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Battlefields #6
Battlefields, Volume 6: Motherland
The sequel to 2009's The Night Witches! Lieutenant Anna Kharkova is posted to single-seat fighter aircraft and sent straight into action. Hardened and embittered by the loss of her comrades, Anna is only too keen to get her teeth into the enemy - but with Russian and German armies about to collide in the titanic battle of Kursk, her first flight with her new squadron may well be her last! And once the Soviet secret police start sniffing around, death in battle may well be preferable anyway. Soon, horrific losses land Anna with the very last thing she wants: more responsibility, in the shape of eight young replacement pilots to be trained for combat. But with the Battle of Kursk reaching its climax, rookies are nothing but lambs to the slaughter - and even the most experienced pilots find themselves flying on borrowed time. The former Night Witch meets her destiny, as Motherland - and the second series of Battlefields - conclude with a bang.
Collects all three issues of Motherland, along with a complete cover gallery.
Collects all three issues of Motherland, along with a complete cover gallery.
80 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2011
2 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
About the author
Garth Ennis
2,643 books3,209 followersEnnis began his comic-writing career in 1989 with the series Troubled Souls. Appearing in the short-lived but critically-acclaimed British anthology Crisis and illustrated by McCrea, it told the story of a young, apolitical Protestant man caught up by fate in the violence of the Irish 'Troubles'. It spawned a sequel, For a Few Troubles More, a broad Belfast-based comedy featuring two supporting characters from Troubled Souls, Dougie and Ivor, who would later get their own American comics series, Dicks, from Caliber in 1997, and several follow-ups from Avatar.
Another series for Crisis was True Faith, a religious satire inspired by his schooldays, this time drawn by Warren Pleece. Ennis shortly after began to write for Crisis' parent publication, 2000 AD. He quickly graduated on to the title's flagship character, Judge Dredd, taking over from original creator John Wagner for a period of several years.
Ennis' first work on an American comic came in 1991 when he took over DC Comics's horror title Hellblazer, which he wrote until 1994, and for which he currently holds the title for most issues written. Steve Dillon became the regular artist during the second half of Ennis's run.
Ennis' landmark work to date is the 66-issue epic Preacher, which he co-created with artist Steve Dillon. Running from 1995 to 2000, it was a tale of a preacher with supernatural powers, searching (literally) for God who has abandoned his creation.
While Preacher was running, Ennis began a series set in the DC universe called Hitman. Despite being lower profile than Preacher, Hitman ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to humour to an examination of male friendship under fire.
Other comic projects Ennis wrote during this time period include Goddess, Bloody Mary, Unknown Soldier, and Pride & Joy, all for DC/Vertigo, as well as origin stories for The Darkness for Image Comics and Shadowman for Valiant Comics.
After the end of Hitman, Ennis was lured to Marvel Comics with the promise from Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada that he could write The Punisher as long as he cared to. Instead of largely comical tone of these issues, he decided to make a much more serious series, re-launched under Marvel's MAX imprint.
In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic Helter Skelter for Judge Dredd.
Other comics Ennis has written include War Story (with various artists) for DC; The Pro for Image Comics; The Authority for Wildstorm; Just a Pilgrim for Black Bull Press, and 303, Chronicles of Wormwood (a six issue mini-series about the Antichrist), and a western comic book, Streets of Glory for Avatar Press.
In 2008 Ennis ended his five-year run on Punisher MAX to debut a new Marvel title, War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle.
In June 2008, at Wizard World, Philadelphia, Ennis announced several new projects, including a metaseries of war comics called Battlefields from Dynamite made up of mini-series including Night Witches, Dear Billy and Tankies, another Chronicles of Wormwood mini-series and Crossed both at Avatar, a six-issue miniseries about Butcher (from The Boys) and a Punisher project reuniting him with artist Steve Dillon (subsequently specified to be a weekly mini-series entitled Punisher: War Zone, to be released concurrently with the film of the same name).
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Ennis
Another series for Crisis was True Faith, a religious satire inspired by his schooldays, this time drawn by Warren Pleece. Ennis shortly after began to write for Crisis' parent publication, 2000 AD. He quickly graduated on to the title's flagship character, Judge Dredd, taking over from original creator John Wagner for a period of several years.
