Reviews - Battler Britton #5

Bloody Good Show

Battle Britton is about the RAF and USAF during the African campaign in World War II. There was some fierce fighting between the Germans and the British. Garth Ennis writes about a RAF bomber squadron that has been paired up with an American fighter squadron. Their job is to run bombing missions deep into enemy territory.

The veteran British pilots are treated with some hostility as the Americans react harshly to what they consider an insult to their abilities. The British squadron leader, Battler has to deal with a disgruntled American squadron leader and tension between the two camps is high.

In this issue, the Brits and Yanks are finally learning to trust each other and to work with each other. Battler risks his life to save a downed Yankee pilot and the Americans are grateful for that. A beerfest later, the squadrons are out again, though this time, Battler is hit by flak and is forced to return to base. The flak came from nowhere and Battler immediately thinks the Germans are up to something so he heads back out with the Yankee squad leader to do some investigating.

I love these types of comic books. No superheroes, just some war time stories with interactions between the soldiers. Comic books don't always have to be about crime-fighting and slapstick comedy. Ennis has a great knack for dialogue and he shows us his good stuff.

Colin Wilson's artwork is pretty good too for the type of comic book he's illustrating. The only major complaint I have is that all his faces start to look alike and it gets difficult to distinguish between the characters. Other than that, it's some solid artwork. It's difficult to illustrate dogfights but I think Wilson has done a pretty good job here.

All in all an enjoyable series so far and this issue continues the trend. Just something different to enjoy.

DRAGONCRYPT - Monday, September 25, 2006