Category: War Stories
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I wish Ennis had two parters and three parters in War Stories, because this arc–Our Wild Geese Go–doesn’t need three issues. Most of this issue has the big reveal talking to the closest thing to the arc’s protagonist (if only because he has an antagonist). Talking heads in the forest. Aira doesn’t do well with…
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Ennis is off to a great start with the latest War Stories arc. It’s about a squad of Irish volunteers in World War II (I wasn’t actually sure if it was WWI or WWII; the Irish’s uniforms are quaint compared to the British and German ones). The squad is, save one exception, all Southern. The…
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It’s a shame about Aira. He gets worse. Not just since last issue, but throughout this issue, he gets worse. By the end of the comic, I had to force myself to stop looking at characters’ faces because I knew Aira wouldn’t distinguish them well enough. I just paid attention to the dialogue. Which had…
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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…
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Garth Ennis is back to form on War Stories; his artist, Tomas Aira, is probably worse than the last time I saw him working on the book (could’ve been last issue… he’s not memorable). But what is memorable is Ennis’s setup for this story. German civilians leaving Russian–in January 1945–the Russians kind of not making…
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I’ve got a suggestion for Ennis and Avatar on their War Stories. One issue stories, a decent artist a issue. No more guys like Aira, who can’t even hold together the perspective on the vehicles this issue. It’s just way too much. And Ennis doesn’t have a story. He’s got a weak lecture from the…
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I wonder how this issue would be with a decent artist. Not even a good artist, just a decent one. One who clearly doesn’t have the time he needs to get the issue complete. Because Aira’s art is occasionally almost okay. He could be doing a better job. When it’s really bad, it’s because he’s…
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Garth Ennis goes somewhat modern with the latest War Stories arc, jumping to the late sixties and the story of an Israeli tank commander. He’s got a flashback to WWII, with the same tank commander getting a tour of a Panzer from a German tankie. There’s a lot of narration, all third person and really…
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If Ennis had just started out with the story he finishes telling in this issue, it would have been a much more satisfying story arc. He doesn’t want to seem too sentimental, I guess. But he starts narrating it in the past tense, directly referring to the war being over, so his protagonist clearly makes…
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If Ennis had just started out with the story he finishes telling in this issue, it would have been a much more satisfying story arc. He doesn’t want to seem too sentimental, I guess. But he starts narrating it in the past tense, directly referring to the war being over, so his protagonist clearly makes…
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There’s something slightly off about the second issue of War Stories. Keith Burns’s art isn’t great, but it’s all right and Ennis’s script is strong enough to get over any visual bumps. Except the effort Burns puts into the aerial battles–there’s a lot of detail, but there’s no narrative to the illustration. So it contributes…
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Garth Ennis is back with more war stories–this time appropriately titled War Stories–and he’s off to an excellent start. The first arc of the new series has him covering an American flier in Britain in a bomber; well, the flier doesn’t actually get into a mission yet, with Ennis instead concentrating on his experiences before…
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