''War Is Hell'' is a horror/

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

comic book series released by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

from 1973 to 1975. For its first six issues, it featured

reprint A reprint is a re-publication of material that has already been previously published. The term ''reprint'' is used with slightly different meanings in several fields. Academic publishing In academic publishing, offprints, sometimes also known ...

s of Marvel war comics, followed by two issues of reprints of '' Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos''. Beginning in issue #9, the series featured new material; the star of the series became

Death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

, who forces a dishonorably discharged

Polish-American Polish Americans () are Americans who either have total or partial Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 8.81 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing about 2.67% of the U.S. population, ...

soldier named John Kowalski, killed in the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

, to die countless deaths in other lives. A ''War Is Hell''

limited series In the field of comic books, and particularly in the United States, a limited series is a comics series with a predetermined number of issues. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is finite and determined ...

featuring Phantom Eagle appeared in 2008.

John Kowalski

During the series, Kowalski inhabits bodies of those about to die, not necessarily of the same side or sex, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, including both the European and Pacific theatres, and needs to change things for the better before he is killed. Death summons him from the nether regions each story, and Kowalski wonders how many times he will have to do so. The series was created by writer

Tony Isabella Jenny Blake Isabella (born December 22, 1951), who writes under the names Tony Isabella and Jenny Blake, is an Americans, American comic book writer, editor, actor, artist and critic. She is the creator of Marvel Comics superhero Bill Foster (com ...

, but after successfully pitching the series and submitting his plot for the first issue, his new position as editor ate up a lot of his writing time. Isabella recalled that " Roy homas, Marvel editorwanted to give

Dick Ayers Richard Bache Ayers (; April 28, 1924 – May 4, 2014) was an American comic book artist and cartoonist best known for his work as one of Jack Kirby's inkers during the late-1950s and 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comics, including on s ...

a series to replace "

It! The Living Colossus It! The Living Colossus is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Initially a statue animated by a hostile extraterrestrial, he first appeared in the science-fiction anthology series ''Tales of Suspense ...

" and asked me to come up with a new series for ''War Is Hell''. Dick and I had worked together on a number of things and enjoyed working with each other."

Chris Claremont Christopher S. Claremont (; born November 25, 1950) is an English-born American comic book writer and novelist. Claremont is best known for his 16-year stint on ''Uncanny X-Men'' from 1975 to 1991, far longer than that of any other writer,Clarem ...

, a former political theorist and historian, took over as the series's writer for the remainder of its run. According to Claremont, "The parameters were that we were going sequentially through the war. The rest was up to me." "My Love Must Die", a story published in ''War Is Hell'' #12 in which Kowalski is brought together with his lost love and son, is generally considered the high point of the series.

Penciller A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations. In the American comic book industry, the penciller is the first step ...

Don Perlin kept the original art for page 16 from the story in his home as one of his favorites. The series was canceled with issue #15, which Claremont said was no surprise: "Nobody thought it would last more than six issues." Claremont's intentions for Kowalski were revealed when he wrote volume 2 of ''

Man-Thing The Man-Thing (Dr. Theodore "Ted" Sallis) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writers Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, and Gerry Conway and artist Gray Morrow, the character first appeared in ' ...

'' and incorporated the character into its final two issues (#s 10 & 11). By this point (the early 1980s), Kowalski had become an aspect of Death. He makes Barbie Bannister (a recently orphaned by murder rich girl introduced by Claremont in ''Man-Thing'' vol. 2 #5) another aspect of Death as they battle Sheriff John Daltry, who is possessed by the sword of Captain Fate. He causes the deaths of

Doctor Strange Dr. Stephen Vincent Strange is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #110 (cover-dated July 1963). Doctor Strange serves as ...

Jennifer Kale Jennifer Kale is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Steve Gerber and artist Rich Buckler, the character first appeared in '' Adventure into Fear'' #11 (December 1972). Jennifer Kale is John ...

, and Chris Claremont himself, although these deaths are undone by the end of the story, in order to battle Thog the Nether-Spawn, who is using Fate and Daltry as his pawns in another gambit to take over

Earth-616 In the fictional Multiverse (Marvel Comics), Marvel Comics multiverse, Earth-616 is the primary continuity (fiction), continuity in which most Marvel Comics titles take place. Origins of the term The designation "Earth-616" has its origins in ...

. Other stories which Claremont had plans for before the series was cancelled included a story based in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

as the U. S. troops were attempting to push back the Japanese invaders, and a story set in the

Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe. The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately af ...

with a young

Magneto A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...

playing a role. Kowalski later appeared with

Scarlet Witch The Scarlet Witch is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The X-Men #4 in March 1964, in the Silver Age of Comic Boo ...

in a story by

Dennis Mallonee Dennis Mallonee (born January 22, 1955) is an American writer and publisher of comic books. He is best known as the writer of the '' Champions'' comics and the founder of Heroic Publishing. Education Mallonee graduated from the California Ins ...

