WHO’S UP FOR WARM SAKE?

Instead of dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (creating Godzilla and other monsters in the process), what if America decided on a full-scale invasion? We get our answer in Storming Paradise, and issue #2 gets things really rolling. Unlike the invasion at the beaches of Normandy, the Allied Forces (U.S.) land on Designate Pontiac Beach at Sumiyoshi and are greeted not by machine gun fire, but a mixture of soldiers and farmers who have been placed in front of the American forces by the Japanese military to sacrifice themselves while killing as many American soldiers as possible in the process. The citizenry are terrified, of course, but instead of resenting the military for sacrificing them instead of soldiers, they see their role as an honor – that fighting for the glory of their homeland guarantees a place in heaven for themselves and their families. We also get to see the Kamikaze pilots before and during their suicidal attacks on the U.S. aircraft carriers. The Americans can’t understand why the “japs” are crashing their planes into the ships, but it’s obvious to the reader that a single plane taking out an entire aircraft carrier is an effective battle strategy. Another interesting component of the story is the soldier from Topeka, Kansas who is of Japanese descent. On the aircraft carrier, he encounters considerable grief, and he is very concerned about being “accidentally” shot by one of his own soldiers once they land because they see him as a “jap”. This not only introduces a strong element of fear and anxiety to the story, but reminds the reader of the U.S. camps where Japanese-American citizens were horded during WWII. Part of the story delves into some Japanese, German and Irish individuals in the city of Nagasaki. Obviously, anybody in that city would have been killed when we dropped the bomb on them, so it’s interesting to see an imagining of how life might have gone on in that city in the bomb’s absence. Overall this book is masterfully written, and the human element brought to each character is nothing less than astonishing, so this book made a tremendous impression on me.

“Under New Management”
Story: Chuck Dixon – 5 (Superb)
Art: Butch Guice – 4 (Exceptional)