Battlefields

Battlefields: Night Witches 1-3

Garth Ennis and Russ Braun present an excellent look at a Soviet bomber group flown by female pilots, based on a squadron that really existed.  Females in combat obviously bring a completely new dimension to the horrible things that can happen in war, and Ennis isn’t shy about exploring them.  But even worse than those things is when a soldier shows a little bit of humanity, and in trying to prevent an atrocity, is promptly rewarded with death by the person he was trying to save.

Leave it to Ennis to make a bad thing worse.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Battlefields: Dear Billy 1-3

And leave it to him to kick it up another notch.  This is the kind of story that hollows out your soul.  I don’t know what to say about Carrie and her trauma.  Could anyone have helped her?  Is there any way the seemingly inevitable ending could have been prevented?  Poor Carrie, poor Billy.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Really good

Battlefields: Tankies 1-3

Battlefields: Firefly and Her Majesty 1-3

I don’t know why Ennis is so enamored with Corporal/Sergeant Stiles.  I don’t mind that he comes from a low class in society.  I think it’s the way Ennis writes his accent.  Sure, it might be phonetically accurate, but I think the extra mental effort it takes to decipher prevents me from immersing myself in the story.  

But even ignoring that, these stories are definitely on the low end of his war comics.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Battlefields: Happy Valley 1-3

Once again, Ennis brings his emotional gut punch to the proceedings.  He starts off with a lovely opening:

The juxtaposition of images between pages, plus that caption tag; Perfection.

He introduces a rookie pilot to an air crew with just three missions left on their tour.  He quickly earns their trust and love when he turns out to be a phenomenal flier.  He makes such a big deal about getting them home that I was sure the whole crew would be dead by the end of the series.  Instead, it’s the earnest pilot who dies, indeed keeping his promise to these men, who he’s only known for a month on the outside.  It’s all so wrong.  Ennis does such a good job of balancing the glory of war with the pointlessness of it all.  He somehow manages to have it both ways.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Really good