Ages about as well as Fu Manchu.
Creative Staff
Story: Frank V. Martinek
Art: Edmund Marion Ashe, Jr.; Leonard Starr; Carl Pfeufer; Joe Certa: Al Lewin; Harry Fisk; John Jordan
Editor: Craig Yoe
What They Say
A collection of the best stories from the classic run of Don Winslow of the Navy, one of the most popular comic books running during and after World War II. Edited by Craig Yoe, the selected stories are digitally remastered and contextualized with Yoe’s historical research. Preceding the full, colorful tales is a detailed introduction on the creation of the adventurous Don Winslow. The character served to foster recruitment and entertain Navy personnel and the general public alike during World War II and beyond. Winslow fights the Axis and supervillains like The Snake and the attractive, but deadly, Singapore Sal.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Older comics can be a very mixed bag, especially if they’re war comics. In my experience, the British do it best, with titles like Charlie’s War and Johnny Red, to name just a couple. American war comics tend to be jingoistic and glorify war. While I can’t say that there isn’t a bit of jingoism and glorification going on in The Best of Don Winslow of the Navy, it’s not nearly as bad as I feared, and—even better—these are pretty solid stories full of danger, intrigue and excitement.
Perhaps it’s not so surprising that the comic is so much fun. The creator, Frank V. Martinek, led quite a life. He enlisted in the Navy in World War I, reached the rank of Lieutenant, and served in the Intelligence division. He also worked as a newspaper copyboy, a police reporter, a police officer, a G-Man, and even the junior Vice President of Standard Oil. Don Winslow began as a newspaper strip designed to entice young men into joining the Navy and to “arouse America to the danger that threatened us from the Aleutians to the China sea” (from Craig Yoe’s introduction), and Martinek viewed his strip as a “hobby,” but that feels like a dissembling on his part given how much time and energy he put into it.
I have to say, that energy wasn’t wasted. Winslow’s adventures make joining the Navy seem like a ticket to action, adventure, intrigue, and beautiful ladies. Many of his adventures have him fighting against Fifth Columnists, Nazis, and the Axis powers, but he also goes into solid pulp territory, especially when Don tangles with the femme fatale Singapore Sal or the Fu Manchu-esque The Scorpion. Those were my favorite stories out of the lot, even though they suffer from the prejudices of the time.
And that’s the rub when dealing with material from a different time. People from Asia do not fare well in this piece, so that makes me unable to fully recommend this. That’s a shame, because the stories are tightly plotted and quite exciting, and the art is top-notch. As a historical document, The Best of Don Winslow of the Navy is interesting and quite entertaining, but I sure wouldn’t recommend this to everyone. You’ll have to use your own discretion when it comes to whether you want to read this or not.
In Summary
Although the writing is surprisingly strong and the art very good, Don Winslow of the Navy is definitely a product of its time, and therefore suffers from the prejudices and outdated notions that were prevalent at the time. I can’t in good conscious fully recommend this because of that, but I will say that if you’re a fan of war comics, and enjoy comics from the Golden Age, there’s quite a bit here to enjoy. Dr. J gives this a…
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: A
Age Rating: 12+
Released By: Dead Reckoning
Release Date: September 15th, 2018
MSRP: $29.95
