posted
I'm surprised no one commented on these yet! Is anyone else buying them? I'm getting them all.
So far, the only one I've read is Weird War Tales which I thought was quite excellent! I enjoyed that it was three stories in one issue, very much in the anthology tradition of the war comics in their first 20 years.
Darwyn Cooke's story was nothing short of AWESOME. Hilariously done and just working on every level. Weird enough to fit the title and full of charm.
Ivan Brandon and Nic Klein produce a story very reminiscent of weird stories of the 50's, with a twist ending. I thought it was pretty good; nothing spectacular but a solid read as a short story. The twist ending was ironic and tragic, very fitting for a war title.
Jan Strnad and Gabriel Hardman add the final story which I think was actually the best story of the issue. It was a much more poignant and realistic take on "The War that Time Forgot", and I thought it was really well done. A moving piece about a soldier standing by his childhood friend and the artistic use of dinosaurs worked very well on a story-telling level.
I wish this was an ongoing series in the 3-in-1 anthology format.
(I plan to review all of them and hope others do the same!)
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
I bought the Our Fighting Forces - The Losers issue.
I hadn't even realised it was coming out but after all our Losers talk in the Legacies thread I thought it was a sign that I needed to pick it up.
I'm... not sure I'm glad I did. Mixed issue for me. I'll mull it over some more and post a review once I'm finished with my assignment due tomorrow.
From: Australia | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
I read it last night too and will review eventually. I thought it was only 'okay'. Not terrible but not especially good. If it was an ongoing series I would likely not be continuing.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
I thought Our Army at War which featured duel stories, one with SGT Rock & Easy Co. in WWII and the other taking place in Afghanistan was a pretty good story. It had a strong message and was pretty well done story-wise. My one complaint was the Afghanistan portion of the story featured a band of merceneries that kind of took the place of Rock & Easy; well IMO that ain't all that heroic. I found it depressing and distracting. The actual American soldier featured, however, was welcome.
I was trying to think of more I could say about the Losers story in Our Fighting Forces but to be honest, I think I've said enough. It was only 'okay' and rather run of the mill. We hardly got any real chance to know Gunner & Sarge or Captain Storm (who have long, excellent DC histories pre-Losers) and the Johnny Cloud sequences were the cliche 'Native American in WWII' stuff we always get with him. I'd have liked something a little stronger story-wise, with more focus on Johnny as an aviator, the marine heroics of Gunner & Sarge and some naval adventure in Captain Storm's portion.
I guess at the end of the day, my personal preference is that I like all four Losers in their own seperate stories (with Gunner & Sarge together) and when they are all combined into the Losers, I find the stories less entertaining. Still, a solid Losers story is something I'd enjoy; this one wasn't that solid however.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
^ Yeah. I can't bring myself to dwell much more on that issue either. 'Very average' is a good way to describe it (with it probably leaning more toward bad). The characters were, like you say, underdeveloped - and where they were developed it was just cliche.
Something else that bugged - the in media res opening. That can be a great story-telling device when used effectively. So I was expecting something poignant from the way it opened half-way through Gunner's fight like that. Only later to discover it served no purpose whatsoever. B Clay Moore is going to ruin that device for other writers if he continues to use it as sloppily as he did here.
The art wasn't that great either but I think Moore was the problem with this issue. Has anyone read much else by him? I read the first series of Hawaiian Dick and loved it, and the second started off well before devolving into something very weak and amateurish by the end. (Not to mention it took like two years to put out and it was only about 3 issues long! Who knows how much of that was the artist's fault though?) But I don't think he's that gifted of a writer. It was the art and location of Hawaiian Dick that had pulled me in a lot more than the words.
Now that I think about it, I wonder if Moore was trying to write this issue more like a screenplay than a comic. It had that kind of movie-style plotting and movement and action which doesn't always translate well to the comic medium.
From: Australia | Registered: Dec 2003
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Silver Age Lad
Part-time member living in another century
posted
quote:Originally posted by Sarcasm Kid: The last one came out today, Star-Spangled War Stories by Billy Tucci, featuring Mademoiselle Marie.
