Sgt Rock
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Contents |
Facts
Debut: GI Combat #68
(January 1959)
Creators:Robert Kanigher (writer)
Joe Kubert (artist)
Full_name: Frank Rock
Powers: Trained marksman and U.S. Military combatant
Summary
Sgt. Frank Rock is a infantry non-commissioned officer comic book character published by DC Comics. He first appeared in GI Combat #68 (January 1959), and was created by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert.
Publication history
Sgt. Rock first appeared in GI Combat #68 (Jan. 1959). His rank is not given in this story; instead, he is merely called "The Rock." The Rock returned as a sergeant in Our Army at War #81 (April 1959) with his unit, Easy Company (the precise US Army infantry regiment to which Easy belonged was never identified during the history of the character). In this first proper appearance with the Easy Company (as opposed to the nameless infantryman with a nickname, as he was portrayed previously), the story was actually written by Bob Haney, but the character's creator, Robert Kanigher was the editor. He would go on to create the bulk of the stories with Joe Kubert as the artist.
Sgt. Rock steadily gained popularity, until, in 1977, the name of the comic was changed to Sgt. Rock. The comic ran until Sgt. Rock #422 (July 1988). In addition to the semi-regular comic, several "digests" were sold, under the DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest banner, reprinting stories from Our Army at War or Sgt. Rock. Some were subtitled as OAAW or Sgt. Rock, some as Sgt. Rock's Prize Battle Tales. (The Prize Battle Tales title was also used on earlier 80 page annual specials). The digest format was 4-13/16" x 6-5/8", softcover, with 98 full colour pages and no advertisements.
A 21-issue run of reprints followed from 1988-1991, and two Sgt. Rock Specials with new content saw publication in 1992 and 1994. A Christmas themed story appeared in DCU Holiday Bash II in 1997, again featuring new content.
According to John Wells, in Fanzing 36 (July 2001), an online fan magazine,
Sgt. Rock's complex family tree comes by way of creator Robert Kanigher, who added new (and often conflicting) branches throughout the character's original 29 year run. Rock's father was variously described as having died in a mine cave-in (OAAW # 231), in World War I (# 275 and 419) or in a Pittsburgh steel mill (# 347). Robin Snyder (in a letter mistakenly attributed in # 353 to Mike Tiefenbacher) suggested that one of the deaths occurred to Rock's stepfather and his existence was confirmed in # 400. As things currently stand, it was father John Rock who died in combat and stepfather John Anderson who perished in a cave-in. The third death, as theorized above, probably occurred to a father figure that Frank Rock worked with at the steel mill.
In at least one Sgt. Rock comic book published in the late 1960s, it was revealed that Sgt. Rock had a brother who was an infantry officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, fighting in the Pacific Theater. In this episode, Sgt. Rock told his fellow-soldiers about a weird combat incident that his brother had taken part in on a Pacific island, shown in the comic in a "flashback" style.
A Viet Nam soldier by the name of Adam Rock appears in Swamp Thing #16 (May 1975), though it's never specifically stated if he is intended to be a relative of Frank Rock.
Fictional character biography
During World War II, Sgt. Rock fought in the infantry branch of the U.S. Army in the European Theatre and eventually rose to authority within his unit, Easy Company. The unit was made up of a disparate collection of individuals who managed to participate in every major action in the European war. Rock's dogtag number was 409966, which had been, it was claimed, Robert Kanigher's own military serial number.
Robert Kanigher mused in letters columns in the 1970s and 1980s that Rock probably belonged to "The Big Red One" (U.S. 1st Infantry Division|First US Infantry Division) given his appearance on battlefields in North Africa, Italy and Northwest Europe. The backstory for Rock was fleshed out in different comics over the years; generally he is considered to have come from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he worked in a steel mill. Enlisting after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he went to North Africa as a private but promotion came quickly as his superiors were killed, to assistant squad leader, squad leader, and then platoon sergeant. His unit is only ever given as "Easy Company", but no regiment or division is named nor is unit insignia ever shown. Rock also usually wears the chevrons and rockers of a Master Sergeant on his uniform and also applied, oversize, to the front of his helmet.
It is likely Rock's official position in Easy Company was of senior platoon sergeant though dialogue and scripts are usually vague on his actual responsibilities and duties. He usually leads patrols and appears to have powers of command over the men of the company. Several officer characters also appeared in the comic, as both platoon and company commanders, all of whom were regarded by Rock as superiors. Easy's commander was usually referred to as "the skipper" by Rock. Rock in turn was referred to by others as the "topkick", or senior non-commissioned officer in the company. Most infantry companies did not have Master Sergeants; significantly, Rock does not have the lozenge of a First Sergeant on his rank insignia.
Powers and abilities
Equipment
- The classic Rock was usually dressed in olive drab fatigues, with a .45 calibre Thompson submachine gun and .45 calibre Colt M1911A1 automatic pistol as his armament. Oddly, the classic artwork almost always depicts Rock with an M-1 Garand cartridge belt which would be useless to him, as well as two belts of .50 calibre ammunition, which Rock considers lucky charms. Other artists such as John Severin and Russ Heath sometimes attempted a more realistic portrayal of Rock's equipment, but the .50 calibre ammunition remained a personal trademark.
- Rock is always shown with a number of hand grenades secured to his equipment.
