Battlefields is a war comics series, created and written by Garth Ennis. Last year, Dynamite published the first ’season’ of the series, which was divided into three self-contained mini-series of three issues, all of which are set during WWII. The first mini-series, with artist Russell Braun, was titled ‘The Night Witches‘, was set on the Eastern front and concerned a women-only Soviet bomber regiment. The second series, with artist Peter Snejbjerg, was titled ‘Dear Billy‘, and concerned a British nurse, who had survived rape and attempted execution by Japanese soldiers in Singapore, and her relationship with a decorated flying ace.  The third series, with artist Carlos Ezquerra,was titled ‘Tankies‘, and was about an inexperienced British tank crew of Londoners in a Churchil Tank led by a Geordie veteran as they attempted to catch up with their company, enduring attacks by Nazi Tiger tanks as the Battle of Normandy raged on.

A few months ago, Dynamite revealed that Ennis was plotting a second season of Battlefields, which would consist of three more arcs, of three issues each. The planned story arcs include sequels to both ‘The Night Witches’ and ‘Tankies’, which will see the return of Russell Braun and Carlos Ezquerra on art duties; as well as an all new story arc, titled ‘Happy Valley‘. ‘Happy Valley’ is the of the first of these story arcs to be published, and alongside a script from Garth Ennis, the comic features the artwork of talented British (Northern Irish) artist, PJ Holden, as well as a stunning cover by Garry Leach.

The Story

The story focuses on an Australian Bomber crew stationed in the UK during the Second World War, in January 1942, to be specific. The crew’s operations involve bombing runs over the heavily-defended Ruhr region of Germany, where the country concentrates most of its industry; an area that the bomber crews jokingly refers to as ‘Happy Valley’. The story is told from the perspective of a young pilot, Ken Harding, who is drafted into the crew as a replacement skipper, when they only have three ops left of their tour of duty. Harding isn’t just new to this crew, but new to ops in general, having just graduated from Operational Training. This revelation causes some serious contention amongst the crew, mostly being voiced by ‘Masher’, the second pilot on Harding’s plane – a Vikers Wellington Bomber, know as ‘the ‘Wimpy’, after J. Wellington Wimpy from Popeye.

Most of the first issue consists of the reader getting to know Harding, Masher and the rest of the crew, and watching Harding go out on his first real bombing mission in the Wimpy; during which he surprises everyone with some daredevil techniques that likely save the lives of the whole crew! Harding also serves as the narrative voice of the issue, with his commentary on events running throughout the story in a series of snippets from a journal that he is writing, so that one day his father can read all about his adventures.

The Rating

When I was growing up, I really used to enjoy reading British war comics like Battle Picture Weekly, Commando Comics, Warlord, and Charley’s War; as well as a few of the US comics like Sgt Rock. What united all of these titles was a sense of adventure and excitement, and they were all filled with tales of courage, cowardice, patriotism, dying for the sake of one’s country, noble actions, and so much more. Nowadays, war comics are a dying breed, and most of those that do see the light of day are a pale shadow of the war comics of yore. Many of them miss the point of these stories completely, trading in plot and relatable characters for detailed operation run-downs, an emphasis on weapons specifications etc. etc. This is all well and good, but when I read a war story, I want to feel the thrill and excitement of seeing characters that I care for going through hell and coming out the other side. I don’t want a sterile treatment of events, which feels like a Tom Clancy novel!

Garth Ennis has written countless war comics, of which the Battlefields series is just the latest, and in my opinion, likely the greatest. Ennis’ war comics are not cursed with the aforementioned problem, because Ennis, in the tradition of the finest war stories, is really telling stories about people. Sure, these stories all involve specific events during the war, and they are all thoroughly researched, but Ennis is really only using the war as a background to give us stories of how individuals behave in times of tragedy – tales of adventure, bravery, and overcoming great fear. This is why Garth Ennis’ war comics succeed where so many other recent efforts to revive the genre have failed.

