Sgt. Rock (comics)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sgt. Frank Rock is a DC Comics character who has been the most prominent war comics character in the company's history. The character was an infantry non-commissioned officer in the United States Army in World War II.
Contents |
[edit] Overview
Sgt. Rock first appeared in G.I. Combat #68 (Jan. 1959). His rank is not given in this story, instead he is called "The Rock." The Rock returned as a sergeant in Our Army at War #81 (April 1959) with his unit, Easy Company (the precise US Army infantry regiment to which Easy belonged was never identified during the history of the character). The stories, written mainly by Robert Kanigher, and drawn by Joe Kubert (though the first appearance was by Bob Haney),[citation needed] steadily gained popularity, until, in 1977, the name of the comic was changed to Sgt. Rock. The comic ran until Sgt. Rock #422 (July 1988). In addition to the semi-regular comic, several "digests" were sold, under the DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest banner, reprinting stories from Our Army at War or Sgt. Rock. Some were subtitled as OAAW or Sgt. Rock, some as Sgt. Rock's Prize Battle Tales. (The Prize Battle Tales title was also used on earlier 80 page annual specials). The digest format was 4-13/16" x 6-5/8", softcover, with 98 full colour pages and no advertisements.
A 21-issue run of reprints followed from 1988-1991, and two Sgt. Rock Specials with new content saw publication in 1992 and 1994. A Christmas themed story appeared in DCU Holiday Bash II in 1997, again featuing new content.
According to John Wells, in Fanzing 36 (July 2001), an online fan magazine,
Sgt. Rock's complex family tree comes by way of creator Robert Kanigher, who added new (and often conflicting) branches throughout the character's original 29 year run. Rock's father was variously described as having died in a mine cave-in (OAAW # 231), in World War I (# 275 and 419) or in a Pittsburgh steel mill (# 347). Robin Snyder (in a letter mistakenly attributed in # 353 to Mike Tiefenbacher) suggested that one of the deaths occurred to Rock's stepfather and his existence was confirmed in # 400. As things currently stand, it was father John Rock who died in combat and stepfather John Anderson who perished in a cave-in. The third death, as theorized above, probably occurred to a father figure that Frank Rock worked with at the steel mill.
[edit] Military Service
During World War II, Sgt. Rock fought in the infantry branch of the U.S. Army in the European Theatre and eventually rose to authority within his unit, Easy Company. The unit was made up of a disparate collection of individuals who managed to participate in every major action in the European war. Rock's dogtag number was 409966, which had been, it was claimed, Robert Kanigher's own military serial number.
Robert Kanigher mused in letters columns in the 1970s and 1980s that Rock probably belonged to "The Big Red One" (First US Infantry Division) given his appearance on battlefields in North Africa, Italy and Northwest Europe. The backstory for Rock was fleshed out in different comics over the years; generally he is considered to have come from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he worked in a steel mill. Enlisting after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he went to North Africa as a private but promotion came quickly as his superiors were killed, to assistant squad leader, squad leader, and then platoon sergeant. His unit is only ever given as "Easy Company", but no regiment or division is named nor is unit insignia ever shown. Rock also usually wears the chevrons and rockers of a Master Sergeant on his uniform and also applied, oversize, to the front of his helmet.
It is likely Rock's official position in Easy Company was of senior platoon sergeant though dialogue and scripts are usually vague on his actual responsibilities and duties. He usually leads patrols and appears to have powers of command over the men of the company. Several officer characters also appeared in the comic, as both platoon and company commanders, all of whom were regarded by Rock as superiors. Easy's commander was usually referred to as "the skipper" by Rock. Rock in turn was referred to by others as the "topkick", or senior non-commissioned officer in the company. Most infantry companies did not have Master Sergeants; significantly, Rock does not have the lozenge of a First Sergeant on his rank insignia.
