Comics Readers

The heroics of square-jawed U.S. soldiers epitomized by Joe Kubert's Sgt. Rock [BKL D 1 03] were a comic-book mainstay in the 1950s and 1960s, but post-Vietnam antiwar attitudes put the nail in the war genre's coffin. Here Ennis reinvents the war comic for current sensibilities. Four long stories, each illustrated by a different artist, present World War II from various viewpoints. An exhausted German tank crew in the war's last days tries to be captured by Americans rather than vengeful Russians. The "D-Day Dodgers" fighting in Italy are accused of cowardice for escaping the "real" war. Jaded veterans sent to reconnoiter a remote chateau on the German front discover a cache of Nazi plunder. The crewmen of a British escort ship seek redemption after they're shunned as sole survivors of a brutal German attack and much more. The stories are inspired by real events; Ennis' meticulous research guarantees verisimilitude, while his forceful characterization gives them remarkable power. Besides comics readers, fans of the movies Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers should appreciate them.