Now Read This!

 

By Garth Ennis & Carlos Ezquerra (Vertigo)
ISBN 1-84576-198-7

Fleetway veterans Ennis and Ezquerra have a long association with British war comics and the apocalyptic 2000AD, so combining those sensibilities in a near-future World War III adventure must have seemed a natural for the fledgling DC science fiction imprint Helix. Since the first four-part miniseries spawned an almost immediate sequel they must have been more or less correct, but as Helix folded in the space of a year, with its surviving projects being absorbed by Vertigo, this compilation comes to us courtesy of them.

In 1999 Europe went back to war, massive, bloody conventional war with the bankrupt and barmy US of A, ostensibly over economic and religious differences, but actually because our creators needed a backdrop for the world-weary Mary to display her exceptional talent for slaughter in the signature arena of idiot Generals and venal politicians whose sole reason for existing seems to be to prune back the surplus of the current generation of decent folk.

Under the guise of a mission to secure a biological super-weapon, Mary and a crack team of expendables battle a spectre from her gore-splattered past and the EU’s top hit-man as they carve a swathe of destruction through Europe’s few remaining landmarks in the first tale (released in 1996), whilst the follow-up story (“Lady Liberty” from 1997) sees her return to a devastated America on a mission to wrest New York City from the army of religious maniacs who have captured it.

Trenchant, savage, satirical, gripping and plain old thrilling, this slice of fun shows these creators at their best, giving you an everyman view of all the hell and stupidity our leaders drag us through on much too regular a basis. Grown-up comics at its very best and long overdue for its rightful place on your bookshelf.

© 1996, 1997 Garth Ennis & Carlos Ezquerra. All Rights Reserved.

 

By Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely (DC/Vertigo)
ISBN 1-84576-159-6

Grant Morrison has upped his output of comic material in recent years and much of it is in the form of brief stories spread over three comic issues, designed to be repackaged as slim Graphic Novels for the burgeoning book-store market. This hasn’t always resulted in the best work, but it undoubtedly has encouraged experimentation.

WE3 has echoes of Morrison’s early animal rights convictions, so tellingly employed in his re-creation and early run on DC superhero Animal Man. The story tells in sparse, often wordless, balletic set pieces the story of a Rabbit, a Cat and a Dog who have been grotesquely transformed by misguided scientists, fuelled by Senatorial ambition and Military money into unstoppable killing machines.

None of the thinking is new. None of the deeply emotional triggers are fresh or novel. There are no new insights into the philosophies of scientists, politicians or soldiers, all of whom act just as we world-weary cynics expect them too – even when they redeem themselves.

The secret of what makes this work so very, very well is the subtle restraint of the script, and a deft underplaying of the characters. And of course Frank Quitely. Always an artist of immense power who knows the value of a well-staged shot, simply executed. He is without doubt one of the most accomplished illustrators in the field today, and is never tempted to succumb to the seductive call of fashion. He just plain draws good.

WE3 is lovely and poignant and disturbingly comforting. You really should read it.

© 2005 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

 

By Garth Ennis & various (Vertigo)
ISBN 1-84576-306-8

The second volume of Garth Ennis’ War Stories leads with the haunting and distressing “J for Jenny” and deals with the stresses of a British Bomber crew as they carry out their nightly missions. The plot is carried along via a bitter row between pilot and co-pilot who constantly debate the necessity of their task, one bemoaning the horrendous cost to German civilians whilst the other gloats and glories in the death of each and every woman and child. As usual, nothing is ever what it seems and the finale is a tribute to the creators’ skills and the unpredictable insanity of war itself. David Lloyd’s atmospheric meta-realistic art powerfully underpins a tale few could do justice to.

“The Reivers”, with Cam Kennedy illustrating, deals with a team of desert hit and run specialists dashing in under cover of darkness to blow up German airstrips and bases before haring off into the night. Apparently this sort of tactic directly led to today’s Special Ops units and this bunch certainly echo modern fiction’s image of beer-swilling, gung-ho nutters ready to fight and die, and always up for a bit of a giggle. The breakneck action is laced with Ennis’ blackly ironic, slap-stick humour, but never allows us to long forget the deadly and permanent nature of the business at hand.

“Condors” is set during the Spanish Civil war and is the war-comic equivalent of a shaggy dog story. During a particularly hectic bout of fighting four combatants crawl into the same crater to wait out the shelling. There’s an Englishman, an Irishman, a Spaniard and a German, two from each side of the conflict, and to pass the time they swap their life stories and philosophies. It seems to be the most true to what one might call the authors’ opinion, as the motives for fighting and killing are scrutinised through eyes and ears that have seen and heard all the explanations and reasons and still judged them wanting. Carlos Exquerra perfectly captures the camaraderie and insanity in his powerfully expressive renderings. This is an absolute gem of a story.

The last tale, “Archangel”, ends the book on a lighter tone, although the premise, based on actual missions of the convoy service, is one that hardly lends itself to easy reading. Until the cracking of the Enigma code, every Trans-Atlantic shipment of materiel –especially to our Russian allies – was practically defenceless against Axis submarine and bomber assault. One counter-scheme was to put a fighter plane on a freighter which could be launched to fend off airborne attacks. All well and good until you realise that only obsolete planes could be spared for such service, and that largely because once launched – by rocket catapult, no less – they could not land again, but had to ditch or try to find dry land if any could be reached on whatever fuel remained. It should also be noted that not all land was in friendly hands, either. This tale of an RAF misfit and his arctic odyssey is full of the ‘hopeless prawn triumphant’ that typified old British films and the meticulous artwork of Gary Erskine lends credibility to a tale that sheer logic just can’t manage.

Ennis’s war stories are always a labour of love, and his co-creators never work better than when illustrating them. Combine this with a genre that commands a respect that most comics just don’t get and you have a piece of fiction that would grace any library or bookshelf.

© 2003, 2006 Garth Ennis with David Lloyd, Cam Kennedy, Carlos Ezquerra and Gary Erskine respectively. All Rights individually Reserved as appropriate.