‘Happy Valley‘ is no exception to this, as while Ennis is telling us a story of bomb runs over the Ruhr valley, it’s all being told from the perspective of one young pilot. Everything we experience is filtered through the eyes of Harding: we feel his fear and trepidation at joining this seasoned crew in the midst of such a dangerous mission; we feel his exhilaration as his bombs hit their target; and we feel his adrenaline rush as he executes daring maneuvers to escape enemy fire. It’s a incredibly enjoyable read, with some wonderfully three dimensional characters, incredibly realistic dialogue, and some hilariously funny moments. Sure, we all know that war is hell, but the people involved in war still like to have some fun, and none more so than the Australians! Garth Ennis’ greatest skill lies in creating amazingly realistic characters, who he then puts through some unique situations, and shows us how they react, and how these events effect them. It’s a incredibly rare skill these days, and it’s part of what makes Ennis one of the best writers in the business.

Some U.S. comic readers are likely unfamiliar with the name PJ Holden; although this isn’t his first foray into the world of U.S. comics, having worked on several releases from Fantagraphics Books, ‘Suicide Kings’ (in Negative Burn #49) with Mike Carey, Fearless with Mark Sable, and also ‘Your Song’, a four-page backup story in Phonogram: the Singles Club #6. In the UK, PJ is well know as being a frequent contributor to 2000 AD and Judge Dredd Megazine, where his artwork is frequently seen gracing the pages of popular ‘thrills’ such as Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, Mega-City One, The 86ers, and Dead Signal.

While PJ may not yet have taken the U.S. by storm, after publishers see his astounding work on ‘Happy Valley’, they’ll be knocking down his door to get him drawing their books! Hyperperbole? Not at all. I’ve been a fan of PJ’s artwork for a number of years now (proudly displayed in my living room are two original PJ Holden sketches of my wife and me), and while his artwork has always been great, his work on ‘Happy Valley’ by far the best stuff I’ve ever seen from him! The style is still undeniably ‘PJ’, but he’s just gone all-out on the details, and is experimenting with some new techniques (I believe he switched to all digital partway though the comic, but I may be wrong). I’ll admit right now that I find the art bits of comic reviews hard, because I’m not an artist myself, and can’t really talk about perspectives and inking techniques etc. However, I do know what I like, and this, I love! The best scenes in the entire comic are the scenes PJ draws with the crew cramped up in the tiny cockpit of the plane, and the splashes that show the Wimpy above the battlefield. PJ makes these scenes feel incredibly intense, and you almost feel claustrophobic, being locked in this metal shell that’s hurtling through the air and defying gravity, while enemy fire bombards you from every direction! It’s a thing of beauty!

Colouring on the titles comes from Dynamite regular, Tony Aviña, who does his usual excellent job and making the artwork look really vibrant. My one criticism though is that I didn’t really like the colouring on the splash pages that show the Wimpy above its target. The issue being that he uses a very digital looking afterglow on the orange explosions and white search lights, which looks undeniably ‘photoshopped’, and which obscures PJ’s fantastic inking job – I’ve seen some of these images uncoloured, and must say that without the afterglow effect, they looked far more intense. I also find it a little strange that the enemy flak is coloured green and red, and seemingly added after the inking, because it makes it look like this is Star Wars, and the Wimpy is taking a run on the Death Star!

I can’t finish without saying a few words about Simon Bowland, one of the best letterers in the business! Simon always goes above and beyond in his lettering and design work, and if you haven’t noticed his work before, that means that he’s doing a great job! By which I mean, that people often don’t notice lettering unless it’s really bad; if it’s good you often don’t really notice it, unless you’re looking out for it. Why Simon’s work here pleased me is that much of the text in the story is in the form of Billy’s handwritten journal, and often when you encounter such a things in comics, many letterers seem to pick a tight handwritten script that is nigh on indecipherable, and which causes you to strain your eyes to read it, interrupting the flow of the narrative. Simon picks a great, slightly messy font for Harding’s notes, which is easy to read, and which is much more suitable for a young pilot. It’s a small detail, but these things can really affect the feel of a book!

Battlefields: Happy Valley is the perfect example of how war comics should be done. Actually, it’s not just an example of a perfect war comic, it’s an example of a perfect comic! Garth Ennis’ character driven script, accompanied by PJ Holden’s intense and powerful artwork, make for one of the best comics on the shelves. The second season of Battlefields is of to a fine start, and sets the bar incredibly high for the rest of the series.

Rating:

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