SGT. ROCK, DC Comics‘ incredibly popular WWII-era hero, is again set for the big screen.
Alongside the Haunted Tank and the Unknown Soldier, Sgt. Rock made up what was once the ‘war’ section of the DC Comics line, which once included anything from Westerns to Romance to even Humor titles.
Created by Bob Haney, Rob Kanigher and Joe Kubert as ‘The Rock’ in a 1959 of ‘G.I. Combat,’ Sgt. Rock has long been the most determined and tough character in comics.
I mean, the Punisher wishes he were this tough.
The Rock’s crew, called ‘Easy Company,’ never had it easy at all. After long hard walks through every bit of terrain the second World War could dish out, they only arrived at the most absurdly difficult barrier. There may be grumbling, but never in front of Sgt. Rock who would slap them into shape with his catchphrase, ‘C’mon you goldbricks, you wanna live forever?’ as he lead them into a brave charge against the Nazis.
Sarge commanded Easy Co. all the way until 1977, when the series started to show its age and became primarily a reprint series. Unlike other war characters, Rock had a deep loathing for war, but his grim determination to see his unit through was his main drive.
Rock’s co-creator, Rob Kanigher insisted late in the run of Sgt. Rock that the title character would not survive the war. However, this too was at odds with the backstory established by later editors at DC against Kanigher’s wishes.
In the 1980’s, a line of toys by REMCO hit the shelves of Sgt. Rock and Easy Co., but they bore little resemblance to the comic book series and the only notable thing about them was Joe Kubert’s art on the packaging.
In recent years, co-creator and founder of the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art, Joe Kubert has revisited Rock and Easy Co. with his collaboration with Brian Azzarello on ‘Between a Rock and a Hard Place’ and later with his own original work ‘The Prophecy.’
There are many pop culture references to Sgt. Rock, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Predator and even XTC.
Since the late 1980s early 1990s, Arnold Schwarzenegger was rumored to be playing a German born Sgt. Rock in a feature film, but nothing ever came together. More recently, Bruce Willis was rumored to play the Rock, but again these rumors disappeared in time.
In April 2007, David Gambino, VP at Silver Pictures said, “The good news is we have a fantastic screenplay by John Cox 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.”
Joel Silver (Batman 1989) will produce, but I’m at a loss at who John Cox is.
Any clues?
Suggested Reading:
The Sgt. Rock Archives, Vol. 1 (DC Archive Editions)
The Sgt. Rock Archives, Vol. 2 (DC Archive Editions)
Showcase Presents: Unknown Soldier, Vol. 1
Sgt. Rock: The Prophecy
Showcase Presents: The Haunted Tank, Vol. 1
I’m thinking this is a cleverly made hoax, but in a recent search on youtube I found this Batman: The Dark Knight trailer (dubbed as the ‘official’ teaser trailer going out with the Harry Potter).
There are lots of great titles in there, but I’m very excited about Katamari. After playing my friend’s version on Playstation, I can see how it’s insanely popular.
Rumor is that the 360 will see a significant price-drop for the Holiday Season… which is where my wallet gets antsy, but it’s very possible that those waiting for a more reasonable price will be waiting for a bit longer.
