OUR ARMY AT WAR #188

This is a pre-1977 book so no direct/newsstand distinction applies. Cover shows moderate wear: visible spine stress with a crease near the top, corner softening at the top right, and some surface scuffing/rubbing across the purple background especially along the left edge. There appears to be a small crease or bend near the top spine area and slight discoloration at the extreme edges; the book is protected in a plastic sleeve with some glare. Interior and back cover were not assessed.

Our Army at War #188 arrived in January 1968 as part of DC's long-running war anthology built around Sgt. Rock and Easy Company, a series that by this point had become one of the publisher's most consistent sellers under editor and frequent writer Robert Kanigher. The title's visual identity was closely tied to artist Joe Kubert, whose gritty, kinetic linework defined the look of Rock and his men throughout the Silver Age. This issue is a standard installment in that run rather than a milestone: it carries no first appearance, origin story, or death of a major character, and its cover, while typical of the title's combat-driven imagery, has not entered the ranks of covers cited as genre classics by collectors or price guides.

Market activity for this issue is thin. Certified population is small across every grade, with only single-digit census counts even at the top end and a lone recorded sale near the middle grades. That scarcity of transaction data, rather than outsized demand, is the main driver of value here; war comics of this era trade steadily among genre specialists and Kubert completists but rarely command the premiums seen in superhero keys of the same period. Pricing across grades reflects a gradual, unspectacular climb typical of a well-regarded but non-key war book.

Collecting interest in Our Army at War #188 comes primarily from Sgt. Rock and Joe Kubert enthusiasts filling out a run, along with general war-comics collectors rather than speculators chasing a first appearance. Lower-grade raw copies move as affordable reading copies, mid-grade raw examples appeal to collectors assembling a presentable run, and a high-grade certified copy would be a niche but genuine prize for someone targeting census-topping Kubert-era war comics, trading on rarity of surviving high-grade material more than on any landmark status.