Publication History
Sgt. Rock's prototype first appeared in G.I. Combat #68 (January 1959). His rank is not given in this story; instead, he is merely called "The Rock." The Rock returned as a sergeant in Our Army at War #81 (April 1959) named "Sgt. Rocky" with his unit, Easy Company (the precise US Army infantry regiment to which Easy belonged was never identified during the history of the character). In this last prototype appearance with the Easy Company (as opposed to the nameless infantryman with a nickname, as he was portrayed previously), the story was actually written by Bob Haney, but the character's creator, Robert Kanigher was the editor. He would go on to create the bulk of the stories with Joe Kubert as the artist. In Issue #82 (May 1959), He is called "Sgt. Rock" (Name only) and by Issue #83 (June 1959), he makes his first full appearance as Sgt. Rock.
Sgt. Rock steadily gained popularity, until, in 1977, the name of the comic was changed to Sgt. Rock. The comic ran until Sgt. Rock #422 (July 1988). In addition to the semi-regular comic, several "digests" were sold, under the DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest banner, reprinting stories from Our Army at War or Sgt. Rock. Some were subtitled as OAAW or Sgt. Rock, some as Sgt. Rock's Prize Battle Tales. (The Prize Battle Tales title was also used on earlier 80 page annual specials). The digest format was 4-13/16" x 6-5/8", softcover, with 98 full colour pages and no advertisements.
A 21-issue run of reprints followed from 1988 to 1991, and two Sgt. Rock Specials with new content saw publication in 1992 and 1994. A Christmas themed story appeared in DCU Holiday Bash II in 1997, again featuring new content.
According to John Wells, in Fanzing 36 (July 2001), an online fan magazine:
| “ | Sgt. Rock's complex family tree comes by way of creator Robert Kanigher, who added new (and often conflicting) branches throughout the character's original 29 year run. Rock's father was variously described as having died in a mine cave-in (OAAW # 231), in World War I (# 275 and 419) or in a Pittsburgh steel mill (# 347). Robin Snyder (in a letter mistakenly attributed in # 353 to Mike Tiefenbacher) suggested that one of the deaths occurred to Rock's stepfather and his existence was confirmed in # 400. As things currently stand, it was father John Rock who died in combat and stepfather John Anderson who perished in a cave-in. The third death, as theorized above, probably occurred to a father figure that Frank Rock worked with at the steel mill. | ” |
In at least one Sgt. Rock comic book published in the late 1960s, it was revealed that Sgt. Rock had a brother who was an infantry officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, fighting in the Pacific Theater. In this episode, Sgt. Rock told his fellow-soldiers about a weird combat incident that his brother had taken part in on a Pacific island, shown in the comic in a "flashback" style.
A Viet Nam soldier by the name of Adam Rock appears in Swamp Thing #16 (May 1975), though it's never specifically stated if he is intended to be a relative of Frank Rock.
DC Comics published Sgt. Rock: The Lost Battalion, written and drawn by William Tucci, starting in November 2008. The story places Rock and Easy Company with the 1st Battalion, 141st Infantry, which was surrounded by German forces in the Vosges Mountains on 24 October 1944 and eventually rescued by the Asian-American 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
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