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BATTLE ACTION
El as de la aviación Johnny Red se enfrenta al coronel Skreamer de los Stukas por la soberanía del cielo en el frente ruso. El veterano líder Sarge y su sección hacen lo imposible por sobrevivir en territorio italiano. Crazy Keller realiza piruetas imposibles sobre cuatro ruedas entre las tropas nazis de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Y Dredger, el letal agente británico, aplica su propia visión de la justicia en las calles del Londres de 1980. El aclamado guionista Garth Ennis (Predicador, The Boys, Punisher) rinde homenaje a Battle Action, la clásica revista del cómic británico, recuperando a algunos de los personajes bélicos que brillaban en aquellas páginas en una nueva antología repleta de explosiones, metralletas, grasa, aeroplanos, nieve, nostalgia, caídas en picado y sangre, mucha sangre. Siete historias independientes con el dibujo de talentos como Kevin O’Neill (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen), Chris Burnham (Batman Incorporated) o John Higgins (Watchmen).
- GenresComicsWarGraphic Novels
96 pages, Hardcover
First published August 16, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 17, 2022
RTC...
October 25, 2022
The new Battle Action Special, a hardback release from the Treasury of British Comics, curated and completely written by Garth Ennis, is a love letter to a specific period in the life of the IPC comic war comic, Battle Picture Weekly. The weekly title had just gone through a merger with the comic Action, notorious for its violence and irreverence. Following a media outcry, Action had been “banned”, or rather eviscerated by editorial and resurrected in an anemic, zombified version of its former self before plummeting circulation saw it folded into its senior partner.
In much the same way as Starlord gave a faltering 2000AD a shot in the arm when it was folded into it, the neutered Action did similar for Battle, certainly in terms of story style. Garth Ennis believes that the approximately three year period of Battle-Action, with almost equal billing on the masthead, before it reverted once more to just Battle, is very much a golden and overlooked era of British comics – and equally as important to British comics as the “Galaxy’s Greatest”. Indeed, no Battle or Action, no 2000AD.
Ennis hopes this anthology, modelled on this era, will help redress the balance in terms of recognition of Battle’s impact, and bring the creative teams of that era greater recognition. With Garth as curator / writer, this was always going to benefit the project, and increase its cross Atlantic appeal, too.
Garth is ably aided and abetted by a terrific stable of artists to bring this vision to life, all sympathetic to the original strips. Keith Burns’ gritty art is brought to bear on “Johnny Red / Skreamer of the Stukas”, possibly the most “traditional” of the strips presented, and in similar tone to the Titan min from the creative team from a few years ago.
PJ Holden’s expressive black and white art lends itself well to a day in the life of a section of the British Army in “The Sarge”. It acts as an introduction to the strip, but also a reminder that the focus of many IPC titles was more on the working class participants of the war, and the often terrifying lot of the ordinary soldier, which reached its apotheosis with “Charley’s War”.
The inspired choice of Chris Burnham on black marketeer and seemingly indestructible Captain “Crazy Keller” of the American Army lends a madcap, “Loony Tunes”, kinetic feel to the tale of kidnap/rescue of a Nazi scientist from the clutches of our (then) Russian allies.
“Dredger” is described by Ennis in the introduction as “Dirty Harry meets The Ipcress File by way of The Sweeney”, which is pretty good summary of his take. John Higgins and Sally Jane Hurst are an inspired choice for what is essentially the blunt instrument of military espionage. Higgins and Hurst’s art can beautifully evocative and atmospheric, but at the other end of the scale they don’t need a lot of encouragement to illustrate almost cartoonish grievous bodily harm.
Ennis and British comic art legend Mike Dorey combine forces once again to deliver another story featuring the honourable and chivalrous Panzer commander “Hellman”, facing off against the cowardly but glory seeking US tank commander Jeb Rider of the lesser-known Battle strip “Glory Rider”. Dorey provides beautiful greywash line work, lending the strip and its characters a melancholy feel.
Kevin O’Neill’s much vaunted contribution, “Kids Rule O.K”. is typically anarchic but the strip is the odd one of the bunch (warning – spoiler ahead!). Less a continuation of the original story of a world run by kids following the plague induced death of much of the adult population, it is more a commentary on what happened to Action and why, cleverly splicing narrative with the creative team imagining the editorial discussions following publication of that cover.
Finally, in “Nina Petrova and the Angels of Death”, Ennis and the underrated and underused Patrick Goddard take a Johnny Red supporting character and spin her into her own strip. The Angels of Death refer to the “Night Witches”, all female Soviet squadrons equipped with obsolete biplanes who harried the Germans under cover of darkness. The deployment of female combatants by the Soviets is a subject Ennis has covered previously in his and Russ Braun’s Night Witches series, and in Ennis’ and Steve Epting’s“ Sara” .
