Graphic Novel Review: Fox Point’s Own Gemma Hopper

Family strife often forms the basis for a story, and the recently released graphic novel, Fox Point’s Own Gemma Hopper does it with a baseball flavor. Read on for the review.

Back Cover Blurb

In their tiny corner of Fox Point, Rhode Island, Gemma Hopper’s older brother, Teddy, is a baseball god, destined to become a Major League star. Gemma loves playing baseball, but with her mom gone and her dad working endless overtime, it’s up to her to keep the house running. She’s too busy folding laundry, making lunches, getting her younger twin brothers to do their homework, and navigating the perils of middle-school friendships to take baseball seriously.

But every afternoon, Gemma picks up her baseball glove to pitch to Teddy during his batting practice–throwing sliders down and away, fastballs right over the middle (not too fast or he’ll get mad), and hanging curveballs high and tight.

The Review

13-year-old Gemma Hopper has it rough. She has to take care of her family in her mother’s absence while her older brother Teddy, a 14-year-old baseball talent, has been chosen to play with a prestigious travel team. Gemma likes baseball, too, but will she ever get her chance to shine?

I generally don’t have a problem with characters who have challenging circumstances. However, Spangler dumps so much onto her main character that watching Gemma go through her daily life is unpleasant. Her mother’s been AWOL for a year, and Gemma’s expected to do all the housework and parent her younger twin brothers, who don’t lift a finger to help. Her blue-collar dad is always working, and on the rare occasion he’s home, he only has eyes for his golden baseball child, Gemma’s older brother Teddy. Teddy also happens to be good-looking and the most popular boy at Fox Point Middle School. Meanwhile, Gemma has plain looks and gets mocked for her six-foot height. She only has one friend, and that friend is not beneath trying to use her to get in with the popular crowd.

In short, her home life sucks, her social life sucks, and even though she’s working like crazy, no one appreciates all the things she does. There’s a lot of pent-up anger and frustration in Gemma, and it gets laid on so thick, it’s hard to believe she has any bandwidth to humor Teddy’s demands for batting practice.

Ultimately, this is a story about family. While the Hopper family is obsessed with baseball to the point of naming their children after professional baseball players, this is not really a sports story. For all the hype about Teddy’s talents, we never see him in an actual game. He was part of the local Little League and has been chosen for a prestigious travel team, but we only ever see him and Gemma playing baseball. And when he shows off to his adoring crowds, he is hitting “homers” to pitches that he calls.

However, the Hopper family dynamics are really whacked. It’s never explained why the mother leaves. There’s a vague sense of shame about it, but no one resents her for it, nor is the father blamed for it. The dad is pretty much an absentee parent, and even though grandparents are around, they’re not helping. A charitable Mrs. Curran is helping out with childcare, but the grandparents don’t even respond to emails. And the only one doing household chores is Gemma, who feels obligated to hold everything together and do it with a smile.

Certainly, there are thankless families out there, but Gemma handles it more like an adult working mom than a 13-year-old dealt a bad situation. For instance, her younger brothers only ever play video games, and she never asks them to help out. And when she yells at one of them for making a mess, Teddy yells at her. But instead of yelling back at all of her brothers for making her life difficult, she feels so guilty that she runs out of the house. She’s not getting much love or appreciation, so I don’t see why she’s going out of her way to spoil her younger brothers (elementary school kids are capable of doing chores too!) or spend her very little spare time helping Teddy with his practice.

With family adults mostly out of the picture, Gemma’s interactions are primarily with Teddy, and those feel less like sibling interactions and more like a post-honeymoon phase married couple struggling to get by and get along. The narrative does a decent job of showing the pressure Teddy carries. Both siblings seem to understand that the family’s financial health depends on his future athletic career, which is why he is excused from household responsibilities. However, Teddy relying on Gemma as his personal pitcher just seems odd. Baseball is a team sport with A LOT of players, and Teddy, who participated in the local Little League, should have other peers to practice with. But no, his overworked younger sister is his only choice?

Also, a big deal is made about how the entire family is baseball obsessed and how Gemma learned to pitch from her grandfather. But if that was the case, why was Teddy the only child to do Little League? Why weren’t both of them in sports? The mom has only been gone a year, so Gemma should’ve had the same opportunity. The Gemma-does-all-chores could be a sign that they have a family culture where boys play sports while girls do housework, but that runs contrary to the grandfather teaching her how to pitch.

Eventually, Gemma gets recognized as an athlete in her own right, and she realizes that her mother will never return. This brings closure to Gemma’s story, but I didn’t find it that satisfying. There’s a supposedly tender parting scene between Gemma and her dad, but it gave me a bitter taste because she only receives his affirmation and recognition AFTER she is recognized as an athlete, not before. It is also only then that the father makes arrangements to take care of the household and the younger children (so that Gemma can go to Florida for baseball training), even though he could have done it sooner and lessened the burden on his daughter.

The book is printed on glossy stock, so it’s pretty heavy. The title page and author afterward are printed in color. The bulk of the graphic novel is black and white with a bluish-gray shading, and just a few pages have drawings printed in a reddish-brown.

In Summary

Fox Point’s Own Gemma Hopper looks like it’s a sports story, but it’s not really. It’s more about the family drudge finally having her day in the sun, where her chief rival is her good-looking, popular, golden-child brother. While I’m all for family drama, this baseball-themed sibling rivalry stacks way too much against Gemma, and I get tired of her sour face real fast.

First published in The Fandom Post.

 

Graphic Novel Review: The Journey of Marcel Grob

I never had much interest in war narratives until I came across Tanya the Evil. It’s a completely fictional isekai, but its war nerd creator did such a wonderful job dramatizing the varied aspects of military conflict that it completely hooked me. Since then, I’ve checked off titles such as Tom Hanks’ Greyhound and the Ken Burns documentary The War from my viewing list. On the graphic novel front, I recently reviewed The Journey of Marcel Grob. Read on for the review!

Back Cover Blurb

In the dead of night, eighty-three-year-old Marcel Grob is sequestered by an investigating judge who questions him about his past. Particularly beginning on June 28, 1944, the day when “Marzell,” like ten thousand of his German-speaking peers from the French borderland province of Alsace, became a member of the Nazis’ infamous Waffen SS. But did the teenager volunteer, or was he conscripted by the Nazis? Was he a “Malgré-nous,” one of those forced to comply, or was he a war criminal? To establish the truth of his troubled past, Marcel Grob will have to revisit painful memories as an adolescent forced to fight in Italy with the sinister Reichsführer division. Determined to prove his innocence, Marcel begins the story of a long journey into night.

