The Lonely War of Capt. Willy Schultz

Tunisia, World War II: Captain Willy Schultz is framed for the murder of his commanding officer and sentenced to execution by firing squad. An ambush by the enemy grants him the opportunity to escape into the harsh, unforgiving North African desert. He may be a man without a country, but he believes that “the Nazis are still Nazis and must be stopped,” which means he’s not done fighting. The ensuing one-man battle for survival was first serialized in Charlton Comics’s Fightin’ Army in the 1960s, when comic-book racks abounded with titles depicting soldiers as glorious heroes and combat as a thrilling adventure—this story isn’t like those. This story is about soldiers who bleed, die, and kill at the whim of generals and politicians who determine their fates in rooms far from the battlefield. It’s about the cost of allowing ideology to override personal morality and retaining one’s humanity in an unimaginably brutal world.