The Losers
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The Losers is the name of a series of war comics stories published by DC Comics, and a subsequent, largely unrelated, series for DC's Vertigo Comics imprint.
The first Losers comic was a war comics feature set during World War II. It was created by Robert Kanigher and became a regular feature in DC's long-running war comic book Our Fighting Forces beginning with issue #123, dated January/February 1970.
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The Losers
Upon America's entry into the European theatre of the Second World War, a Special Forces group composed of personnel from all branches of the armed forces was formed. The members were Captain William Storm, a former PT Boat commander with a wooden leg and an eye-patch; Johnny Cloud of the U.S. Army Air Force, known as "The Navajo Ace"; Sarge Clay, one of the oldest serving Marines, and Gunner Mackey, one of the youngest. Because each member had suffered the deaths of personnel under their command for which they felt responsible, they dubbed themselves The Losers.
Beginnings
Prior to the formation of the group, each character had his own adventures in DC's war anthology comics. Captain Johnny Cloud had appeared in All-American Men of War #82-115 (1960-1966); the two-men team of Gunner and Sarge had first appeared in issue 67 of the same title (March 1959) before transferring to Our Fighting Forces for a fifty-issue run, #45-94 (May 1959-Aug. 1965). Captain Storm had his own title which lasted 18 issues from 1964 to 1967.
Their first appearance as a group was with The Haunted Tank crew in issue 138 of GI Combat (October/November 1969), in a story titled "The Losers." Prior to that, Captain Storm, Gunner and Sarge (along with Fighting Devil Dog) had teamed up once before to fight some Japanese naval officers in Captain Storm #13. They got their own series a few months later (January/February 1970), as the lead feature in Our Fighting Forces, beginning with issue 123. Their stories as a team were written by Robert Kanigher and illustrated by a variety of artists, most notably Sam Glanzman, Russ Heath, John Severin and Joe Kubert.
The group served in Europe, Africa and the Pacific, meeting other DC World War II characters such as the Haunted Tank and Sergeant Rock. The team briefly had a female member named Ona Tomsen who was part of the Norwegian Resistance movement, who joined the team in issue 135. At the same time, the team briefly lost Captain Storm, who suffered amnesia (and lost an eye) due to a bomb blast. They reunited in issue 141, when Capt. Storm reappeared as a one-eyed, peg-legged pirate. Gunner's pet dog Pooch also joined the team for some missions.
Series authors
Robert Kanigher was the original writer for the series, and he emphasized the group's hard-luck outlook. They were, in a sense, anti-heroes, and the stories cast light on the negative impact of war. At the height of the Viet Nam War, Kanigher wove this outlook into many of the DC war books. Also in common with most DC war books of the time were spectacular covers by Joe Kubert. Ken Barr handled the artist's chores on the first issue, with Ross Andru and Mike Esposito picking up in issue 124. John Severin, a veteran of Marvel Comics' Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos came in by issue 132 to handle the art chores. This run lasted until Jack Kirby took over as artist/writer with issue 151 in the autumn of 1974. While Kirby enjoyed working on the series, he took them in an entirely different direction that wasn't favored by fans, judging by comments in the book's letter pages. There have been favorable comments on his run in recent years.
With issue 163 Bob Kanigher was back writing the book with Jack Lehti handling the art. Issue 164 saw Ric Estrada penciling and George Evans inking, and Evans handling all of the artistic duties by issue 166. He continued on the strip until the final issue, 181 (September/October 1978). A story that was originally set to run in issue 182, written by Kanigher and drawn by Evans and entitled "Young Losers - Young Lions," finally saw print four years later in The Unknown Soldier #265 (July 1982).
The end
According to Crisis on Infinite Earths, the team met its end in Markovia in 1945. Along with others, they were attacking the towers created by the series villain, the Anti-Monitor. His minions, shadow demons, touch each one, destroying them.
The re-ordering of the DC Universe resulted in a different ending for the team. In The Losers Special #1, written by Kanigher and illustrated by Glanzman, the Losers (along with Pooch) died in action in 1945 while destroying a German missile site: Sarge was bayonetted, Captain Storm fell on a grenade, and the remainder were strafed by aircraft fire. The Special was published in 1985, during Crisis' initial run, and remained the definitive ending for the group for many years.
In the late 1990s, a short-lived revival of the Creature Commandos resurrected Gunner as a cyborg warrior member of the new team. Gunner and Sarge turn up alive and out of their own time in Birds of Prey, trapped in a POW-camp in the time-fluctuating Dinosaur Island...now with a "pooch" that is a trained velociraptor. It is not known if they somehow went back in time to conclude their lives or if this brings them into the present.
An alternative ending was presented in the out-of-continuity 2004 miniseries DC: The New Frontier. In it, the group was sent to Dinosaur Island in December 1945, where one by one they die due to the dangers of the island. Their epitaph, of sorts, was written by Johnny Cloud: "Ask my family and they'll tell you I was a Navajo. Ask the Army Air Force and they'll say I was an American. But if you ask my brothers, they'll set you straight. John Cloud was a Loser."
The Losers (Vertigo series)
The Losers (Vertigo) A new The Losers series launched in 2004, created by writer Andy Diggle and artist Jock and published under DC's Vertigo imprint. The new series, set in the present day, concerns a team of special forces soldiers who declare war on the Central Intelligence Agency after their Agency handler tries to assassinate them.
Publication
- GI Combat #138 (October/November 1969) "The Losers" 14 pages
- Our Fighting Forces #123-181 (January/February 1970-July/August 1978)
- The Unknown Soldier #250 (April 1981) "The Traitor Without a Face!" 25 pages
- The Unknown Soldier #265 (July 1982) "Young Losers - Young Lions!" 8 pages
- Crisis on Infinite Earths #3 (June 1985) "Oblivion Upon Us" 25 pages
- The Losers Special #1 (1985) "Losers Die Twice" 40 pages
- DC: The New Frontier #1 (March 2004) "Our Fighting Forces" 64 pages
- The Losers (2009) 240 pages
In other media
- The original Losers are seen in a newspaper photograph Batman is looking at in the animated film Justice League: The New Frontier.
Movie
"Stomp the Yard" director Sylvain White is in final negotiations to take the helm of "The Losers," breathing new life into the adaptation of the gritty DC-Vertigo comic book. The project has come close to fruition before, with such directors as Peter Berg ("Hancock") and Tim Story ("Fantastic Four"), among others.