Johnny Reb and Billy Yank has the distinction of being the very last new feature to be produced in the full page format. The Sunday only strip debuted in the New York Herald-Tribune on November 18 1956, beautifully drawn to take advantage of its vast acreage by Frank Giacoia.
The strip initially told the tale of a pair of soldiers, one each in the Civil War’s Union and Confederate armies. The story was well-researched and according to Ron Goulart, was a joint effort between Giacoia and Herald-Tribune editor Ben Martin.
The concept of following the two separate stories might have seemed like a good idea, and would have been in a novel, but the weekly comic strip doesn’t lend itself well to such literary devices. The schizophrenic strip eventually settled down to primarily tell Johnny Reb’s story.
Johnny Reb and Billy Yank 1956-1959
74 Strips
Newspaper Comic Strips 