their size.”

In timeless comic fashion, Rock and his men are embroiled in a heroic struggle as one small band of GIs defies all odds to survive.

Tucci, the writer/artist, pays serious homage to the American military in his comic. He was clearly moved by his research and reporting experience, and that’s reflected in his narration throughout the comic, even though he uses a fictional character as muse.

“It was the honor of my life to have lived, followed and been awed by these great men who dream not of conquest but of getting back home alive,” Tucci writes in the opening pages. “Master Sergeant Frank Rock, 300 Moore Ave., Pittsburgh, PA, is one such man. And within every ‘GI’ the world over, there is a Sergeant Rock.”