The Review

In the dead of night, 83-year-old Marcel Grob is taken from his wife and home and brought before a mysterious war crimes tribunal. At first, he vehemently denies the allegations, contending he never took part in the war. However, when the judge presents irrefutable proof that Marcel was a member of the Nazis’ Waffen SS, the old Frenchman must delve into his painful past as a forced conscript in order to prove his innocence.

This graphic novel is written from the perspective of an old man recollecting his experiences as a teenager on the battlefield. As such, the scope is limited to the places and events he lived through during his nine months as a conscript before the war ended. Moreover, the authors are French and presumably crafted the story for a French audience. So rather than a sweeping narrative of the world at war, the creators present an ordeal unique to a very specific group of people, namely the German-speaking inhabitants of the French borderland province of Alsace.

So if you are an American and not well-versed in World War II, this is not a good title to start with. In addition to assuming readers are acquainted with the situation in Europe in 1944-1945, the graphic novel presumes an awareness of the distinction between the Waffen SS and the Wehrmacht. (I was unfamiliar with both terms prior to reading this book). English translations are not provided for German military ranks and terms. While a historical account of the Malgre-Nous is provided at the end of the book, the expert who wrote it goes much deeper into the weeds than the casual reader can follow. In other words, it is not an easy read. The account feels more like an academic paper rather than a text for laypeople.

However, if you are a World War II nerd and particularly interested in Nazism or the French occupation, there’s a lot to sink your teeth into. Through the experience of Marcel and his compatriots, we learn the various motives that brought the youth of Alsace to join the ranks of the Waffen SS and the consequences of avoiding conscription, deserting, and faking following orders. The narrative particularly emphasizes the tenuous situation Marcel and his peers are forced into. On one hand, they are despised because they take on the SS’s brutal reputation. On the other hand, they are despised and never fully trusted by the German SS members, most of whom, unlike the Alsatians, volunteered for the organization.

This is a war narrative, and it evolves Nazis. It goes without saying that the account includes battlefield violence and atrocities against civilians. It also depicts the inglorious parts of warfare–starvation, exposure, injury–as well as fleeting lighthearted moments, such as a soccer match. Illustrations can be disturbing, so be warned.

The scenes depicting Marcel’s past are rendered in black-and-white with monochrome shading. The tint of the shading changes with each scene change. Goethals’ artwork effectively conveys the chaos and brutality of the battlefield, but the expressions of the cast are invariably stiff and their facial features indistinguishable. Especially when the characters are in identical uniforms, it’s impossible to tell Marcel and his compatriots Muller and Antoine apart.

In Summary

The Journey of Marcel Grob explores a lesser-known contingent of the Nazi war machine: the German-speaking conscripts of the French borderlands. Framed as a tribunal against an Alsatian conscript decades after the war’s end, this graphic novel offers a sympathetic look at the circumstances that brought these men into the Waffen SS and their experiences within their ranks. However, the book presumes readers have familiarity with German terminology and an overall grasp of the War in Europe. Moreover, the historical account provided at the graphic novel’s conclusion feels like it was written more for an academic audience than a casual reader.

First published in The Fandom Post.

Graphic Novel Review: The Stretcher Bearers

I never had much interest in war narratives until I came across Tanya the Evil. It’s a completely fictional isekai, but its war nerd creator did such a wonderful job dramatizing the varied aspects of military conflict that it completely hooked me. Since then, I’ve checked off titles such as Tom Hanks’ Greyhound and the Ken Burns documentary The War from my viewing list. On the graphic novel front, I recently reviewed The Stretcher Bearers. Read on for the review!

Back Cover Blurb

Maxwell Fox didn’t know what he would witness in France. America had only been in the Great War since April 2, 1917. Nothing could have prepared him for the horrors that awaited him and the rest of the men of the 4th Infantry “Ivy” Division. As the Meuse-Argonne Offensive raged on, Maxwell became assigned to a unit of stretcher bearers, men who were tasked with running into harm’s way to rescue their fallen brethren from the clutches of death. This wouldn’t be an easy job, but with Graham, Frank, and Ralph by his side, Maxwell had to rely on his team and hope to survive. A dark and honest look at the bond of brotherhood during war, The Stretcher Bearers tells the unforgettable tale of a young soldier trying to save the lives of wounded soldiers and keep the men he’d formed a bond with alive. But in the “war to end all wars,” no one was safe.

The Review

In September 1918, the Battle of Meuse-Argonne begins. Among the American forces is 16-year-old stretcher-bearer Maxwell Fox. He and his three compatriots are tasked with bringing aid to the wounded. But although their job is to save lives, they have no guarantee of safety in the chaos of the battlefield.

The Stretcher Bearers is written as a soldier’s memoir. While the story takes place within the final offensive that secured victory for the allies, we get little of the broader tactics and strategy involved in the Battle of Meuse-Argonne. Rather, the story zooms in on the personal experiences of a green soldier on the ground who has no knowledge of the tide of war beyond his orders and the situation immediately before him.

Our main character is Maxwell Fox, a teenage orphan who lies about his age in order to enlist. He’s assigned to a stretcher-bearer unit along with fellow North Carolinians Ralph, Frank, and their unit leader Graham. The four provide us with a spectrum of personalities on the front line. Maxwell’s the fresh recruit receiving his baptism into combat. Ralph’s the soldier whose mind shatters beneath the constant stress while Frank’s the one who turns hard and cynical. And holding the unit together is Graham, a model leader who uses all of his experience to look out for the men under his command.

The four might not be actively engaging the enemy, but they’re definitely exposed to all the enemy’s attacks as they respond to the call of “Stretcher!!” Thus readers follow the characters through the rain of gunfire, heavy shelling, an air attack, and a gas attack. They also take us to the aid station, which operates under less than ideal circumstances. They suffer the misery of being exposed to the elements, the gruesome remains of casualties, and the rats and wolves attracted by the dead.

The Stretcher Bearers is printed as black-lined artwork with gray, which acts as shading, and the drawings have an Archie comics look to it. That means the artwork isn’t nearly as unsettling as full-color illustrations drawn in a more realistic style. Even so, the content is still disturbing, especially when you pause to study the details. And the creators aren’t hesitant to put an image of a soldier getting his brain shot out in the foreground.

