Bill Molno war comic splash pages

For years, I've been admiring splashes--a.k.a splash pages--without knowing what they were called. "The big panel at the start of a comic book and/or comic story," I would have said. "Those things." Why they're called splashes, I know not. Because they overwhelm the senses, bathing them, sort of?  Soaking them? Yeah, that must be it.  (Just kidding.)  Clearly, I have no idea why the term is what it is, but it works.  Maybe "splash" simply refers to size, to the splash of colors and imagery.  That's probably a little closer.  I'm probably over-thinking this, like I over-think everything else.  (Ya think?)

As mentioned before, I love the Charlton art of Bill Molno.  I adore it.  It's become my main reason for collecting Charlton.  And I'm aware that Molno is, let's say, not every Charlton fan's favorite.  In fact, Molno's on line rep is pretty dismal, largely because many Charlton fans, intent on making a case for the comic company, focus on artists like Steve Ditko, Rocke Mastroserio, Sam Glanzman, John Byrne, and Joe Staton.  Logic dictates that, for the case to best succeed, some anti-Ditkos and anti-Byrnes are required, and that's where Bill Molno and, say, Charles Nicholas come in.  Too bad.  Neither artist's work has ever impressed me as inept or uninspired--different, maybe, but different is a Charlton virtue.

The following Bill Molno war comic splashes strike me as quite the reverse of inept or uninspired.  (At first opportunity, I'll add sources and dates.)

Click for larger images:

1.  Fightin' Air Force, No. 11--March, 1958
2.  Fightin' Navy, No. 94--Sep., 1960
3. Fightin' Air Force, No. 8--Sep., 1957
4. Fightin; Air Force, No. 8--Sep., 1957
5. Fightin' Air Force, No. 11--March, 1958
6. Fightin' Air Force, No. 11--March, 1958
7.  Submarine Attack, No. 18--Sep., 1959
8.  Fightin' Navy, No. 98--May, 1961
9.  U.S. Air Force, No. 27--May, 1963
10.  Battlefield Action, No. 29--March, 1960
11.  Army War Heroes, No. 9--Aug., 1965