Number 723


A date with Canteen Kate


"Canteen Kate" is a feature that artist Matt Baker illustrated. These particular episodes are from St. John's Fightin' Marines #'s 3 and 5, from 1951-52. Baker's artwork is always beautiful, but here it's more restrained than his '40s work for Jerry Iger and Fiction House.

Fightin' Marines had a long run between publishers St. John and Charlton, and the two early issues I have are pretty good war comics. Number three is mostly drawn by a young Gene Colan, and #5 has a lead story by Colan. The Canteen Kate stories are comedy relief breaks in the usual combat stories. In style they remind me of the radio and TV sitcoms of the era. Kate acts like Lucy Ricardo in these two stories, getting into messes.