In regard to character design, everyone wears similar clothes and gear and has similar builds. For the most part, they wear helmets, so readers only have slight differences in facial details to differentiate the characters. As a result, I had trouble figuring out who the main cast was at the beginning, and I was constantly getting Ralph and Frank mixed up.

In terms of storytelling, the opening is a little confusing. The creators drop us into Maxwell’s first battle with little introduction, and I had to reread the first few pages a couple of times to get oriented. The ending is a bit on the sappy side, but I appreciated the uplifting tone. Everything in between, however, is solid. Maxwell’s narrative is engaging, and the pacing flows well.

There is no age rating, but I would recommend this as a 12 and up the book. If you’re thinking of giving this to someone younger, you might want to make sure that child is mature enough for the content.

In Summary

The Stretcher Bearers is a fictional account of one teenager’s World War I tour of duty. Maxwell Fox is only on the front for a total of two weeks, but he experiences the full breadth of the Western Front’s horrors as he struggles to keep himself and others alive. At the same time, he forges bonds unlike any other with the men of his unit. The narrative glosses over the broader details and significance of the Battle of Meuse-Argonne, but if you want an intimate portrayal of survival in the trenches, this graphic novel delivers.

First published in The Fandom Post.

Graphic Novel Review: The Lions of Leningrad

I never had much interest in war narratives until I came across Tanya the Evil. It’s a completely fictional isekai, but its war nerd creator did such a wonderful job dramatizing the varied aspects of military conflict that it completely hooked me. Since then, I’ve checked off titles such as Tom Hanks’ Greyhound and the Ken Burns documentary The War from my viewing list. On the graphic novel front, I recently reviewed The Lions of Leningrad. Read on for the review!

Back Cover Blurb

On January 27, 1962, a concert at the Maly Theatre in Leningrad is interrupted by a gunshot and an ex-state prisoner is arrested. At the police station, the mysterious gunman recalls the early summer of 1941… When the German army begins its invasion of Soviet Russia, four children are evacuated to the countryside: Maxim, the son of a senior Communist Party official; Pyotr, the son of writers; Anka, the daughter of a concert violinist; and Grigory, the son of a pilot that was executed for insubordination. The farm where they are staying is attacked and the train that is supposed to take them to safety is blown to bits by German planes. The four children must fight through enemy lines to get back to their families in Leningrad. But all that awaits them is the beginning of one of the most prolonged and destructive sieges in history. Two and half desperate years that will push their friendship – and their lives–to the limit.

The Review

In 1941, the Nazis begin their invasion of Soviet Russia. The children of Leningrad evacuate the city, but when German forces attack the countryside, four 15-year-old friends end up behind enemy lines. They fight their way back to their families in Leningrad – only to become trapped in one of the worst sieges in history.

The format of this book is a little different than the other Dead Reckoning World War II graphic novels that I’ve read. Instead of a collection of three parts, The Lions of Leningrad is a two-part story told in retrospective, and instead of one main character, there are four.

In terms of the old Soviet regime, these kids are among the learned and privileged. Maxim’s the son of a communist party official. Pyotr’s the son of a writer. Anka is the daughter of the Leningrad Philharmonic’s concertmaster. Grigory is the son of a fighter pilot. Unfortunately, Stalin’s policies are starting to cast a cloud over their lives. At the onset of the story, Grigory’s father was recently executed for daring to speak about the deplorable condition of their fighter planes, and Pyotr’s father has stopped writing for fear of offending the government.

Unfortunately for them all, things are about to get much worse. In Part 1, we get a very brief glimpse of the kids of Leningrad playing in a potato field right before they’re evacuated to the countryside. But the country proves no safer than the city, and our four main characters must dodge Nazi air and ground forces to flee back to Leningrad. Days later, the Germans surround the city, trapping everyone within. Anka joins the firefighting force to obtain better rations for her and her aged father. Grigory’s widowed mother starts sleeping with Maxim’s communist official father for better rations for her and her son. And Pyotr’s forced to go on the run after his parents are arrested by the NKVD for allegations of spying.

The misery intensifies in Part 2 with the onset of winter. With their food stores destroyed by German bombs, some residents resort to cannibalism. Others starve or freeze to death. With conditions growing desperate, Maxim’s father secures passes for his son and three friends to leave Leningrad via a truck route over frozen Lake Ladoga. But once again, they’re attacked by Germans, and only two of the friends make it safely to Moscow.

The creators do a good job incorporating various aspects of the war and siege. Throughout, it’s clear that the Soviet government is as much a threat to their own people as the Nazis. Leningrad citizens much watch what they say for fear of arrest by the NKVD. Soldiers on the front are forced to fight with antiquated equipment, peasants are forced to dig trenches for the Soviet army, and any officers who order a retreat are shot on the spot. Even in the worst of the siege, with countless people dying from starvation, the NKVD increases misery with their hunt for enemies of the state.

However, the book is short on footnotes. If you don’t know what a gulag or a dourak is, you’ll have to look it up elsewhere. Several scenes of the besieged city feature giant balloons, but their purpose is never explained. No footnotes are provided regarding political or military terminology, but interestingly, it does provide one to clarify the cultural figure Father Frost (the Soviet equivalent of Santa Claus.

Wars are not pretty, and the creators do not shy from throwing casualties on the page. There are corpses and violent deaths throughout, although drawings do not get overly graphic with those details. We see the remains of a butchered pet but are spared watching cannibals devour their victims. By the way, I found it odd that Grigory’s dog lasted longer than Pyotr’s grandmother. I would’ve thought that any pet out in public would’ve been pilfered before the cannibalism started.

The narrative includes plenty of action and dire straits to keep excitement levels high. Character arcs, on the other hand, leave something to be desired. Of the four teenagers, only Anka really stands out. The boys mostly react to situations; Anka actually tries to take initiative. She has more spunk, resilience, and compassion than the three boys combined. She also stands out because she’s the only teenage girl and the only blonde in the cast. The vast majority of characters are male, and aside from their headgear, the boys don’t have much to distinguish them in a crowd.

But even though Anka stands out, she’s not all that relatable as a female character. Much like Anna from Dead Reckoning’s Night Witches, she is part superheroine and part sex object for the guys to leer over. The boys obviously want to be around her because they’re in love/lust with her, but it’s not clear what she gets out of their company (aside from Maxim’s rations). Also, she has zero connection with other females. The end of the narrative states that Anka had a favorite of the three boys, but it’s not apparent at all in their interactions.