Other versions
- The ultimate fate of Sgt. Frank Rock is a complicated story as there were initially two versions of the character, one residing on Earth-One and the other residing on Earth-Two. According to legend, he was killed on the last day of the war by the last enemy bullet fired. However, again according to John Wells: Kanigher had established Frank's post-war survival in OAAW #168, wherein he had Rock visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and Bob Haney picked up on that fact in The Brave and the Bold. In issue #84, he'd had Rock and Easy cross paths with Bruce (Batman) Wayne during the war (in an episode obviously set on Earth-Two) and followed up with a present-day sequel in B&B #96. In that one, Bruce arrived at the United States Embassy in South America and was introduced to "our Military Attache and Chief of Embassy Security ... Sergeant Rock, U.S. Army." Two subsequent present-day episodes found Rock tracking a Satanic figure that he believed was Adolf Hitler (B&B #108) and an Easy Company "ghost" that he'd been ordered to execute at the Battle of the Bulge (B&B #117). In the bizarre B&B #124, Bob Haney and Jim Aparo actually guest-starred as Rock and Batman trailed a terrorist organization called the 1000.
- In stories told after the demise of his own comic book, Rock's character was revived, explained to have survived the war, and went on to perform covert missions for the United States government. He also battled his old foe, the Iron Major, and went on an adventure to Dinosaur Island with his old second in command, Bulldozer. Following this, he appeared as a general and a Chief of Staff for Lex Luthor's administration. During the Imperiex War of the Our Worlds at War cross-over, General Frank Rock was killed, and later buried with full honors at Arlington National Cemetery. However, Frank Rock was involved with an incarnation of the Suicide Squad. At the end of the title, he peels off a mask and walks away from the team, while his companion "Bulldozer," assumed to be the original, stands up from his wheelchair, comments on how it was good to feel young again, and also walks away. Whether this was the real Frank Rock in disguise or an imposter is unknown; however, the series concludes with the line "Frank Rock died in 1945," implying that the real Rock was killed near the end of the war.
- The use of the Rock character in post-war stories had one major effect on Rock's backstory, according to Wells: All of the super-hero crossovers were more than Kanigher could take. In the letter columns of 1978's Sgt. Rock #316 and 323 and 1980's Sgt. Rock #347 and 348, he announced that his hero had not lived past 1945, blunting most of Haney's Brave and the Bold episodes if nothing else. "It is inevitable and wholly in character that neither Rock nor Easy survived the closing days of the war," he proclaimed.
- Indeed in the letter column for Sgt. Rock #374, Kanigher stated that: "As far as I'm concerned ROCK is the only authentic World War II Soldier. For obvious reasons. He and Easy Company lives only, and will eventually die, to the last man, in World War II."
- The first use of the Rock character after the demise of the series was an issue of Swamp Thing, six months after the release of Sgt. Rock #422. The story was set in May 1945, intimating that Sgt. Rock had survived the war in Europe and raised the question of whether Rock transferred to the Pacific theatre.
Other media
Television animation
- Both Sgt. Rock and Easy Company appear in the Justice League episode, "The Savage Time." He was voiced by Fred Dryer.
Movies
- For a period of time in the late 1980s early 1990s, Arnold Schwarzenegger was attached to the role, despite the seeming incongruity of an Austrian actor playing an American G.I. in WW II. Screenplays were written by John Milius and David Peoples, the latter depicting Rock as having a German-American father and being able to speak German (a skill he uses to ambush the enemy).
- Producer Joel Silver is still attempting to make a Sgt. Rock movie. John Cox has written the latest screenplay, which is not based on any of the previous screenplay drafts. Cox has stated that Schwarzenegger is no longer attached to star in the project. In April 2007, David Gambino, VP at Silver Pictures said, "The good news is we have a fantastic screenplay and everybody's really happy with it. It's really just about trying to attach cast right now and really decide what the movie is going to be, how we're going to make it."
Merchandise and collectibles
- A line of 3-3/4" action figures bearing the SGT. ROCK name was released in the 1980s by Remco Toys, likely as a result of the popularity of Hasbro's G.I. Joe toy line. The figures had little resemblance to the World War II characters of the comic books. The Sgt. Rock figure was depicted in Vietnam-era fatigues and gear and had an M-16 rifle instead of a Thompson submachine gun. Other generic figures were sold, with no other characters recognizable from the comics. These US troops also had Vietnam-era equipment and helmets/helmet covers or berets, and were collectively referred to as "Tough Action Soldiers." "Enemy" soldiers were simply toys produced from the same molds used to make the US soldiers, painted black with blue helmets. Each figure came with a plastic dog tag on which purchasers could ink their name and rank. A serial number was printed on a paper sticker affixed to the plastic tag, which also came with a silver coloured string to suspend the tag around the neck. Playsets included plastic machinegun and mortar bunkers. The quality of these toys was very low; soft plastic was used, and joints had limited movement, especially compared to the much superior G.I. Joe line of 3-3/4" action figures.
- There were also a range of diecast metal vehicles, produced by Universal Toys for Azrak-Hamway of New York. These were packaged on cards similar to the Remco Action Figures. The range included two tanks, a Jeep, a staff car and an ambulance. These were cheap toys, of rather poor quality. Although Sgt Rock's adventures took place in WWII, the staff car and ambulance were modern vehicles!
- In 2002, a limited edition of 12" SGT. ROCK figures was released (ironically enough by Hasbro, as part of the 12" GI Joe line), including four other characters from the comic book series; Bulldozer, Little Sure Shot, Jackie Johnson and Wildman. The figures wore proper World War II-era fatigues and carried the same weapons they carried in the comic books (though the Bulldozer figure carries an M-1 rifle instead of a water-cooled Browning .30 calibre machine gun). A female figure was also released, portraying French Resistance fighter Mademoiselle Marie, Sgt. Rock's only love interest during the comic book series. A number of playsets were also produced by Dreams and Visions in 2003, for either Sgt. Rock or any other 12" figures.