Combat Comic (jap. コンバットコミック, Kombatto Komikku) was a Japanese manga magazine dedicated to stories about war and the military. It was published by Nippon Shuppansha from 1984 to 2001 and was the only pure war manga magazine for a long time. It cost around 600 yen and had 225 pages. The paid circulation in the 1990s was around 100,000 copies.[1]
According to editor-in-chief Tetsuya Kurosawa, the readership consisted mainly of weapons (technology) enthusiasts, fans of firearms, survival games or mecha. Most of them were around 20 years old, but some were significantly older and many were members of the Japanese armed forces.
The issues contained around ten ongoing manga series as well as some short stories and articles on military topics. Some of the stories were always dedicated to a current or anniversary military event. They are mainly dedicated to the Pacific War and the European theatre of World War II. There are also stories about alternative histories, simulations or speculations and science fiction war stories set in the near future. Quite a few of these series revolve around the question of how Japan could have won the Second World War or what would have happened afterwards. The mangas are much more text-heavy than in other magazines, as a lot of information on technology and historical background has to be conveyed, especially as the content is usually extensively researched. Around half of the protagonists are Japanese soldiers. The chapters of successful stories appeared together in the Bomb Comics series. Among the best-selling of these collected stories are those about the Gulf War and the Vietnam War.[2]
The magazine's content was regularly subject to public criticism, as war was portrayed in purely technical terms and enthusiasm for weapons was stirred up. The editorial team always tried to remain apolitical and to emphasize that they did not want to convey a bellicose message, but only to entertain. The aim was to give those interested a realistic view of war.