The book has no age rating, but I would rate it older teens for violence and gruesome images.

In Summary

If you are looking for a graphic novel that provides an overview of the siege of Leningrad, The Lions of Leningrad fits the bill. In addition to the military assaults dealt by German forces, the narrative incorporates the oppression of the NKVD and the terrible intensity of the Russian winter. The four main characters and their relationships leave much to be desired, but the illustrations and narrative effectively convey numerous aspects of the horror endured by the residents of that city.

First published in The Fandom Post.

Graphic Novel Review: The Last Stand of the Tin Can Soldiers

I never had much interest in war narratives until I came across Tanya the Evil. It’s a completely fictional isekai, but its war nerd creator did such a wonderful job dramatizing the varied aspects of military conflict that it completely hooked me. Since then, I’ve checked off titles such as Tom Hanks’ Greyhound and the Ken Burns documentary The War from my viewing list. On the graphic novel front, I recently reviewed The Last Stand of the Tin Can Soldiers. Read on for the review!

Back Cover Blurb

Adapted from the naval history classic and New York Times bestseller, The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors pieces together the action of the Battle off Samar, bringing to life a riveting story of heroism against daunting odds, duty, and sacrifice in a way never seen before.

The Review

In October 1944, US forces return to wrest the Philippines from the Japanese. In response, the Imperial Japanese Navy seeks to get the upper hand by deploying a decoy fleet. The ruse works, drawing Admiral Halsey’s Third Fleet into hot pursuit – and away from the main Japanese force of twenty-three ships, including the Yamato, the biggest battleship ever made. All that stands between the huge guns of the Japanese and the landing beaches of Leyte is Taffy 3, a landing support unit of thirteen ships. Unprepared, outmanned, and outgunned, Taffy 3 plunges into an incredible last stand on October 25, 1944.

This graphic novel is an adaption of the 2004 historical account by James Hornfischer. Generally speaking, I don’t have a problem with such adaptations. In fact, graphic novel versions often provide a clearer picture of events than straight text. Plus the physical quality of this hardcover book is top-notch. However, it feels like Murray bit off more than he could chew with this adaption. The work is 200 pages; the Battle Off Samar begins on page 18, the book closes on page 200 with the last survivors reaching safety. What that means is that there’s not a whole lot of room for background information.

So if you don’t know anything about World War II or its major players, you’ll probably get confused. While I knew the significance of MacArthur’s return, the strategic importance of the Philippines, and the overall progression of the War in the Pacific, I still had trouble figuring out what was going on. I actually had to rely on the information in the back cover blurb to grasp the context of this battle. The creators do include two nice visual aids: a graphic lineup of the opposing fleets and a map detailing their travel paths prior to the battle. Unfortunately, the book doesn’t contain enough of these aids. Characters make several references to straits and other geographical locations, but there aren’t maps to clarify the places they talk about. Even the one fleet route map has no place names on it.

The other thing that makes this narrative difficult to follow is that it doesn’t follow a single person. The original work was based on declassified documents and interviews with veterans. The graphic novel clearly reflects this in how it alternates from the wider scope of the battle to individual POVs, citing each person’s name, rank, and affiliation. So we get the perspectives of Americans and Japanese, sailors and pilots, enlisted men and admirals, all scattered on different points of battle. The quantity of characters isn’t bad in and of itself, but in this case, it’s problematic because Sanders’ character designs are not distinctive. I was constantly pausing to figure out who was who and what their role and location was.

Despite the book’s overall lack of cohesion, the individual anecdotes scattered throughout are gripping. Tales of heroism, desperation, close calls, even humor. My favorite stories were from the pilots–the aviator who had to convince his dispatch that the Japanese battleships FIRING at his squadron weren’t allies; another who pulled a gun on a stubbornly unhelpful Army officer to secure an airfield for his comrades to refuel and reload; and another gutsy pilot who continued harassing Japanese warships despite having no ammo left. The creators did an excellent job conveying the drama and emotion of these vignettes, even if I couldn’t tell one character apart from the next.

As far as the weaponry of war goes, the creators do a decent job laying out the strengths of the different forces (i.e. eighteen-inch Japanese guns versus the American radar rangefinder). Unfortunately, some of the action sequences get confusing. Also, glimpses of radar readout provide snapshots of the battle, but there’s no legend for the initials marking the ships, so I couldn’t tell which belonged to which fleet.

The text is also short on explaining terminology. While brief descriptions are provided for major vessels, none is provided for aircraft, and the Battle Off Samar involves a lot of planes. The dialogue also includes slang like “tin cans” and “fish,” much of which is not defined.

By the way, this is a war story, and it has the casualties to go with it. Sanders is pretty graphic with flying body parts, gruesome injuries, and the like. So if you pick this up, be prepared for disturbing images.

As far as I can tell, there’s no age rating, but I would rate it older teen for violence, disturbing images, and language.

In Summary

The Last Stand of the Tin Can Soldiers is a mixed bag. The overarching narrative of this adaption is confusing, but the anecdotes peppered within it are compelling. Character designs have a sameness that makes it difficult to differentiate individuals, and some illustrations don’t communicate action clearly, but the intensity and gruesomeness of combat come across loud and clear. This hardcover, full-color book is beautifully produced and may hold appeal for fans of Hornfischer’s original work, but if you don’t know anything about the War in the Pacific, this is not the place to start.

First published in The Fandom Post.

Graphic Novel Review: The Jewish Brigade

I never had much interest in war narratives until I came across Tanya the Evil. It’s a fictional isekai, but its war nerd creator did such a wonderful job dramatizing the varied aspects of military conflict that it completely hooked me. Now, my reading list frequently includes military history and fiction. On the graphic novel front, I recently read The Jewish Brigade. Read on for the review!

Back Cover Blurb

In the waning years of World War II, as the tragic plight of the European Jews was coming to light in ever more horrific detail, a Jewish fighting force, known as the Jewish Infantry Brigade Group, was born as part of the British Eighth Army. Leslie Toliver, a racecar driver in the pre-war years, eagerly joined the all-volunteer force for a chance to fight with his people against those who sought to murder them.

When the war in Europe ends and the “savage continent” sits on the brink of continental civil war from chaos, terror, and famine, Leslie and the Brigade move to Tarvisio, Italy, a border triangle city perfect for covert action. While out searching for Holocaust survivors, Leslie undertakes vigilante missions in Soviet-occupied Eastern Europe hunting down Nazis on the run for both vengeance and justice. With each Nazi found or refugee rescued, he looks for more information to complete his most personal mission: to find his mother and fiancée who went missing in the upheaval of the war.