I am normally not a fan of Justiniano's artwork, but it was okay here.
Even French women did not wear mini-skirts and fishnets during WWII
-------------------- "Our devotion to each other was unexplainable" "You were kids" "No Batman, we were Legion"
From: Ancient Kingdom of Northumbria, UK | Registered: Aug 2007
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posted
So on a whim I just bought the Star-Spangled War Stories : Mademoiselle Marie issue today.
It's leaps and bounds better than the Losers issue but there was still something a bit weird and off about it to me.
For one thing - Marie overhears her team plotting to double-cross and kill her one night so she threatens to blow them all up if they don't give her the info she wants. Then the very next day they're throwing themselves in front of bullets for her and killing/getting all righteous about other traitors on their team and later partying with her in remote cabins. Bu-wha-HUH?!? Talk about characterisation-180s out of nowhere.
So with all those unexpected double-triple-quadruple-crosses popping up it was just a shame that the main one had been so obvious from the start.
I feel like this might have been intended to be a longer mini or something and Tucci had to cut it down for this event. Alas.
Still, it was a suitably entertaining, fast-paced tale that was well served by some beautiful Justiniano artwork (love him!) and even the normally (IMO) completely work-a-day and dull Tom Derenick turned out some pretty good fill-in work.
Not a total waste but not something I'd tell anyone to rush out and buy either.
[ October 16, 2010, 10:48 AM: Message edited by: Blacula ]
From: Australia | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
^ I forgot to mention the other thing that tickled me about this issue - the Brotherhood of the Wolf / Beast of Gevaudan mention. I used to be thrilled/scared by that story as a kid and I *love* the movie they made of it a few years ago - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0237534/
From: Australia | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
I enjoyed Star-Spangled War Stories quite a bit actually, even though I admit the plot was slightly rushed. I can overlook that criticism because I appreciated getting a full story in one issue.
I think Tucci did a great job at showing what a typical Mademoiselle Marie story is like: a spy / war combo with lots of betrayals and secret agendas with Marie ultimately always able to see the big picture and further the efforts to win the whole war. I could totally buy a monthly comic of Marie written by Tucci.
Marie herself is a classic icon in war comics, even though her original appearances didn't last very long before the War that Time Forgot overtook her spot. So much of it comes from her look, inspired by various aspects of pop-culture. I don't care if it's not realistic--I think it's stylistically just awesome and like SGT Rock in tatters in the freezing German winter, it is more exciting.
The art by Justiano was stunningly good. I've noticed him before and liked it but can't say I was overly impressed--I just don't think I took enough time to stop and enjoy how good he is, because I certainly noticed that here.
Of all of them I've read so far, Weird War Tales is my favorite, but this one comes the closest to it at #2.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
I finally got around to reading the final one-shot, G.I. Combat which featured a story of the Haunted Tank. On a side note, while I like the Haunted Tank, I wish the G.I. Combat name could be resurrected without it. It was *the* premiere war comic of the 50's prior to DC's acquisition of it and while the Haunted Tank is an important apart of it's history, it's not it's entire history.
The one-shot was by Matt Sturges, whose proved to me he's a solid writer in House of Mystery, and Phil Winslade, who I think does some of the very best stories in Jonah Hex. So the right creative team was in place, and both enjoy working in various genres, so it was a treat to see them do a war story.
All in all, I thought this was a great story and probably the best of all the non-Weird War Tales stories. Even though the Haunted Tank carries with it a certain fantasy/horror element, that was very played down and this was probably the best strait-up war story of the bunch. It was a solid done in one with some great heroic moments and an excellent build-up of tension and then resolution.
Jeb Stuart, the descendant, is well-defined within the story and his tank crew is shown just enough to make you curious for more. I feel that if this was an ongoing $2.99 tale by this creative team, I'd absolutely put this on my pull list whether it was an ongoing Haunted Tank series or an anthology war title with rotating lead features.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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