Random Back Issues #115 - Sgt. Rock vs. the Army of the Dead #1

Early attempts at "Five-Hour Energy" were declared crude and excessively invasive.

For just the second time, a Random Back Issue from the 2020s. I just with the dice would stop giving my comics that are mostly set-up. The comic opens, as the caption box tells us, in "Berlin. 1944." Hitler's receiving bad news, proving that sometimes the world gets it right. Germany's under attack on all sides, and bodies are running short. Hitler responds by tearing the general's head off and asking a Dr. Morrell what is the status of the regeneration plan?

An unspecified amount of time later, some U.S. Army soldiers at the front lines (I don't think anyone had gotten near Berlin by '44, but whatever) are attacked by a bunch of Nazis who don't care about being shot. Next day, Rock and Easy Company are ordered to report to "The Skipper" for a "Level 9 Assignment."

The GIs managed to re-kill at least one of the undead Nazis, though it's not yet clear exactly how the corpses got up and moving again. It involves a cocktail of steroids, amphetamines, and "epidermal growth factor", plus a doohickus stuck into the brain stem that maybe electro-shocked the nervous system into action.

Well that all sounds horrible. What to do about it? Command knows there's a morgue in the heart of the Nazis' manufacturing area, and that Morrell is the doc involved. Job like this requires some extra equipment, and Easy Co.'s getting the finest in 1940s personal communication - the handie-talkie!

Might need some breaking in. There's also binoculars with night vision capability, and a thermal scope. While Easy's getting armed, word comes in an undead Nazi was caught uh, undead. Rock doesn't think much of the drooling, slouching thing, until it bends the bars of the cell and starts choking the life from the Skipper. The zombie's able to throw the entire squad off him without taking a break from his officer choking, so Rock shoots him a couple of times. Then once in the head. Then the entire squad opens up on him.

Now, Rock's convinced these things are a threat, especially if Hitler's gonna have a whole army of them. I mean, the Soviets alone would probably still outnumber the Nazis, alive and re-alive, combined, but the point's well taken. No need to let the war drag out. Don't want Truman getting any ideas about dropping an A-bomb in Germany, too. All we need is a Berlin full of radioactive, undead Nazis.

{9th longbox, 210th comic. Sgt. Rock vs. the Army of the Dead #1, by Bruce Campbell (writer), Eduardo Risso (artist), Kristian Rossi (colorist), Rob Leigh (letterer)}