The Review

Toward the end of World War II, the British formed a unit known as the Jewish Infantry Brigade Group. But even after Germany’s surrender, violence continued to rage against Jews in Europe. Thus, two Jewish Brigade members who are tracking down Nazi war criminals find themselves having to protect Jewish refugees.

The Jewish Brigade is a lot like Ennis’ The Night Witches in that it highlights a lesser-known World War II military group. It also has a similar three-part structure. The first two, “Vigilante” and “TTG,” take place in Europe at the close of World War II. The third, “Hitikvah,” fast forwards a few years to put its characters in the midst of another conflict. In this case, the later conflict is the Arab-Israeli hostilities that broke out at the formation of Israel.

The main character is British-born Leslie Toliver, a former racecar driver who volunteers for the Jewish Brigade. The story begins in June 1945 with Leslie and Ari, a Palestinian-born member of the brigade, on the hunt for escaped Nazis. Along the way, they pick up Safaya, a Jewish girl who had been hidden in a Polish convent. As they travel through former Nazi territory, they find anti-Semitic sentiment and violence still alive and well despite the fall of Hitler.

In Part 2, Leslie and Ari part ways. Leslie’s still hunting down Nazis. While tailing one SS officer, Leslie unexpectedly teams up with a German private who has his own reasons for wanting to kill the officer. Meanwhile, Ari is working with other brigade members in a group called the TTG to smuggle out Jews who are desperate to leave Europe for Palestine.

Part 3 then skips ahead to 1948. Leslie’s now smuggling arms to the woefully undersupplied Jewish forces in Palestine where he re-encounters Safaya. Now a grown woman, Safaya takes an active part in fighting the Arabs trying to snuff out the Jewish state before can be officially established.

As a historical work, The Jewish Brigade is ambitious in its breadth. It covers the formation of the Jewish Brigade, their initial exploits on the European front, the horrors of the concentration camps, anti-Semitic activity that continued after Hitler’s fall, Nazi escape routes to South America, the activities of the TTG, and UN Resolution 181, which partitioned Palestine into Arab and Jewish states. It is uneven in its explanation of historical points though. For instance, Part 1 explains the establishment of the Jewish Brigade in such a way that I, a person who’d never heard of the group, was able to get a decent grasp of them. However, in Part 2, the TTG comes onto the scene, and the characters talk about its activities in such a roundabout way (i.e., “arms and human trafficking”) that it went entirely over my head. I had to do an Internet search for the group before I was able to understand what was happening in that arc. And when Leslie arrives in Palestine in 1948, I can’t tell if his smuggling operation is sponsored by the Jewish Brigade, the TTG, or another group.

This issue could have been solved with an afterword or reference inserts, but unlike other historical graphic novels I’ve reviewed for Dead Reckoning, The Jewish Brigade provides no supporting historical information. As such, I’m not sure what audience this graphic novel is intended for. Because of its information gaps, it falls short as an educational text. However, if it is meant for readers already familiar with the Jewish Brigade, the amount of explanation devoted to the unit’s establishment and UN Resolution 181 seems like overkill.

In terms of Leslie’s personal story, it felt more like a collection of loosely associated events rather than a cohesive arc. The back cover blurb states: “With each Nazi found or refugee rescued, he looks for more information to complete his most personal mission: to find his mother and fiancée who went missing in the upheaval of the war.” Yet the search for loved ones never factors in during Leslie’s hunt for Nazis, and the fate of his mother and fiancée feels like a tacked-on connection when he visits the former concentration camp in Part 2. Part 2 also spends a lot of time setting up the hunt for Krause and the encounter with Private Schuster, but in the end, the Germans drop out of the story, and we never discover what happens to them. Finally, the very end of the book shows Safaya and Leslie as a couple despite the lack of romantic vibes between them.

The illustrations do a good job of conveying emotion and action and give backdrops and equipment a nice level of detail. I should mention that settings include Italy, Poland, Austria, Belgium, and Palestine, and the cast includes Arab, German, Russian, American, and British characters. However, except for some German dialogue (not all of which is translated), it’s never clear what language characters are using, although they never have trouble understanding each other.

As far as I can tell, there’s no age rating, but I would rate it older teen for violence, disturbing images, and language.

In Summary

The Jewish Brigade highlights the exploits of Britain’s Jewish Infantry Brigade Group. Unlike many works set in World War II which depict Jews solely as victims, Leslie and other Brigade members take an active part in fighting Germans, eliminating escaped Nazis, and protecting their people. However, the narrative doesn’t quite provide enough context, so those unfamiliar with this aspect of history might get lost in the various chain of events.

First published in The Fandom Post.

Graphic Novel Review: The Flutist of Arnhem

I never had much interest in war narratives until I came across Tanya the Evil. It’s a completely fictional isekai, but its war nerd creator did such a wonderful job dramatizing the varied aspects of military conflict that it completely hooked me. Since then, I’ve checked off titles such as Tom Hanks’ Greyhound and the Ken Burns documentary The War from my viewing list. On the graphic novel front, I recently reviewed The Flutist of Arnhem. Read on for the review!

Back Cover Blurb

In October 1943, all the Special Operations Executive (SOE) agents in Holland are captured by the Germans . . . except one. John Hewson, a.k.a. “Boekman,” is the most dangerous agent to the German occupiers, with vital information about the German army, Boekman escapes the clutches of the S.S. and stays hidden until the start of the largest airborne operation in World War II: Operation Market Garden. When the SOE learn that Boekman is still alive, and that his estranged son, Harry, is on the ground fighting in Market Garden, Harry is tasked with organizing a small commando unit to rescue Boekman and try to escape through the German siege. The Battle of Arnhem unfolds day by day as father and son search for each other amidst the chaos of war and the dogged pursuits of a cruel Gestapo agent.

The Review

John Hewson is a Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent stranded in Holland. He’s trying to smuggle critical intelligence to the Allies, but the country is crawling with Nazis. However, when Operation Market Garden roars upon Holland, the military strike might just provide Hewson the opportunity he needs to escape.

The Flutist of Arnhem is a combination spy thriller and war story with a long-lost father/son element thrown in to tie the parts together. For the espionage part, we follow John Hewson, a lone SOE agent in possession of key information about German military units. He’s eluded German counterintelligence so far, but a determined Gestapo agent is closing in on him. For the war portion, we follow John’s son Harry, a fresh recruit who gets his first taste of combat when he parachutes into Holland during Operation Market Garden.

