Weekly Dose Of Weird!

Weird War Tales #19 -- I tell you what, for skeletons, those riders are pretty beefy.

I. "The Platoon That Wouldn't Die" -- (3 Chapters) The crack Nazi strike force known as the Blue Bolts is observed stealing the body of their commander from a gravesite right as US Intelligence determines that the man, Maj. Bruekner, has been reported dead three times! The Army sends in a convict named Harry Nielson, an impersonator and con-man, to infiltrate the unit and see how this is possible in exchange for his freedom. Nielson's first mission with the Bolts is to capture the officer who sent him inside; but things go south and Nielson is forced to kill him. In the ensuing escape, the Major is killed once more, and Nielson hitches a ride with the ambulance to see where he is being taken -- the Institute of Para-Psychology! Inside, the Major's body is wheeled into the Caribbean Research room, where Nielson finds a witch doctor performing a voodoo ritual to revive the Major as a zombie! Nielson tries to escape, but is blocked by the Bolts' Sergeant, which leads to a chase by a platoon of undead Nazis! Nielson flees to another room in the Insitute, discovering a control room -- the reanimated soldiers aren't zombies, but actually robots, the zombie angle being a ruse to fool the Americans! Nielson destroys the control room, and shuts down the robotic legion before escaping back to American lines, where we see that he did not, in fact, kill his CO in the raid. Eager to get started on his freedom, Nielson calls the Army a bunch of nuts and bugs out.

Overall Weird Factor: 4 (out of 5)

You have to like any story which starts out with zombie Nazis and then switches to robot zombies. A witch doctor in full regalia performing the voodoo rites over a Nazi is a nice touch too. This is a relatively rare full-length issue of WWT -- at least for this timeframe. Later, towards the end of the run, the title would host more long features and less shorts. But the constant twists make this a fun installment.

(Sorry this is a day late, I had training al day at work yesterday and things became more hectic than they had any right to be!)