Two-Fisted Tales #24

Credits:
Cover dated November/December 1951
Cover by Harvey Kurtzman

"Hill 203!" - Art by Jack Davis/Story by Harvey Kurtzman
"Bug Out!" - Art by Wally Wood/Story by Harvey Kurtzman
"Rubble!" - Art by Harvey Kurtzman/Story by Harvey Kurtzman
"Weak Link!" - Art by John Severin & Bill Elder/Story by Harvey Kurtzman

"Hill 203!" - This story features a small group of U.N. troops manning the hill of the title. 4 men are responsible for holding the hill, manning a machine gun. A group of North Korean soldiers come up the hill, posing as South Korean troops and kill one of them. Chinese troops also storm the hill during the night and the men are successful in holding the hill, although they all end up dead. One of the more average Davis Korean stories that frequently led Two-Fisted Tales.

"Bug Out!" - A soldier in the Korean War flees when his forces are encountered by North Korean soldiers. He makes his way to a destroyed Korean village where he finds some North Korean soldiers eating. He shoots all of them with their own guns, then starts stuffing his face with their food. Suddenly a flee of American jets pass overhead and bomb the village. The narrative turns to the present, where the soldier is paralyzed, held in a hospital, remembering the story again from the beginning. A strong story, that was based on a real life event someone told Kurtzman.

"Rubble!" - This story tells the story of the rubble that a U.N. long-tom gun sits on during the Korean War. The rubble was part of land that belonged to the Chun family. The husband of the house works hard to build his home personally. He promises his wife he'll create a well, but he is always occupied by other things. Years pass, and troops head through the area, destroying the home with a single artillery blast. U.N. soldiers eventually come across it and use it to station the long-tom gun. Eventually it is moved off and water starts gushing from an underground spring unearthed by the blast, creating the well Chun always spoke of creating.. Another strong story, done entirely by Kurtzman, with the sympathetic Chun family, who worked so hard to build their home only for it to be destroyed and them killed in mere moments.

"Weak Link!" - this story takes place during World War II in Germany. A group of U.S. troops head through the forest. Two of the men are requested to man a bazooka on a nearby hill to prevent any tanks from crossing the river. One of the men, Pringle is very nervous and wants to flee. Once his companion is killed, he does flee the hill. This results in the tanks getting through and his entire squad is killed, including himself. The only story of this issue to not take place during the Korean War. Its another good story, rounding out an overall strong issue, showing that the actions of one cowardly soldier can result in everyone being killed.