Like many World War II tales, The Flutist of Arnhem depicts a new soldier’s shock and horror as Harry confronts the chaotic carnage of the battlefield. Gil does an excellent job illustrating rural and urban settings; artillery fire and explosions; and light and shadow effects in nighttime scenes. Unfortunately, his character designs leave something to be desired. When in uniform, his characters all look the same, and it’s difficult to tell what happens to whom. In one scene, two officers had red berets and dark mustaches as their only distinguishing features, so I constantly got them mixed up. On top of that, faces are not very expressive. Harry in particular seems to wear the same slightly depressed look throughout the book.

Harry’s knowledge of the operation is limited to his assignment, so the story includes a couple of conversations between Montgomery and Eisenhower that explain their plan and objectives. Then once the operation is underway, the narrative occasionally inserts an omniscient overview of the battle as a whole.

Unfortunately, the manner in which Gil conveys information is nothing short of a dense data dump. I have a casual familiarity with World War II. Meaning I’d heard of Operation Market Garden and only knew it was a failed Allied initiative. I don’t have a background on military vehicles, weapons, Dutch geography, or German military titles. As a result, I often got lost in a sea of place names, terminology, and acronyms. The graphic novel includes three maps, but the units and places mentioned in the narrative are buried amid a bunch of other names and information. One map is a two-page spread, and unfortunately, some of the words got caught in the binding. One scene actually has Montgomery and Eisenhower strategizing over a map, but Gil fails to depict their interaction with the map in a way that would elucidate uninformed readers. For the Arnhem portion, I really could have used a map that clarified the movements of our characters, but the one provided only focuses on the positions of military units.

Gil has clearly done his research, and if you’re well-versed in Operation Market Garden, you’ll probably appreciate it. However, if you’re a newbie seeking to learn about the expedition, this is not the book to start with. There’s no glossary, and the only footnotes deal with foreign language translations. Oddly, German dialogue is presented as English text within brackets (although they preserve German military titles, which often put my brain into a twist), but Polish dialogue is presented in Polish with translations in boxed text within the panel.

In terms of the Hewson family drama, it’s obvious from the moment Harry picks up the flute and says, “My dad used to play a special melody for us,” that the two Hewsons will reunite through that melody. The main question is how, and that’s where Corporal Kolecki gets introduced.

Multilingual, resourceful, and quick-witted, the Polish specialist gets recruited to help Harry and Harry’s commander retrieve John from behind enemy lines. For me, he was the most interesting character in the story. Unlike Harry, who’s stuck in a perpetual shellshocked daze, or John, who’s simply scampering from one hideout to the next, Kolecki seeks out opportunities and seizes them with effective results. And while Harry’s commander praises Harry as a hero at the close of the story, Kolecki deserves a lot more credit for getting their team out of more than one pinch.

By the way, aside from nameless faces in civilian crowds, the cast only includes two women. One serves only as a pretty young thing for Harry to pine over when he gets shipped out. The other only serves as a pretty young thing to bail John out when he gets into a life or death pinch. In other words, this narrative is definitely a male-centric one.

Extras include the melody that Harry was playing.

In Summary

If you’re a World War II nerd, the dramatized version of Operation Market Garden in The Flutist of Arnhem has a lot to offer. In addition to the broader scope of military engagement, it includes lots of interesting details on both Nazi and Allied sides. However, those unfamiliar with World War II will likely get confused by geographical references and military lingo. As for the espionage portion, it’s got good tension, but that aspect gets overshadowed by the war narrative. And as a family drama, it is predictable and falls flat.

First published in The Fandom Post.

Graphic Novel Review: The Tankies

I never had much interest in war narratives until I came across Tanya the Evil. It’s a completely fictional isekai, but its war nerd creator did such a wonderful job dramatizing the varied aspects of military conflict that it completely hooked me. Since then, I’ve checked off titles such as Tom Hanks’ Greyhound and the Ken Burns documentary The War from my viewing list. On the graphic novel front, I recently reviewed The Tankies. Read on for the review!

Back Cover Blurb

From the bloody battle for Normandy to the Nazi heartland, from war’s end to the killing fields of Korea, the men of the British Army’s Royal Tank Regiment fight battle after battle against terrible odds. Whether outnumbered or outgunned, the Tankies soldier on–as their motto would have it, “From Mud, Through Blood, to the Green Fields Beyond.”

After D-Day the largely untried Allied armies meet their seasoned German counterparts on the killing grounds of Bocage country. As Panzers and SS units turn the French hedgerows into a slaughterhouse, a lone British tank crew struggles to rejoin their squadron. Their only hope lies in their commander, Corporal Stiles–but does even this wily old trooper stand a chance against the infamous Tiger?

The Review

I recently reviewed another of Garth Ennis’ works, The Night Witches. If you like that work’s military aspect and storytelling style, The Tankies will probably appeal to you. Both books are a collection of three shorter stories that follow a military protagonist. Like The Night Witches, the first two parts of The Tankies take place during World War II, and the third skips ahead to the time of the Korean War. The events just take place on a different front within a different military unit. Whereas The Night Witches follows a female pilot fighting Nazis in the East, The Tankies follows Stiles, a British tank commander fighting towards Germany from the West.

The first part, The Tankies, is set during the Battle of Normandy and centers around a lone tank under the command of veteran Corporal Stiles. While the primary arc is Stiles’ struggle to keep his very green crew out of harm’s way while they seek to rejoin their tank squadron, the story bounces all over the battlefield. From a Red Cross station to the Allied infantrymen waiting for Stiles’ tank squadron to their German opponents, it switches to so many different viewpoints that the storytelling gets a bit disjointed. However, the one thing the narrative pretty much screams is that the German forces, especially their superior tank units, are an insanely tough nut to crack.

The second part, The Firefly and His Majesty, takes place a few months later. Stiles has a different crew and a new more powerful tank, the Firefly. Unlike the first story’s broad view of the battlefield, this one focuses on a game of cat and mouse between Stiles and the commander of a German King Tiger tank. And in order that we have full understanding of what’s happening on both sides, the enemy’s dialogue is translated rather than being left in German like it was in The Tankies.

