DC Horror Presents: Sgt. Rock Vs. The Army Of The Dead #4 - DC Comics

DC HORROR PRESENTS: SGT. ROCK VS. THE ARMY OF THE DEAD No. 4, February 2023

Pausing simply to allow Easy Company to reload their arsenal of heavy weapons, Bruce Campbell’s script for Issue Four of “DC Horror Presents: Sergeant Rock Verses The Army Of The Dead” is arguably an absolute rollercoaster of a ride for its readers, as Frank momentarily disguises himself by wearing a German uniform and causes even more chaos behind enemy lines. Indeed, it’s difficult to calculate the Axis death count within this twenty-two-page periodical due to the Allies mercilessly mowing down all manner of Nazi soldiers with a mixture of small arms fire, flamethrowers and bazooka blasts; “Short Round, ditch the bunker on my signal.”

Enjoyably however, this comic isn’t just all action for the sake of it, as the American veterans continually have to reassess and redirect their efforts to successfully follow Doctor Theodor Morell all the way to Adolf Hitler’s secret headquarters. Debatably it would have been all too easy for the “B-Movie Actor” to simply pen for “ol’ sarge” and his men to effortlessly obliterate everything in their path en route to completing their mission. But instead, Campbell pens an enthralling narrative which repeatedly sees Rock having to adapt to a change in circumstances - whether that be a heavily guarded Third Reich checkpoint, a camouflaged enemy bunker or truckload of super-strong Nazi zombies.

In addition, “Where The Rubber Meets The Road” is packed full of humour and some genuinely laugh-out-loud moments, such as when the grizzled Sergeant nonchalantly hands a Nazi Guard some torn out papers from an Opel Blitz truck operator’s manual. This comical timing, for what is otherwise an incredibly dark and disconcerting tale, is absolutely spot on and makes it perfectly plausible to imagine many within this publication’s audience quietly chuckling to themselves every few panels, even when a terrified Four Eyes yells out an uncensored expletive upon seeing a still burning German ghoul rushing headlong towards his all-too vulnerable location.

Helping to maintain this dual atmosphere of amusement and sense-shattering war-time shenanigans is illustrator Eduardo Risso, who is able to prodigiously pencil an astonished-looking German sentry or completely dumbfounded member of the Feldgendarmerie with unnerving ease. Furthermore, the Argentine artist is able to manufacture some additional menace to the “Re-Gens” by stretching out their shadows and highlighting Rock’s brooding presence, courtesy of his cigarette end burning red within the darkness of a church tower.

The regular cover art to "DC HORROR PRESENTS: SGT. ROCK VS. THE ARMY OF THE DEAD" #4 by Gary Frank