Marvel Comics Capt. Savage And His Leatherneck Raiders Vol. 1 #1 (1968)
Captain Savage and his Leatherneck Raiders is a World War II comic book published by Marvel Comics. The series lasted for nineteen issues, from January 1968 to March 1970. By issue #9 the name was switched to Captain Savage and his Battlefield Raiders. Created by Gary Friedrich and Dick Ayers, the book was a spin-off of the series Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos which they wrote at the time. The series was launched when Marvel suddenly received the ability to publish more titles than they had previously due to an embargo
On November 22, 1943, two days after the assault on the Japanese stronghold of Tarawa began, a group of six marines known as the Leatherneck Raiders, lead by Capt. Savage, banded together to attack an ammo dump at a Japanese base. As soon as they encountered some Japanese soldiers, they began to engage them in both gunfire and hand-to-hand combat. The team eventually arrived at a cave, where they decided to set up camp. When they were inside, Cpl. Jacques LaRocque pulled out photographs of women and stuck them to the wall, while Pvt. Lee Baker read a book on sociology. After eating their meals, which were cooked by Seaman Blarney Stone, Capt. Savage informed them that they would move out in five minutes to stay on schedule.
The Raiders moved out and Capt. Savage tripped on a bamboo pole that was left by the Japanese and was attacked by Japanese soldiers, who he defeated within minutes. Then, the team came upon a mountain and began to climb it. Suddenly, Jacques lost his grip and almost fell, but hung onto a tree branch, but could not hold on for long, so Pvt. Jay Little Bear shot an arrow with a rope for Jacques to grab hold of and climb up. Once they reached the top, they came upon the Japanese base and decided to charge, firing their guns, until they reached the ammo dump. When they were in range of the ammo dump, they saw a Japanese soldier threatening to blow himself up with the ammo dump unless they fell back. The Raiders would not fall back, so the soldier shot himself in the head, killing him, making him drop his torch, which Little Bear shot with an arrow, stopping it from causing the ammo to combust. Capt. Savage began to rig dynamite to destroy the ammo dump, but more Japanese soldiers began to storm the base as well. The Raiders opened fire on the Japanese, with Little Bear gaining the first blood, and fled the mountain before it could explode and cause debris to fall. The Raiders got onto a raft and sailed into the Pacific Ocean until they came upon a ship with Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos. As the Raiders boarded the ship, they began a friendly rivalry with the Howling Commandos.
A shocking moment occurs in this comic when a Japanese soldier commits suicide via gunshot to the head. Suicide is a very rare occurrence in comic books, and especially during the Silver Age.