The final installment, The Green Fields Beyond, has the now Sergeant Stiles in Korea with the kind of tank he’s always dreamed of. However, the Chinese army backing the North Koreans aren’t countering the Allies with tanks. Rather, their objective is to overwhelm with sheer human numbers.

While there’s tons of action (much of which is based on actual events), this book was an insanely slow read for a graphic novel. Part of it has to do with the fact that Ennis relies almost entirely on dialogue to convey information. The Tankies gets a single page of introductory text, and each chapter of The Green Fields Beyond is preceded by a page of information to orient the reader. Other than that, there’s no narration. It’s up to the characters to literally tell us everything that’s happening, which makes for unnaturally info dumpy conversations.

To make things worse, our main character speaks in dialect. Majority of his words are spelled phonetically to emphasize how different he sounds from the rest of the troops. For instance, when he says gunner, it’s spelled “gooner.” As a result, I was forced to sound out most of his dialogue to translate what he was saying, and because he’s the main character, I was stuck with that chore for the entire read. On top of that, we have Stiles’ Geordie slang, general British slang, military terminology, and tank jargon, none of which is defined in the book. As an American with minimal knowledge of war lingo, I was obliged to consult the Internet time and again to figure out what people were talking about.

If you’re able to comprehend this barrage of lingo and dialect, what you get is a masculine war narrative. Masculine because there are no female characters. The key relationships are between Stiles and his newbie subordinates and between Stiles and his enemies. The only woman depicted is a German civilian Stiles asks for information, and she doesn’t even get any lines. And it’s a war narrative because the focus is the conflict between opposing military forces and individual soldier’s decisions in the midst of the resulting chaos and devastation.

Stiles has no identity aside from that as a Tankie. He mentions that he worked at his father’s pub prior to World War II, and that’s all we get of his personal life. Which is fine, because his life on the battlefield is plenty interesting without having to delve into civilian matters. In my opinion, Ennis would’ve done his character a favor if he’d eliminated or downplayed Stiles’ dialect. Combined with Stiles’ stubbly pate and tendency to squint, it makes him come across as cartoonish, a kind of British Army Popeye, and Stiles’ gritty personality is compelling enough on its own without those elements.

In terms of storytelling, the first part is difficult to follow. There are no cues for scene breaks, and all the Normandy settings are so similar that it’s not obvious when a new scene begins. Plus there’s a ton of minor characters, so I was constantly having to reorient myself with everyone’s different situation. The second part is easier to follow because the perspective simply shifts between Stiles and the enemy he’s stalking, and the third is almost entirely from Stiles’ point of view.

Ennis makes the effort to show some diversity within the British ranks. Most of Stiles’ young subordinates are from around London, but his crew in The Firefly and His Majesty includes an Irish driver and a black trooper from Saint Lucia. Oddly, these characters are never singled out for the differentness of their accents the way Stiles is.

Ennis also does not represent the German opposition as a singularly minded fanatical group. While the SS commanders are decisively portrayed as evil, the German cast also includes hapless civilians caught in the crossfire and a conscientious objector to the continued conflict.

Unfortunately, Ennis does not extend this same consideration toward Asians in The Green Fields Beyond. As in The Night Witches, no Korean characters are included in the Korean War arc, despite the fact that the setting is Korea. The British and American characters make disparaging remarks about their Korean allies and mention the sorry predicament of Korean refugees, but Koreans never actually appear on page. The Asians that do appear are the ill-equipped but enormous Chinese forces. Unlike the Germans, there’s no attempt to humanize the Chinese with their perspectives or even dialogue. The resulting impression is that the Allies are fighting off something akin to monsters or insects rather than people.

Extras include Afterword and a collection of sketches.

In Summary

The Tankies is a three-part war narrative centered around a gritty British tank commander. If you have no prior knowledge about World War II, this is not the best place to start. Otherwise, Corporal Stiles’ struggle to contend against a much more experienced and better-equipped enemy makes for good battlefield drama–as long as you’re willing to put up with his difficult to comprehend dialect.

First published in The Fandom Post.

Graphic Novel Review: The Night Witches

I never had much interest in war narratives until I came across Tanya the Evil. It’s a completely fictional isekai, but its war nerd creator did such a wonderful job dramatizing the varied aspects of military conflict that it completely hooked me. Since then, I’ve checked off titles such as Tom Hanks’ Greyhound and the Ken Burns documentary The War from my viewing list. On the graphic novel front, I recently reviewed The Night Witches. Read on for the review!

Back Cover Blurb

As the German Army smashes deep into the Soviet Union and the defenders of the Motherland retreat in disarray, a new squadron arrives at a Russian forward airbase. Like all night bomber units, they will risk fiery death flying obsolete biplanes against the invader–but unlike the rest, these pilots and navigators are women. In the lethal skies above the Eastern Front, they will become a legend–known to friend and foe alike as the Night Witches.

The Review

History, and war chronicles in particular, tend to omit or diminish the contributions of women. In recent years, there’s been a push to bring to light the forgotten stories of women in the military. Thus, we have The Night Witches, a graphic novel about female Soviet pilots who fought the Germans in World War II. The Night Witches, as Dead Reckoning Press presents it, is a collection of three 3-chapter graphic novels, all of which focus on the Soviet pilot Anna Kharkova. Like many historical works set to this era, Anna’s experiences aren’t based off those of a single person but are a compilation of the exploits of several individuals.

A word of warning. The Night Witches has no rating, but it is definitely in the 18+ category. The creators have not shied from showing war’s awfulness, so the pages contain graphic depictions of violence, disembowelment, and rape.

And a slightly different word of caution. The graphic novel offers no background for what’s happening. It simply begins with a German squad inside Russian borders, and Anna and her fellow female newbies arriving on a Soviet air base. Except for a couple date stamps, the text is entirely dialogue with a bit of internal monologue. Meaning we are limited to the knowledge and viewpoints of the characters. Thus, readers are expected to know who’s invading whom, the toll to date, and the political and social forces at work as a matter of course. They’re also expected to know war slang as well as weapons by nickname and name, and only rarely does the narrative hint at the broader scope of the conflict.

In short, if you’re not a World War II nerd, this graphic novel probably isn’t the best place to start learning about Soviet female pilots. However, if you’ve got at least some history under your belt, The Night Witches will bring to light lesser-known facets on historical events.

