Ennis wraps up Battlefields this issue. Not just Anna’s story, but the series in general–he puts a close on how he’s been telling these war stories. He might be able to pick it up again, but it’ll have to feel different.

He jumps ahead again–Anna and Mouse are in a prison camp for ten or twelve years, wasting away while their nemesis has become their jailer. There’s a lot of back and forth between Anna and the jailer. This issue’s a lot about gender. Ennis does great with it, but Braun wins for the scene where Anna finally loses her cool.

And the ending. It’s long, unpredictable, sad, tragic, glorious. It feels very Russian, at least how people think things are Russian when they mean it as a compliment. Throughout this arc, Ennis has consistently written himself into impossible corners and deftly brought himself out.

It’s wonderful work.

CREDITS

The Fall and Rise of Anna Kharkova, Part Three; writer, Garth Ennis; penciller, Russ Braun; colorist, Tony Aviña; letterer, Simon Bowland; editor, Joseph Rybandt; publisher, Dynamite Entertainment.

Wow.

Okay, starting at the beginning. Ennis jumps ahead five or six years, then fills the reader in on Anna and Mouse’s time since the war. Specially how Anna got out of her cliffhanger.

Now they’re in a different war–training North Korean pilots to fly against the Americans–and there’s not much appreciation for either woman.

When things start to go bad, Anna reacts poorly, making things much, much worse.

Ennis uses the issue not to do a standard war comic, but a specific one about the Soviet Union and how they treat their soldiers (and women). Then he puts in these little moments of humor, which give the comic lots of texture but also make the comic even more devastating.

Given how bad things are going, I almost don’t want to read the last issue.

Russ Braun does fantastic work. His facial expressions are great, especially for Anna.

CREDITS

The Fall and Rise of Anna Kharkova, Part Two; writer, Garth Ennis; penciller, Russ Braun; colorist, Tony Aviña; letterer, Simon Bowland; editor, Joseph Rybandt; publisher, Dynamite Entertainment.

The war in Europe’s almost over and Ennis brings back Anna the pilot to do a story about that period.

She gets shot down in the first few pages and ends up in a prison camp. Ennis keeps it all incredibly simple. The scenes are during her recovery, the only other character the medic. He’s a British Jew. There’s a lot of talking about the war and the different countries.

It’s a talking heads book masquerading as a war comic. The two heads talking have to be interesting and Ennis carefully presents both his actors. Anna occasionally has unexpected reactions, while the Brit is patient and polite to the last.

Then Ennis finds an unexpected hard cliffhanger. Even though he foreshadows to it–and Anna should, it turns out, know what’s coming–it’s a surprise. There’s only so much horror one wants to imagine for the characters.

Very good stuff.

CREDITS

The Fall and Rise of Anna Kharkova, Part One; writer, Garth Ennis; penciller, Russ Braun; colorist, Tony Aviña; letterer, Simon Bowland; editor, Joseph Rybandt; publisher, Dynamite Entertainment.

Could you be more depressing Garth Ennis? I mean, it’s really not depressing, not in the futility way the first Battlefields embraced… but it’s the first issue of this series to get me to tear up.

So it’s really effective.

It’s also the perfect example of why Ennis shouldn’t have done any sequels in this second Battlefields series. This arc hasn’t been anything but a postscript to Night Witches.

Really awful computer colors from Aviña–I’m assuming he was instructed to add all the shadows so whoever had that idea is a bit of a jerk. The series is rather unpleasant to look at during the talking heads scenes. The battle scenes are fine (I notice Aviña doesn’t add out of place shadows there).

It’s a good issue, but suggests maybe Battlefields doesn’t need to continue. Ennis has the ability to tell these stories, but the passion is absent here.

CREDITS

Motherland, Part Three; writer, Garth Ennis; artist, Russell Braun; colorist, Tony Aviña; letterer, Simon Bowland; editor, Joseph Rybandt; publisher, Dynamite Entertainment.