[edit] Appearance
Sergeant Rock is heavily muscled in the classic depictions by Joe Kubert, and was generally shown with close cropped hair, generally red in colour. The classic Rock was usually dressed in olive drab fatigues, with his shirt generally torn during combat to reveal his well muscled physique, with a .45 calibre Thompson submachine gun and .45 calibre Colt M1911A1 automatic pistol as his armament. Oddly, the classic artwork almost always depicts Rock with an M-1 Garand cartridge belt which would be useless to him, as well as two belts of .50 calibre ammunition, which Rock considers lucky charms. (The only member of Easy Company to carry a heavy machinegun, Bulldozer, is usually depicted with a .30 calibre Browning which would not have accepted Rock's "fifties".) Other artists such as John Severin and Russ Heath sometimes attempted a more realistic portrayal of Rock's equipment, but the .50 calibre ammunition remained a personal trademark. Kubert also depicted the ammunition belts suspended over each shoulder individually; a dubious arrangement probably not possible in real life. Rock is always shown with rolled pant cuffs rather than the standard issue canvas leggings (or later 1943 double-buckle boot), and often a number of hand grenades secured to his equipment.
[edit] Dedication
Unlike many contemporary war characters, Rock had a deep loathing for the war, but was grimly loyal to his unit to see it through. This loyalty extends to when he was sent home to be a combat instructor, but insisted on returning to his unit in the field while on leave.
Kanigher insisted late in the run of Sgt. Rock that the title character would not survive the war. However, this too was at odds with the backstory established by later editors at DC against Kanigher's wishes. See below for post-war incarnations of Rock.
[edit] Other appearances
As one of the large stable of DC Comics war characters, Rock often made appearances in other titles, notably G.I. Combat, where Rock interacted with the crew of the Haunted Tank.
The ultimate fate of Sgt. Frank Rock is a complicated story as there were initially two versions of the character, one residing on Earth-One and the other residing on Earth-Two. According to legend, he was killed on the last day of the war by the last enemy bullet fired. However, again according to John Wells:
Kanigher had established Frank's post-war survival in OAAW #168, wherein he had Rock visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and Bob Haney picked up on that fact in The Brave and the Bold. In issue #84, he'd had Rock and Easy cross paths with Bruce (Batman) Wayne during the war (in an episode obviously set on Earth-Two) and followed up with a present-day sequel in B&B #96. In that one, Bruce arrived at the United States Embassy in South America and was introduced to "our Military Attache and Chief of Embassy Security ... Sergeant Rock, U.S. Army." Two subsequent present-day episodes found Rock tracking a Satanic figure that he believed was Adolf Hitler (B&B #108) and an Easy Company "ghost" that he'd been ordered to execute at the Battle of the Bulge (B&B #117). In the bizarre B&B #124, Bob Haney and Jim Aparo actually guest-starred as Rock and Batman trailed a terrorist organization called the 1000.
In stories told after the demise of his own comic book, Rock's character was revived, explained to have survived the war, and went on to perform covert missions for the United States government. He also battled his old foe, the Iron Major, and went on an adventure to Dinosaur Island with his old second in command, Bulldozer. Following this, he appeared as a general and a Chief of Staff for Lex Luthor's administration. During the Imperiex War of the Our Worlds at War cross-over, General Frank Rock was killed, and later buried with full honors at Arlington National Cemetery. It's entirely possible that the DC Comics Encyclopedia is confusing Rock with General Sam Lane, the Secretary of Defense for Luthor's cabinet who also died during the conflict. In either case, a Frank Rock was involved with an incarnation of the Suicide Squad. At the end of the title, he peels off a mask and walks away from the team, while his companion "Bulldozer," assumed to be the original, stands up from his wheelchair, comments on how it was good to feel young again, and also walks away. Whether this was the real Frank Rock in disguise or an imposter is unknown.
The use of the Rock character in post-war stories had one major effect on Rock's backstory, according to Wells:
All of the super-hero crossovers were more than Kanigher could take. In the letter columns of 1978's Sgt. Rock #316 and 323 and 1980's Sgt. Rock #347 and 348, he announced that his hero had not lived past 1945, blunting most of Haney's Brave and the Bold episodes if nothing else. "It is inevitable and wholly in character that neither Rock nor Easy survived the closing days of the war," he proclaimed.
