Review by Aaron Cooper

I never read war comics. Not that I have a problem with them, it’s just that when I was younger and getting into comics, I wanted escapist fantasy and war was just a little too real.

Years have gone by, and now I just want a good read from my comics, regardless of the subject or genre. Plus, we hardly see war comics anymore anyway. So I was fascinated by the idea that acclaimed writer Brian Azzarello and legendary artist Joe Kubert would revisit a character that hasn’t been heard from in a while, but has been both a DC and Kubert staple for decades, and then put it together in a Vertigo hardcover.

The story takes place in 1944 during some of the most brutal fighting in Europe of World War II. Sgt. Rock and his men of Easy Company capture four Nazi SS Officers, but amid confusion during a firefight, everyone becomes separated. When all are re-gathered, three of the officers are dead, one is missing, and everyone is suspect. Rock vows to solve the murder, even if they were enemy soldiers.

Though Azzarello is known for his gritty style on such books as 100 Bullets and Loveless, here he takes a different approach. Though the ad copy for this book makes one think it’ll be a mystery throughout, really Azzarello approaches the material with more contemplation, taking the time to comment more on the fine line of killing in wartime out of duty versus cold blooded murder. Where do one end and the other begin? Not much new ground is broken here and that’s OK. It’s a question that has been asked before by writers and filmmakers, and here it is told very well. A good, solid story worthy of the time it takes to read it. Azzarello does add in some historical research and content, making the book better for it.

What takes the book up another notch is the artistry of Joe Kubert. The man is a living legend, and he shows no signs of slowing down. What I found amazing is how much depth he conveys in his art. Some panels convey only forest scenes, yet you feel like you’re there. Action is depicted quite nice, helping the reader understand just what is happening. Using multiple angles, many of the panels read like storyboards from a movie, making scenes come alive with a sense of movement. My only complaint is that sometimes, not enough detail was given to character faces or uniforms, so especially in intense scenes of action, like a battlefield firefight, the reader can lose track of who is who. A couple times in the story, I thought a main character had been maimed or shot, when instead you find it’s just a ‘grunt’, one of the cannon fodder throwaway characters.

I really wanted to dislike this comic. I wanted to prove that superhero stories: good, war comics: bad, but I can’t! This is the essence of the graphic novel, a good story told by two creators at the top of their game. I now understand why Sgt. Rock is getting stories written about him sixty years since the WWII ended.