This issue of War Stories, with Ennis exploring the dynamics of the German tankies and their civilian charges while hiding from Russians invading Germany, it’s essential war comics reading. Ennis’s characterizations, how he paces the issue, how he relieves and creates tension–it’s all top-notch writing. The dialogue’s great, so’s Ennis’s plotting of the scenes and their action.
But the art is atrocious.
When the comic starts, it seems like it might be better if Aira’s art were in black and white. The coloring doesn’t work with it so why not black and white? Because it’s soon clear even if some of Aira’s art did look better without the coloring, it’d still be terrible because he can’t visually set up action sequences, not with such an indistinct cast.
Some great lettering in this issue too. The way the protagonist’s narration looks is perfect.
The writing overcomes the art problems.
Leave a Reply