Red Team, Walk Through Hell, War is Hell

Red Team: Double Tap, Center Mass 1-9

The two surviving members of the first series return, entangling themselves in a case no one wants them to solve and an affair that’s doomed to fail.  Garth Ennis perfectly walks the line between making the protagonists three-dimensionally flawed yet likable.  These are messed up people, but I always wanted them to succeed.  Ennis puts them through the wringer, and the ending is emotionally brutal but necessary.

Calling out artist Craig Cermak, whose pages look an awful lot like Gary Frank’s.  Which is an awesome thing.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Walk Through Hell 1-8

This might be the most disturbing comic I’ve ever read.  It’s not in your face horror, it’s something a lot more insidious.  From Ennis’ twisted mind and Goran Sudzuka’s pencil come ideas and images that have burned themselves into my brain.  I stopped buying with four issues to go; Once the Antichrist showed up, things got too weird.  This is one of those comics where I acknowledge the quality while averring that it’s not for me.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good

War is Hell 1-5

A reboot of an old Marvel character.  Karl Kaufman is a WWI pilot who joins the fight as a complete idiot.  The comic traces his maturation as the war progresses and his comrades slowly get killed off one by one.  It’s basically a manga plot structure.

It’s an odd departure from the usual Ennis war story fare, and the result isn’t as good, either.  It’s certainly not the fault of Howard Chaykin, who does wonderful work here.  It’s just not fun watching an idiot when war is concerned, I guess.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Ennis comics

Enemy Ace 1-2

It’s hard for me to pinpoint the difference in ratings for all of these Garth Ennis comics.  Everything runs between Pretty Good and Really Good, and while I can’t really articulate what sets them apart from each other, there’s definitely a variation in my enjoyment of these.  (Though let’s be honest, I’ve been having a blast with all of them.)

Anyway, this is a revival of a DC property.  WWII German ace pilot who fights for his country, not his leaders, yadda yadda.  This is great stuff.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Really good

Johnny Red 1-8

A revival of an old British character.  WWII British ace pilot who fights with the Soviets (who fight for their country, not their leaders, yadda yadda.)  

Not only is this a sweet story, it’s got a wonderful wrapper where Johnny’s Hurricane is getting restored by a dot com millionaire.  It adds a surprisingly sweet coda to the story.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Jimmy’s Bastards 1-6

I was completely planning to cut this before the re-read; I stopped buying this with three issues to go and remembered it as completely stupid.  Something about men and women switching genitalia and other nonsense.

Instead, I find this surprisingly entertaining and amusing.  

I've never heard anything so vulgar and hilarious.

Jimmy Regent’s partner, Nancy McEwan, brings a refreshing mix of competence and no-nonsense that balances out all the ridiculousness.  

I don’t care enough about how this ends to get the issues I’m missing, but I’m not going to dump these, either.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Red Team 1-7

An elite team of cops go vigilante and start killing the bad guys who really deserve it.  Then things go wrong because of course they do.  Ennis is so good at this kind of thing.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good