Thursday, August 12, 2010

Batman and The Haunted Tank



I remember seeing ads for The Haunted Tank as a kid but it was never a series that I sought out. It was only a recently when I purchased the Showcase collection for the amazing Joe Kubert art that I really began to appreciate this little gem of a concept. Confederate Soldier J.E.B. stuart lends ghostly guidance to his namesake in World War Two. This mini-tank navigates impossible odds and perilous encounters and it makes for the ultimate underdog story with a great never give up attitude. I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed these tales. I especially loved the recurring sound effect that The Haunted Tank made - Clankity clank! Clankity clank!

This is one of those covers that came out much better than I had anticipated. I had an idea for a ghostly Batman guiding the tank and was very lucky to find the perfect image. Even though this is a relatively early effort, it is still one of my top ten favorite covers.

8 comments:

The Bouv said...

That's awesome! Thanks for doing these. As I peruse your work, I wish I could find a beat up copy of most of them in a quarter-box somewhere!

Rick L. Phillips said...

First off to The Bouv...Wow! you still have quarter boxes? My local store now won't go lower then $1. Now for Ross I am in the same boat as you. I never bought Haunted tank when I was younger but fell in love with the stories in the Showcase paperbacks. Loved this cover. Batman teamed up wiht Blackhawk and Sgt. Rock in WW II adventures but I don't think he did with Haunted Tank.

Anonymous said...

perfect

The Bouv said...

Hey, Rick - we have a small con three times a year here in the Tampa Bay area that's LOADED with quarter boxes! Last time I went, I managed to reclaim about half of the All Star Squadron issues I gave away years ago. I find great bronze-age stuff all the time, too, mixed in with awful Image comics from the '90s.

Mike D. said...

I would like to see a SHANNA the she devil or perhaps a SHEENA cover...RED SONJA would be cool too...any chance of any one or all of those in the FUTCHAAA!?

Ross said...

There's always a chance! Although I must confess that I spent a lot of time trying to do a Red Sonja cover and just couldn't get anything to work.

Anonymous said...

May I suggest a late 60/70's era Worlds finest Bat Man and a Frank Thorne Sonja from Marvel Feature...I am sure you can work within there.....

Doc Thompson said...

So Bat-Man exist pre WWII,he's related the Jeb Stuart and he's dead

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