DC's NEW 52-MEN OF WAR

I grew up in a very interesting era for comics. It was during the Vietnam War and some of my favorite comics, non-superhero that is, were what known as  War Comics. Sgt. Fury, Star Spangled War Stories, Jeb Stuart and The Haunted Tank, Mademoiselle Marie, Gunner and Sarge and Bob Kanigher and Joe Kubert's legendary Sgt. Rock and Easy Company. In a violent era, it was a war comic with a heart that focused more on the people than the conflict. It was a shining star of the genre.
 
The book he appeared in was originally entitled OUR ARMY AT WAR. As part of DC's New 52, DC has created MEN OF WAR. Being a fan of the genre, I was looking forward to seeing a modern take on a classic character.
 
Man...was I both wrong and disappointed.
 
Like the old series, there are two stories in this issue. The first story begins with a soldier on the battlefield and in pretty rough shape. From there, we get the almost book length flashback of the soldier-Corporal Rock who is the attitude filled grandson of legendary Sgt. Frank Rock. He is sent out on a mission and what one would think was a missile takes aim and takes out the ground troops. Did I mention that the missile is probably a superhero or super villain(as revealed by a flying silhouette a few pages before the end of the tale)?
 
Well, Rock's Sergeant dies during the conflict and passes his dogtags to him, saying he is now "Sergeant Rock".
 
Good Lord! What a mess! I really can't go much further. Tom Derenick and Matt Wilson's art is great but Ivan Brandon's story is just god awful. The plot is light, the narrative is cliched and I really don't care about any of the characters. Sgt. Rock had heart. this Rock is just boring.
 
The back-up story is NAVY SEALS by Jonathan Yankin and Phil Winslade, Here's the story in a nutshell: Navy Seals Ice and Tracker are on a mission, they encounter a young woman with a gun and suddenly a guy with a bigger gun steps out from behind her and shoots. End story until next month. Okay-I know it's only an 8 page back-up but it is a stinker that just is boring AND offensive. First off, Ice got his nickname because his last name is Berg. Get it: Ice Berg? Lines like "what're you doing, yer makeup out there" and "don't act like I'm prejudiced" are just awful. Cliched? B movies of the 1940's didn't have dialogue this bad. plus these two are like good cop/bad cop with Tracker being the hawk and Ice being the dove.
 

Save your money and use it to buy some classic Kannigher/Kubert Sgt. Rock instead.
 
BTW: The mysterious cloaked woman appears in the last panel of page 17.