Y'know, I wasn't really expecting much out of this series when it first started. I tried out Battlefields: The Night Witches after hearing the iFanboy team rave about it, but I wasn't really into it. Being that I don't really like war comics much, I thought I'd just skip the rest of the series, and go back to read it in trade if it was something really special.
However, something about Battlefields: Dear Billy caught my eye, and I decided to pick up the first issue on a whim, thinking maybe I should give the book another chance out of love for Ennis.
This was probably the best decision I made that day.
Everything about this story has been perfect. The art is beautiful and is set just right for this story, the writing is spot-on, even things like the lettering really add a feel to the book that not everyone can do. I'm no expert about comic creation, but I feel like the panel placement here was something to be admired, and something I'm going to need to study more. Each panel seemed to flow effortlessly into the next, which really helped progress the story along.
The similarities between the first page of the first issue and the last page of the final issue were stunning, and everything in between was absolutely amazing comics. If the world had more comic books like this one, it would be a much better place.
I'm most certainly going to check out the next installment of the series, and, although I can't promise I'll love it as much as I did this one, I can guarantee that I'll never think twice about buying a Garth Ennis war comic again.
5/5, obviously, and a very strong contender for POTW from me. If you're not reading this book, you really need to. Even if you're not a fan of Ennis or war comics, this series is something that needs to be ingested by all lovers of fiction.
Story: 5 - Excellent
Art: 5 - Excellent
You're right about the art. Particularly, the battle scenes were put together very precise, which made them feel so fluidly.
Posted by Spooky on 03/27/09 at 10:24 PM