Ennis' first work on an American comic came in 1991 when he took over DC Comics's horror title Hellblazer, which he wrote until 1994, and for which he currently holds the title for most issues written. Steve Dillon became the regular artist during the second half of Ennis's run.
Ennis' landmark work to date is the 66-issue epic Preacher, which he co-created with artist Steve Dillon. Running from 1995 to 2000, it was a tale of a preacher with supernatural powers, searching (literally) for God who has abandoned his creation.
While Preacher was running, Ennis began a series set in the DC universe called Hitman. Despite being lower profile than Preacher, Hitman ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to humour to an examination of male friendship under fire.
Other comic projects Ennis wrote during this time period include Goddess, Bloody Mary, Unknown Soldier, and Pride & Joy, all for DC/Vertigo, as well as origin stories for The Darkness for Image Comics and Shadowman for Valiant Comics.
After the end of Hitman, Ennis was lured to Marvel Comics with the promise from Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada that he could write The Punisher as long as he cared to. Instead of largely comical tone of these issues, he decided to make a much more serious series, re-launched under Marvel's MAX imprint.
In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic Helter Skelter for Judge Dredd.
Other comics Ennis has written include War Story (with various artists) for DC; The Pro for Image Comics; The Authority for Wildstorm; Just a Pilgrim for Black Bull Press, and 303, Chronicles of Wormwood (a six issue mini-series about the Antichrist), and a western comic book, Streets of Glory for Avatar Press.
In 2008 Ennis ended his five-year run on Punisher MAX to debut a new Marvel title, War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle.
In June 2008, at Wizard World, Philadelphia, Ennis announced several new projects, including a metaseries of war comics called Battlefields from Dynamite made up of mini-series including Night Witches, Dear Billy and Tankies, another Chronicles of Wormwood mini-series and Crossed both at Avatar, a six-issue miniseries about Butcher (from The Boys) and a Punisher project reuniting him with artist Steve Dillon (subsequently specified to be a weekly mini-series entitled Punisher: War Zone, to be released concurrently with the film of the same name).
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Ennis
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 13, 2019
The Night Witches return. After the events of the last book, Anna is war-weary and prone to go it alone so she doesn't lose anyone else. She's proved herself enough to get assigned to a fighter squadron at the largest tank battle in history. Ennis covers the tank side of the battle in other books. This story isn't quite as good as the first one. There's not an over all plot. It's just the life of a pilot during the Nazi invasion of Russia. Russ Braun and Tony Avina are balls out fantastic again on the art chores.
February 16, 2018
Another fantastic night witches story from Battlefields!
What’s it about?
Hard to say without giving piles of spoilers. I think I’ll just move on to spastic excitement!
Why it gets 5 stars:
The story is very interesting. I always find these night witches to be interesting people in history and Ennis does a d*** good job writing Battlefields stories about them!
The characters are interesting. I like how even though this is a short story, I cared about the characters.
The art is really good! There are some amazing panels in this volume!
The action scenes are bad-a**! There’s a lot of action that is very exciting and illustrated beautifully!
This book is pretty suspenseful.
The ending’s good.
I like the dialogue. There’s some really good dialogue throughout.
Overall:
Not quite as amazing as Battlefields Vol. 1, the previous night witches volume of the series but it’s still really good. I still decided to give it 5-stars so I obviously really like it and would recommend it!
5/5
What’s it about?
Hard to say without giving piles of spoilers. I think I’ll just move on to spastic excitement!
Why it gets 5 stars:
The story is very interesting. I always find these night witches to be interesting people in history and Ennis does a d*** good job writing Battlefields stories about them!
The characters are interesting. I like how even though this is a short story, I cared about the characters.
The art is really good! There are some amazing panels in this volume!
The action scenes are bad-a**! There’s a lot of action that is very exciting and illustrated beautifully!
This book is pretty suspenseful.
The ending’s good.
I like the dialogue. There’s some really good dialogue throughout.
Overall:
Not quite as amazing as Battlefields Vol. 1, the previous night witches volume of the series but it’s still really good. I still decided to give it 5-stars so I obviously really like it and would recommend it!