(writer) and John Ridgway (artist) in ''

Solo Avengers ''Solo Avengers'' was an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics, and was a spin-off from the company's superhero team title ''The Avengers (comic book), The Avengers''. It was published for 20 issues (December 1987–July 1989) unt ...

'' #5.

Bibliography

*''War Is Hell'' #9 – "War Is Hell!" Isabella, Thomas, Claremont, Gerber, Ayers, Springer (19 pp) *''War Is Hell'' #10 – "The Corridor" Isabella, Claremont, Ayers, Springer (18 pp) *''War Is Hell'' #11 – "Winter Kill" Claremont, Perlin, Trapani (18 pp) *''War Is Hell'' #12 – "My Love Must Die" Claremont, Perlin, Hunt (19 pp) *''War Is Hell'' #13 – "Today Is a Lovely Day to Die" Claremont and Trimpe (17 pp) *''War Is Hell'' #14 – "The Duty of a Man" Claremont and Evans (17 pp) *''War Is Hell'' #15 – "A Christmas Eve in Hell" Claremont and Trimpe (17 pp) *''Man-Thing'' vol. 2 #10 – "Came the Dark Man, Walkin', Walkin'..." Claremont, Perlin, Wiacek (22 pp) *''Man-Thing'' vol. 2 #11 – "Hell's Gate!" Claremont, Mayerik, Wiacek (22 pp) *''Solo Avengers'' #5 – "A Love That Never Dies" Mallonee and Ridgway (11 pp)

Phantom Eagle

In 2008, a new five-issue

, titled ''War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle'', appeared under the

MAX Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

imprint. Phantom Eagle (Lt. Karl Kaufman) was a

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

hero created by

Gary Friedrich Gary Friedrich (; August 21, 1943 – August 29, 2018) was an American comic book writer best known for his Silver Age stories for Marvel Comics' '' Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos'' and in the following era, the series '' The Monster of Fr ...

and artist

Herb Trimpe Herbert William Trimpe (; May 26, 1939 – April 13, 2015) was an American comics artist and occasional writer, best known as the seminal 1970s artist on '' The Incredible Hulk'' and as the first artist to draw for publication the character Wol ...

(artist) in 1968, and the new story was by

Garth Ennis Garth Ennis (born 16 January 1970) is a Northern Irish-American comics writer, best known for the Vertigo series ''Preacher'' with artist Steve Dillon, his nine-year run on Marvel Comics' ''Punisher'' franchise, and '' The Boys'' with artist Dar ...

(writer) and

Howard Chaykin Howard Victor Chaykin (; born October 7, 1950) is an Americans, American comics artist, comic book artist and writer. Chaykin's influences include his one-time employer and mentor, Gil Kane, and the mid-20th century illustrators Robert Fawcett an ...

(artist).Laura Hudson
Ennis Moves from Punisher to Phantom Eagle
''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'', February 19, 2008

Reprints

The series began as a reprint book, mostly from Atlas Comics-era war comics, adding Sgt. Fury for its last two issues before printing new material. The first six issues contained four stories an issue, each around five pages: #Reprinting stories from ''Battle'' #30 (1 story) and #55 (3 stories) #Reprinting stories from '' Battle Action'' #30, (1 story) ''Battlefront'' #30 (2 stories), and ''Battle'' #55 (1 story) #Reprinting stories from ''Battle Action'' #15 (1 story) and ''G.I. Tales'' #5 (3 stories) #Reprinting stories from ''Battleground'' #15 (3 stories), and ''War Comics'' #17 (1 story) #Reprinting stories from ''Battlefront'' #34 (1 story), and ''Battleground'' #20 (1 story) and # 18 (2 stories) #Reprinting stories from ''War Comics'' #30, "Court Martial" by Werner Roth, ''Battleground'' #15, and ''War Comics'' #17 #Reprinting '' Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos'' #17 #Reprinting ''Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos'' #18

Collected editions

*War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle collects ''War is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle'' #1-5 ( Marvel Max, hardcover, 120 pages, November 2008, ) *Marvel Ghost Stories includes ''War is Hell'' #9 (176 pages, October 2011, ) *Marvel Universe by Chris Claremont includes ''War is Hell'' #9-15 (1144 pages, August 2017, ) *Lost Marvels: Howard Chaykin Vol. 1:

Dominic Fortune Dominic Fortune is the name of two different fictional characters appearing in American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comic ...

/ Monark Starstalker/Phantom Eagle includes ''War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle'' #1-5 (

Fantagraphics Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and (formerly) the Erotic comics, erotic Eros Comix imprint. They have managed sev ...

, hardcover, 256 pages, August 2025, )

References

External links

* {{Marveldatabase, ''War Is Hell'' Vol. 1, ''War Is Hell'' 1973 comics debuts 2008 comics debuts Comics set during World War I Horror comics Marvel Comics set during World War II War comics published by Marvel Comics