The first of the three works, The Night Witches, focuses on the parallel journeys of two new recruits, the German infantryman Kurt Graf and the Russian pilot Anna Kharkova. Although the two don’t meet until the third chapter, they’re constantly interacting throughout as Anna’s bomber regiment is tasked with harassing the German forces of which Kurt’s squad is a part. On Anna’s side, the creators do a pretty good job depicting the prejudices against the women and how their ingenuity allows them to hold their own despite their woefully obsolete equipment. The storytelling’s much more muddled on Kurt’s side. His squad members are introduced as a lengthy list of names applied to an indistinguishable group of men. When Kurt interacts with squad individuals during the story’s progression, I can’t recall who’s who. But while the German cast’s confusing and largely forgettable, the horrors and atrocities Kurt witnesses are not.

The second work, Motherland, begins with a now battle-hardened Anna transferring from her bomber unit to a fighter squad just before the Battle of Kursk. The Soviet strategy boils down to throwing soldiers at the Germans to overwhelm them by numbers, and that’s clearly illustrated by the pitifully young and untrained pilots assigned to Anna and the arrogant commissars who bear no compunction about sending poorly equipped soldiers to certain death. There is a lot of discussion about different aircraft in this arc, and because my knowledge of German and Russian planes is nil, most of this went over my head. Additionally, action in the massive ambush on Anna’s squad is very difficult to follow, although the illustrations do convey the battle’s epic scope.

The final installment, The Fall and Rise of Anna Kharkova, “lacks any direct historical precedent” (as admitted by the writer), and the latter half of its third chapter “very nearly qualifies as fantasy.” Although individual Russians certainly suffered as prisoners of war, stood before counterintelligence tribunals, supported North Koreans in the Korean War, and got condemned to punishment camps, it’s highly unlikely anyone experienced them all. In addition, Anna’s final ploy, though inspiring, is beyond the realm of possibility. What these chapters do illustrate, however, is the Soviet Union’s post-war activities and the evolution of their aircraft technology.

While I appreciate how this book celebrates the achievements of women in World War II and the Soviet Union, I wasn’t enamored of Anna as a heroine. She is depicted as big chested and adorably petite, and she’s the sole blonde among a cast of drab women. She winds up lover to her superior officer in The Night Witches, similarly catches the eye of her superior officer in Motherland, and despite suffering multiple injuries in a crash behind enemy lines, charms the guy attending her in the POW hospital with her beauty. (And none of these supposedly romantic encounters have the least bit of chemistry.) Having this Barbie doll as the female elite of elites makes her less a figure of inspiration for young girls and more of a male fantasy.

Extras include Afterword and a collection of sketches.

In Summary

The Night Witches is the fictional account of a female Soviet pilot during World War II. This book is not fodder for the lighthearted; it’s graphic in its depiction of World War II atrocities and the brutalities of the Soviet government. While the conclusion is improbable, the first two-thirds of the book is grounded in actual events and pays tribute to women’s achievements in the face of discrimination and incompetent leadership.

First published in The Fandom Post.

Graphic Novel Review: Great Naval Battles of the 20th Century

I never had much interest in war narratives until I came across Tanya the Evil. It’s a completely fictional isekai, but its war nerd creator did such a wonderful job dramatizing the varied aspects of military conflict that it completely hooked me. Since then, I’ve checked off Tom Hanks’s Greyhound and the Ken Burns documentary The War from my viewing list. As such, I was eager to see what sort of narrative Great Naval Battles of the Twentieth Century would present. Read on for the review!

Back Cover Blurb

In the history of civilizations, sea power has always played a preponderant role. This symbol of a nation’s scientific and military genius has very often been the deciding factor during major conflicts, putting the names of several clashes down into legend. With this collection, Jean-Yves Delitte and Giuseppe Baiguera plunge into the heart of three of the twentieth century’s greatest naval battles.

The Review

This graphic novel, which was written by Delitte, a member of France’s Academy of Arts and Sciences of the Sea, contains three fictionalized accounts of the Battles of Tsushima, Jutland, and Midway, plus a section of “Battle Histories” at the end to provide context for each of the stories. Unfortunately, the title is misleading. I expected a story like Greyhound, where the majority of the narrative is focused on actual battle/engagement. Instead, “Tsushima” begins six months before the Battle of Tsushima, “Jutland” begins a year before the Battle of Jutland, and “Midway” begins with the immediate aftermath of Pearl Harbor. In terms of page allocation, only five pages of the forty-six page “Tsushima,” seventeen pages of the forty-six page “Jutland,” and ten pages of the fifty-page “Midway” present the battles for which these stories are named.

Instead, the focus is the circumstances leading up to the naval battles as well as the lives of rank-and-file sailors and pilots, who, for the most part, have limited knowledge of what’s happening. While this does provide broader scope and gives readers characters to sympathize with, it also means the view of the actual fights are very narrow. While there are stunning illustrations of ships cruising and exchanging fire, there’s almost nothing about the overall flow of these three naval battles. It would be more accurate to title the book: Factors Leading up to the Great Naval Battles of the Twentieth Century.

Content aside, this is a wonderfully illustrated book for a military history text, but it is a very slow read for a graphic novel. Delitte relies almost exclusively on character dialogue to relay information about what’s happening politically and strategically, so conversations end up dense and info dumpy. And even though the narrative constantly refers to different geographical locations, no maps are included, and incorporating maps into the illustrations definitely would’ve helped from a storytelling and educational perspective.

Finally, this might be because the writer is French, but the book definitely has a Eurocentric bent to it, “Tsushima” especially. “Jutland” and “Midway” have primary characters representing both opposing nations, but in “Tsushima,” the main characters are the sailors on a Russian ship and military observers from Britain and France; there’s no Japanese perspective at all. Moreover, the entire lead up to the Battle of Tsushima seems like a bunch of excuses for why the Russians lost to the Japanese. Also, while the English and Germans toss a few slurs against each other in “Jutland,” an avalanche of Asian/Japanese slurs are used by Russians and Americans in “Tsushima” and “Midway,” but the Japanese don’t use any equivalent Western slurs against them. Not that I’m a fan of slurs, but if a writer is going to use insults for flavor or accuracy, those of both sides should be presented.

In Summary

It’s not so much Great Naval Battles as it is Politics and Prelude to Great Naval Battles. This graphic novel does deliver quite a bit of information with beautifully drawn and colored illustrations, but it’s less about tactical maneuvers and salvos and more about providing context for the ultimate outcomes of the clashes. Also despite the fact that Japan contends in two of these engagements, the narrative is very much lacking in terms of an Asian perspective on events.

First published in The Fandom Post.