Warning: This post contains spoilers for the story "House Call" from Our Fighting Forces, by Christopher Priest, Christopher Mooneyham, Ivan Plascencia and Willie Schubert, available now.

Comics about war have a long, storied history. Some of the earliest superhero comics took place with World War II as a backdrop, and then after the war was over, readers were still interested in books about soldiers. DC Comics ran a number of long-lived war anthology books, as did Charlton Comics, and Marvel's Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos was a much more traditional war book before Nick Fury was re-imagined as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

One of those early DC anthologies was Our Fighting Forces, which ran from 1954 until 1978. During its time, contributors to the title included Jack Kirby, Wally Wood, Joe Kubert, Gene Colan and Mort Drucker, among many others. Now, the title is being reused, along with a classic war character from DC Comics.

The Unknown Soldier debuted in Our Army at War #168 in 1966 and his appearance now is both a modern take on the character and a nod to the Soldier's origins.

Related: Unknown Soldier: Why the Vertigo Series Is Still Relevant

The first version of the Unknown Soldier was an intelligence agent during World War II. After being horribly disfigured, the agent takes to wearing bandages to conceal his face, until he dons incredibly lifelike masks in order to infiltrate the enemy.

This version of the character was popular enough to garner his own series, so he made the move over to Star-Spangled War Stories, where he was featured for over 50 issues. Despite his hyperbolic abilities to assume other people's identities, this Unknown Soldier was based in a realistic world, with human powers.

Another version of the Unknown Soldier operates in Africa in a 2008 Vertigo series that ran for 25 issues. In this incarnation, the improbable is ratcheted up. The character experiences a personality disorder as a result of experiments conducted by the original Unknown Soldier.

The Unknown Soldier has also appeared in New 52 books G.I.Combat and Suicide Squad and starred in the eponymous The Unknown Soldier from 1988 to 1989. In that book, the soldier is immortal and his years have worn away at the patriotism displayed by his predecessor.

Related: When Nick Fury Fought World War II....in Outer Space?

The new version of the Unknown Soldier, presented in "House Call" from the new Our Fighting Forces, combines the original character with the immortal one. Based in a modern day conflict in or near Afghanistan, this Unknown Soldier is a member of unit who came under heavy enemy fire. A member of the unit was killed, but was chosen by the Unknown Soldier to continue the fight.

Now, when they are needed, the soldiers take to the field, with one of them being possessed by the spirit of the Unknown Soldier. When the Unknown Soldier is needed to appear himself, the other soldiers disappear -- though where they go is unknown.

Pressed for information by an embedded cable news reporter, the soldiers reveal even they don't know which one of them is possessed by the Unknown Soldier, though they know he was an intelligence agent and he's a ghost. In a play on the shared nickname for both a spy and a ghost, at one point he's called a "spook."  The soldiers also reveal that the Army seems to be on its fifth or sixth Unknown Soldier, but for readers steeped in comic book history, the connection to the earlier versions of the character are hard to ignore.

Based upon his discussion of war with the reporter, this Unknown Soldier captures the cynicism of the mid-creation version of the character, along with the character's earlier patriotism. He appears dressed in modern military equipment, but with his classic wide facial bandages. Of course, the other soldiers have disappeared.

The story is an incredibly modern take on military engagements and it's hard to say how the supernatural elements of this version of the Unknown Soldier will play out. It's clear, however, that the term "super soldier" has taken on a bit of a different meaning.

Keep Reading: Hawkman: DC's CLASSIEST Villain Proves Why He Would Be a TERRIBLE Hero