Indeed in the letter column for Sgt. Rock #374, Kanigher stated that:
As far as I'm concerned ROCK is the only authentic World War II Soldier. For obvious reasons. He and Easy Company lives only, and will eventually die, to the last man, in World War II.
The first use of the Rock character after the demise of the series was an issue of Swamp Thing, six months after the release of Sgt. Rock #422. The story was set in May 1945, intimating that Sgt. Rock had survived the war in Europe and raised the question of whether Rock transferred to the Pacific theatre.
Kanigher also mused on possible movie portrayals of Rock, opining in the letters column of Sgt. Rock that Lee Marvin would be "laconic" enough to play the part (not to mention having played a similar character in the film The Big Red One.) Rumours were abundant in the late 1990s that Bruce Willis might portray Rock on the big screen, but to date no movie adaptation has come to light.
DC Comics' competitor, Marvel Comics, got in a subtle dig at Rock in an issue of G.I. Joe when the character Breaker says to a companion "You're kidding! The only guy who can knock down an airplane with a sub-machine gun is Sgt. Granite of Difficult Company!"[1] This was in reference to many Sgt. Rock stories which featured the improbable and consistent use of small arms and even bazookas to bring down enemy aircraft — a feat never matched in real life. However, it should be noted that Marvel's Silver Age WWII icon, Sgt. Nick Fury, once had one of his men destroy an airplane using a hand grenade, while descending in a parachute.[2]
[edit] Merchandise and collectibles
A line of 3-3/4" action figures bearing the SGT. ROCK name was released in the 1980s by Remco Toys, likely as a result of the popularity of Hasbro's G.I. Joe toy line. The figures had little resemblance to the World War II characters of the comic books. The Sgt. Rock figure was depicted in Vietnam-era fatigues and gear and had an M-16 rifle instead of a Thompson submachine gun. Other generic figures were sold, with no other characters recognizable from the comics. These US troops also had Vietnam-era equipment and helmets/helmet covers or berets, and were collectively referred to as "Tough Action Soldiers." "Enemy" soldiers were simply toys produced from the same molds used to make the US soldiers, painted black with blue helmets. Each figure came with a plastic dog tag on which purchasers could ink their name and rank. A serial number was printed on a paper sticker affixed to the plastic tag, which also came with a silver coloured string to suspend the tag around the neck. Playsets included plastic machinegun and mortar bunkers. The quality of these toys was very low; soft plastic was used, and joints had limited movement, especially compared to the much superior G.I. Joe line of 3-3/4" action figures.
In 2002, a limited edition of 12" SGT. ROCK figures was released (ironically enough by Hasbro, as part of the 12" GI Joe line), including four other characters from the comic book series; Bulldozer, Little Sure Shot, Jackie Johnson and Wildman. The figures wore proper World War II-era fatigues and carried the same weapons they carried in the comic books (though the Bulldozer figure carries an M-1 rifle instead of a water-cooled Browning .30 calibre machine gun). A female figure was also released, portraying French Resistance fighter Mademoiselle Marie, Sgt. Rock's only love interest during the comic book series. A number of playsets were also produced by Dreams and Visions in 2003, for either Sgt. Rock or any other 12" figures.
[edit] Cultural references
- The English rock band XTC included a song called "Sgt. Rock (Is Going To Help Me)" on their 1980 album Black Sea. The song was released as a single that December and reached No. 16 on the U.K. singles chart. Songwriter Andy Partridge would later pen songs about two other DC Comics characters, Supergirl and Brainiac.
- The character Xander Harris made frequent references to Rock on the TV series Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
[edit] Movie
- Producer Joel Silver is currently developing a Sgt. Rock movie for Warner Bros. John Cox is writing the screenplay.[3]
[edit] External links
[edit] Notes
1 ↑ GI Joe: A Real American Hero, Vol. 1, #12, June 1983 (Marvel Comics Group)
2 ↑ Sgt. Fury #1, page 6, May 1963 (Marvel Comics Group)
3 ↑ Cox locked up for WB's 'Rock' duty
