G.I. Combat #125

G.I. Combat #125 (On Sale: June 8, 1967) has a nice and dramatic, if not overly colorful cover by Russ Heath.

Inside we have "Stay Alive -- Until Dark" by Robert Kanigher and Russ Heath featuring the Haunted Tank. Going just by the title this story sounds like a "reversed ticking clock."

A "ticking clock" is a plot device, used mostly in screenplays, to add tension and suspense to a story. Sometimes it is manifested in an actual "ticking clock," usually attached to a bomb and usuallly displayed in a red LED of ever decreasing numbers. The tension builds as the point of something bad happening rapidly approaches (the bomb is going to go off, the bad guys are going to ride into town at High Noon, etc.). A "reversed ticking clock" is just the opposite: bad things will continue to happen until a specific event occurs. In 3:10 To Yuma for example (remake starring Christian Bale and Russell Crowe to arrive in October), rancher Dan Evans holding outlaw Ben Wade had to survive being attacked by Wade's gang until the 3:10 train to Yuma came into town. "Stay Alive -- Until Dark" sounds a lot like that.

The backup story is "Clay Pigeon Sub," a reprint from Our Army At War #47 by Bob Haney and Russ Heath.

Edited by Robert Kanigher.