5/5
July 28, 2019
ABSOLUTE RATING: {3+/5 stars}
STANDARDIZED RATING: <3/5 stars>
STANDARDIZED RATING: <3/5 stars>
January 1, 2012
Garth Ennis' Battlefields started with a very high note about a story of Russian women fighter pilots in WWII. So, logically, the series wraps up with a story of Russin fighter pilots in WWII. Also, logically, the story is equally as good as was the first story. Brilliant stuff.
May 16, 2019
The Night Witch Anna Kharkova is back. This is the time when Russia starts pushing the Germans back, even though it must do so with superior numbers alone, as their technology is far behind their Germans'. It gets worse when the political element is pushing for results as well, ignoring tactics and planning altogether.
After losing her wingman and her lover, Anna changes into a hard, cynical woman with no concern for herself, her rank or her assigned wingmen. She has imaginary conversations with the first wingman she was assigned to, a voice that is now acting as a conscience. She must learn to work with others again if she wants to stand a chance in battle.
After losing her wingman and her lover, Anna changes into a hard, cynical woman with no concern for herself, her rank or her assigned wingmen. She has imaginary conversations with the first wingman she was assigned to, a voice that is now acting as a conscience. She must learn to work with others again if she wants to stand a chance in battle.
April 7, 2026
Fictional comic book series based on actual events of the Great Patriotic War (the Russian name for World War II). This series follows one of the "night witches," the female Soviet pilots who fought the Nazi invasion.
November 23, 2021
Harsh and brutal war comic
March 11, 2017
a fun little story about a female fighter pilot in Russia, it's a follow-up to the first battlefields book, night witches.
the story showcases the struggle of females in the war, and how strong they can be.
the story showcases the struggle of females in the war, and how strong they can be.
Read
January 31, 2011Although it’s vol. 6 of the Battlefields series, it’s really Part 2 of the story begun in vol. 1, Night Witches, and I like this one even better. Anna Kharkova has graduated from wood & fabric biplanes and is now a combat pilot in a men’s fighter squadron. She’s so obviously based on Anna Yegorova, whose autobiography, Red Sky Black Death, I am coincidentally reading at the same time—even the covers are quite similar. And yet Kharkova’s story remains her own, which considering that she’s a Soviet combat pilot battling the Luftwaffe, is really quite a gentle and heartbreaking personal journey. There’s no sex and no face-to-face violence—no mindless cruelty. Kharkova’s personal journey isn’t of learning to deal out death and destruction. It’s of learning to deal with loss and to accept friendship.
Definitely one of Garth Ennis’s triumphs—I am once again amazed at how he manages to pull off such poignancy in this media and setting! Russ Braun’s illustrations and Tony Aviña’s coloring provide the perfect visual complement to a fantastic story.
Definitely one of Garth Ennis’s triumphs—I am once again amazed at how he manages to pull off such poignancy in this media and setting! Russ Braun’s illustrations and Tony Aviña’s coloring provide the perfect visual complement to a fantastic story.
May 9, 2014
This is the sequel to Battlefields, Volume 1: Night Witches and although I liked it, the first volume felt much stronger to me. In Motherland former Night Witch Anna Kharkova continues her WWII journey after being posted to a single-seat fighter aircraft and we go on a personal journey of dealing with loss and accepting change. Russia's tragic way of dealing with the enemy and the tremendous amount of sacrifices that accompanies it leant this story some additional emotional weight. Recommended if you liked the first volume.
November 6, 2016
After Sergeant Stiles in vol 5, Anna Kharkova and her bad luck return as well for this sixth volume of Ennis' WWII anthology. Kharkova is now unwillingly promoted to command but is stymied by cowardly political officers and a constant lack of materiel.
A worthy sequel to Night Witches and a great realization of Ennis' potential when he keeps his serious pants on for three damn issues. Can't wait for the final arc featuring Anna, now in charge of her own squadron. Of women, you ask? OF SOLDIERS, she say.
Russ Braun is fast becoming one of my favorite artists.
A worthy sequel to Night Witches and a great realization of Ennis' potential when he keeps his serious pants on for three damn issues. Can't wait for the final arc featuring Anna, now in charge of her own squadron. Of women, you ask? OF SOLDIERS, she say.
Russ Braun is fast becoming one of my favorite artists.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews