War Stories, New comics

New comics!

Batman: Killing Time 1

Tom King starts this six-issue mini with a heist starring Riddler, Catwoman, Killer Croc, and Penguin.  This takes place during Year Two.  It’s great to see David Marquez on art again.  A nice start to what looks to be a straightforward story for once.

What an entrance!

Dark Knights of Steel 5

Wow, did not see that coming - Neither the backstab (to the chest) or the save at the end.  Everything is still set up, but Tom Taylor’s doing a nice job of keeping it interesting.

Magic Order 2 5

It all hits the fan as the good guys get the crap kicked out of them.  It’s too bad the preview cover of the final issue gives away how they get out of it.

War Stories 16-18

I learn about the existence of the gunboats that protected the English Channel during WWII.  Some neat tidbits on the information side, but the story is as generic as the rest of this series so far.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

War Stories 19-22

Ennis gets it act together for the last two arcs.  “Vampire Squadron” is a nice improvement in quality, telling a story about the pilots that protected England at night.  The humor is what sets this one apart from the others, primarily in the form of a Polish gunner who gets over his anti-Semitism really quickly when he’s paired with a Jewish pilot.  

Is it horrible that I laughed every time he said "big Jew chum"?

Plus, the saucy women crack me up.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good

War Stories 23-26

For all the gore and twisted mindfuckery Ennis can bring to his stories, he’s still a romantic at his very core.  And he can do it very well.  In the hands of a lesser writer, this story would be nothing but sentimental schmaltz.  But the happy ending totally works here.  Perhaps it’s because it’s so unexpected.  The twists I expected never came to pass: The Italian pilot didn’t die, neither did the narrator.  Perhaps I should have guessed the identity of the girlfriend, but Ennis had written so many soldier hookups that I didn’t think anything of it. 

In any case, this is the rare series that ends stronger than it started.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

War Stories

War Stories 4-6

I don’t know what happened in the year between Battlefields and War Stories, but the quality of his war comics took a massive dive in that span.  I don’t think it’s the art, the artists do a fine job.  

This arc is the best of the first fifteen issues.  It covers the Yom Kippur War between Israel and Syria/Egypt.  The story itself isn’t anything standout, but it covers a conflict that I know very little about, and I enjoyed the condensed lesson.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good

War Stories 7-9

A refugee German family flees from the Soviet army with a tankless Panzer crew for protection.  The fifteen-year-old daughter falls for one of the German soldiers, thinking him a knight in shining armor; Until he reveals that his atrocities make him no better than the Soviets they’re fleeing from.  It’s only a matter of perspective.  Meh.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

War Stories 10-12

A boring, rant-filled story about the Irish soldiers who fought for the British in WWII.  I honestly stopped paying attention.  Garth Ennis has done far better explaining the British/Irish conflict.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Hated

War Stories 13-15

A generic story about three rookie pilots who start their tour on Iwo Jima.  They all eventually die.  Whee.  

It’s not like I’m having a bad time reading these comics, but I’ll never seek these out again, unlike the excellent Battlefield issues.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine

Ennis War comics

Battlefields: Green Fields Beyond 1-3

Garth Ennis finishes up his Sergeant Stiles trilogy by taking him to the Korean War.  It’s as adequate as the first two parts.  The problem is that there’s no real arc to Stiles’ story.  He moves from engagement to engagement without really changing.  The execution or plot has to be really good for that to work, and that’s not the case here.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Battlefields: Motherland 1-3

Battlefields: Fall and Rise of Anna Kharkova 1-3

The Anna Kharkova trilogy, on the other hand, just got better and better as it went along.  Talk about watching a character change over the course of their life, with each issue having a profound impact.  

Her response when tasks w/ 6 new trainees...

...as she remembers her own first day.

It’s unfair how much Anna had to deal with.  The hits just kept coming for her.  Some of it was self-inflicted, but really - The unfairness of it all is what lingers in my mind.  I weep for her.  For everything she went through, for the happy ending she’ll never get.  She deserves so much more than the few moments of glory scattered throughout her life, including this final one that will only end poorly.  

At least she's content for the first time in a long time.

This ranks among Ennis’ best, and he’s got a lot of good stuff.  It’s been a hidden gem in my collection, and I need to remember it.  (It doesn’t get the Pure Joy rating only because of the sad ending (which is what makes it so good).  Yeah, it’s a tricky one.)

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Really good

War Stories 1-3

Ennis takes his talents from Dynamite Comics over to Avatar Press.  He starts things with a very generic story; Teenager from a small town in America heads to Europe to fly in WWII.  He falls in love with a young widowed mother.  He flies a few missions, gets wounded, and marries her.  There are absolutely no surprises.  The only thing that stands out is the surprising sweetness of the ending.  That got me.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Death of Stalin, Archie, War Stories, Judas, Mage

I’m on the road for the next few days, and I’ve had to bring a bunch of comics with me so that I can maintain my routine for this project.  I feel like a kid again, packing a ton of comic books for the road.  There’s really nothing more space-inefficient for travel than comics.  They’re super heavy as baggage goes, and they get read so quickly that they’re dead weight for most of the trip.  

I also overpacked - I stopped by the comic store on the way to the airport (as one does) to pick up my new books for the week, so I now have more than I’m probably going to be able to read through.  But on the plus side, new comics!

The Death of Stalin

I had not heard of this until I saw the trailer for the upcoming movie, which seems to be a farce based on actual events.  I don’t know how much of it is true, but the broad strokes seem correct enough.  Judged on its own merits as a piece of entertainment, it is pretty successful.  Watching Beria and the rest of the Soviet leadership vie for power was an engrossing experience.

Archie 28

Good clean fun.  Archie’s clumsiness, which has always blown past any semblance of reality, somehow manages to amuse each time.  I like that Veronica and Betty remain friends despite their shared love of Archie.  I don’t understand why Waid spends so much time on Reggie when he’s so loathsome.  Reading about him is not an enriching experience.  Spending a third of the comic on him is a waste of space.

War Stories 26

I do not know how I did not see that twist coming.  I suppose the coincidence of it all defied believability.  But seeing Robin do the right thing without any hesitation was genuinely touching.  The fact that, knowing him as we do, it could have gone either way makes it all the more heartbreaking.  And when he flies back into harm’s way, with nothing to lose once more, I feel a twinge of sadness and wonder if he’s going to come back from this one.  Because he probably doesn’t want to.  Fine work by Garth Ennis.  

Judas 3

If Jesus died for our sins, wouldn’t that mean that He went to Hell for the three days before His resurrection?  Such an elegant conceit, and impressively executed by Jeff Loveness and Jakub Rebelka.  If only the cliffhanger didn’t degenerate into what appears to be the most convenient of directions - Judas realizing that he needs to rescue Jesus.  Too easy, and I hope it doesn’t end the way that’s being suggested in the final issue.

Mage 6

The usual fine work by Matt Wagner.  Love the use of red here: