War is Hell #1
John Jack
Recap
In WW2 a German Ace never lets the Nazi War Machine grind down his one true love, forbidden swing music. When the war begins to turn he decides to get a little closer to his idols, a little too close!
Fast forward to present day Afghanistan, a quick and dirty sweep of a building teaches a young soldier the meaning of total, endless war.
Review
Man, I loved this issue way more than I expected to, I mainly picked it up as a fan of Chaykin but both stories really impressed me.
I loved the ironic twist at the end of Swing Verboten! (Swing’s Forbidden!) which really did feel like a classic war story with an alternate point of view (during wartime comics from the enemies point of view are few and far between it seems haha) that moved along briskly to a satisfying conclusion. The art, also by Howard Chaykin, was really great especially in scenes with a lot of military hardware in play like the page displayed above, such a cool story.
War Devil felt less like a twist and more like a warning. Endless war overcomes a soldier, but is it some mystical demon inhabiting his soul, or is he the demon himself? The visuals of the sweep (capably rendered by Alberto Albuquerque and Andres Mossa) are really exciting and fast paced, especially the reveal of the devil, and the devil again, and the devil the third time. So cool. Really really good.
Final Thoughts
Seriously cool self contained issue that is well worth picking up.
War is Hell #1: Bitter, Endless, Cruel, War.
- Writing - 9/109/10
- Storyline - 9/109/10
- Art - 8/108/10
- Color - 9/109/10
- Cover Art - 10/1010/10
