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Raided: Battlefields: The Tankies #1 (of 3)(Dynamite)($3.50)
By Sean Fahey

The third in Dynamite’s series of gritty World War Two stories by writer Garth Ennis, The Tankies follows an inexperienced British tank crew and their battle-hardened commander as they attempt to break through eastern Normandy in the weeks immediately following D-Day.  Cut-off from the rest of their squad, the men must come to trust their new commander if they’re to have any hope of making it out of France alive. True to form for the series, Tankies is impeccably researched and meticulously detailed, from the weapons and tactics to the attitudes of the commanders fighting the engagement. Ennis knows his World War Two - every nook and cranny of it - and that comes across in the book, resulting in a more authentic and engaging read. This issue is a tad short on characterization - with only the British tank commander (and interestingly enough, the German tank commander as well, in just one panel at that!) being fully developed - but that’s understandable given Ennis decision to invest the pages needed to convey the genuine threat the British crews faced after D-Day against better tanks and more experienced commanders fighting with the renewed sense of purpose you get knowing your back is up against the wall. It says something about a writer who can take a piece of history and still create such a sense of tension that the reader is uncertain and anxious about the outcome of the story, and that‘s something Ennis does time and time again with these Battlefield stories. Another direct hit for Ennis. You can read some preview pages HERE.


FOUR AND A HALF OUT OF FIVE VIKINGS



Trade Winds: Resurrection (Volume 1)(Oni Press)($6.00)
By Sean Fahey

I don’t know what it says about me that I have a natural predilection for reading anything with a post-apocalyptic angle. From The Stand and The Road to The Walking Dead and even Y: The Last Man, if it involves most of the world’s population being dead -- I’m there. Hell, I even enjoyed The Postman. So, in the interest of full disclosure, I chew this shit up, and to be honest I don’t know if that makes me biased and unreliable or more credible given my breath of exposure to this material...which makes me wonder...am I an apologist for this book or did I genuinely like it?

Looking at the comic objectively, there’s nothing here that we haven’t seen before. The book promotes itself as being unique because it focuses on what happens after the apocalypse (which in this case is an alien invasion that lasts for ten years). But, again, we’ve seen it before. In fact, we’ve seen it in almost all post-apocalyptic fiction (hence, the “post”). We’ve seen these themes before as well; what happens to “society” when its institutions are gone, what happens to our “humanity” when our own survival is at stake, when the external threat is gone will mankind revert to killing each other? And, stylistically speaking, we’ve seen these types of stories presented from various perspectives contemporaneously before. 

So, what is it then? What makes this stand out? For the most part, it’s the characters. Writer Marc Guggenheim does a credible job making several of the characters genuinely compelling and utterly unpredictable, particularly a Dick Cheney-esque political figure that has positioned himself to be “President” of what’s left of the United States and is actually sympathetic and has a defensible world view, a billionaire inventor that has bonded with an alien techno-virus (and isn’t sure whether he likes it or not), and a survivalist doctor that has a captured and, in some respects, befriended one of the alien invaders. I can honestly say I have no idea where Guggenheim is going with these characters, and that intrigues me (as does the elephant in the room of the series, which is why the hell did the aliens just up and go?)...enough to keep reading the series when it relaunches in July.

At six dollars for 184 pages of story, it’s hard to say no to this collection if you have even a passing interest in post-apocalyptic fiction. The art is nothing to write home about, although it’s function and sufficiently serves the story, and (as I said before) a lot of the material is familiar, but maybe “familiar” isn’t always a bad thing. Six bucks. You can read some preview pages HERE.


THREE AND A HALF OUT OF FIVE VIKINGS



Raided: Viking #1 (Image)($2.99)
By Sean Fahey

You didn’t really think we’d let this book go unreviewed did you? An ongoing series about a pair of Viking brothers going on a bloody revenge fueled crime spree? Not likely. Anyway, as shocking as it undoubtedly is to read, I’m not sold on this comic...yet. It has the foundation for greatness, no doubt about it. Vikings. Brothers. Revenge. Crime. Vikings. (You said “Vikings” twice. I like Vikings.) The subject matter couldn’t be more to my liking, and the artwork...wow. Artist Nic Klein is going to be the next big thing, and the gorgeous looking pages in this comic are alone worth the price of admission. That said, the narrative is almost non-existent and moves at a glacial pace, with no real tension until the final page, the dialogue is unnatural and awkward, so much so that it actually distracts from what story there is here, and none of the characters seem particularly unique (an independent-minded princess, brothers out to avenge the death of a family member, you’d think with all the time spent of character “development” they’d be more compelling)...for the moment. First issues of ongoing series are tough, there’s so much groundwork that the creators need to put in place, and it’s hard to hit a walk-off home run. Scalped is the only series in recent memory that’s been able to do it.  So, I’m more than willing to stick with this series and be patient.  Like I said, the foundation is there. The events on the last page start to set the story in motion, and the artwork is mind-blowingly good. Klein is obviously having a lot of fun with these pages, mixing up pencils with (what appears to be) painted artwork in a way I’ve never seen done before. At $2.99 this comic is a steal, if for no other reason than to have a nice over-sized comic of incredible art, and I suspect the story and the characters will pick up in short order. You can check out some preview pages HERE.


THREE OUT OF FIVE VIKINGS



Raided: Frank Frazetta’s Freedom (one-shot)(Image)($3.99)
By Sean Fahey

I have to admit, I had absolutely no expectations for this book. The whole “Frazetta Comics” series -- where creators take famous Frank Frazetta paintings and build comic book stories around them -- seems like a tenuous concept if you’re looking for stories with any real substance. At best, it’s going to be hit or miss. Well, the western-themed Freedom squarely falls in the former category.  In fact, this is a damn good little piece that truly honors some of the classic conventions of the genre. Writer Mark Kidwell is clearly a big fan of the John Ford classic “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” (and let’s be honest, no self-respecting fan of the genre isn’t), and borrows from the core themes of that film to inspire this tale about a famous gunman and journalist that “chronicles” his adventures. It’s a well scripted and executed character study about a “legend” and the man behind the legend. Granted, it’s nothing we haven’t seen before, but that doesn’t make the tale of The Freedom Kid any less entertaining. I will say, however, that the manner in which Kidwell integrates the cover image into his story and thematically builds around that is inspired, it taps right into the heart of the post-modern view of the Western.  As the saying goes, “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.” A surprisingly thoughtful read...and then there’s that cover. Say “Cheese-Cake!” You can check out some preview pages HERE.


FOUR OUT OF FIVE VIKINGS


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Please send any and all questions and suggestions to me at: scfahey@yahoo.com