Garth’s favourite themes and subjects are all present in this collection: male bonding, honour, the betrayal of the ordinary bloke by the upper classes, the whole “Lions led by donkeys” vibe and thinly veiled attacks on the establishment topped off with black humour and extreme, often cartoon violence. But it is balanced with genuinely affecting sequences displaying compassion and commentary on the tragedy and horror of war. Ennis purposely maintains the historical context of the two non war stories of the collection, the troubled late 1970s /early 1980s, locking those strips into a specific era arguably bringing more freedom to the strips and avoiding anachronistic and inconsistent updates.
Aside from being great comics, there are short introductory text pieces for each of the strips, giving some background to their creation the creators and context, minor history lessons on both comic and the subject matter.
In much the same way as Starlord gave a faltering 2000AD a shot in the arm when it was folded into it, the neutered Action did similar for Battle, certainly in terms of story style. Garth Ennis believes that the approximately three year period of Battle-Action, with almost equal billing on the masthead, before it reverted once more to just Battle, is very much a golden and overlooked era of British comics – and equally as important to British comics as the “Galaxy’s Greatest”. Indeed, no Battle or Action, no 2000AD.
Ennis hopes this anthology, modelled on this era, will help redress the balance in terms of recognition of Battle’s impact, and bring the creative teams of that era greater recognition. With Garth as curator / writer, this was always going to benefit the project, and increase its cross Atlantic appeal, too.
Garth is ably aided and abetted by a terrific stable of artists to bring this vision to life, all sympathetic to the original strips. Keith Burns’ gritty art is brought to bear on “Johnny Red / Skreamer of the Stukas”, possibly the most “traditional” of the strips presented, and in similar tone to the Titan min from the creative team from a few years ago.
PJ Holden’s expressive black and white art lends itself well to a day in the life of a section of the British Army in “The Sarge”. It acts as an introduction to the strip, but also a reminder that the focus of many IPC titles was more on the working class participants of the war, and the often terrifying lot of the ordinary soldier, which reached its apotheosis with “Charley’s War”.
The inspired choice of Chris Burnham on black marketeer and seemingly indestructible Captain “Crazy Keller” of the American Army lends a madcap, “Loony Tunes”, kinetic feel to the tale of kidnap/rescue of a Nazi scientist from the clutches of our (then) Russian allies.
“Dredger” is described by Ennis in the introduction as “Dirty Harry meets The Ipcress File by way of The Sweeney”, which is pretty good summary of his take. John Higgins and Sally Jane Hurst are an inspired choice for what is essentially the blunt instrument of military espionage. Higgins and Hurst’s art can beautifully evocative and atmospheric, but at the other end of the scale they don’t need a lot of encouragement to illustrate almost cartoonish grievous bodily harm.
Ennis and British comic art legend Mike Dorey combine forces once again to deliver another story featuring the honourable and chivalrous Panzer commander “Hellman”, facing off against the cowardly but glory seeking US tank commander Jeb Rider of the lesser-known Battle strip “Glory Rider”. Dorey provides beautiful greywash line work, lending the strip and its characters a melancholy feel.
Kevin O’Neill’s much vaunted contribution, “Kids Rule O.K”. is typically anarchic but the strip is the odd one of the bunch (warning – spoiler ahead!). Less a continuation of the original story of a world run by kids following the plague induced death of much of the adult population, it is more a commentary on what happened to Action and why, cleverly splicing narrative with the creative team imagining the editorial discussions following publication of that cover.
Finally, in “Nina Petrova and the Angels of Death”, Ennis and the underrated and underused Patrick Goddard take a Johnny Red supporting character and spin her into her own strip. The Angels of Death refer to the “Night Witches”, all female Soviet squadrons equipped with obsolete biplanes who harried the Germans under cover of darkness. The deployment of female combatants by the Soviets is a subject Ennis has covered previously in his and Russ Braun’s Night Witches series, and in Ennis’ and Steve Epting’s“ Sara” .
Garth’s favourite themes and subjects are all present in this collection: male bonding, honour, the betrayal of the ordinary bloke by the upper classes, the whole “Lions led by donkeys” vibe and thinly veiled attacks on the establishment topped off with black humour and extreme, often cartoon violence. But it is balanced with genuinely affecting sequences displaying compassion and commentary on the tragedy and horror of war. Ennis purposely maintains the historical context of the two non war stories of the collection, the troubled late 1970s /early 1980s, locking those strips into a specific era arguably bringing more freedom to the strips and avoiding anachronistic and inconsistent updates.
Aside from being great comics, there are short introductory text pieces for each of the strips, giving some background to their creation the creators and context, minor history lessons on both comic and the subject matter.
May 9, 2025
What's going on in certain British minds?
Oh my goodness. Certain insanity crosses the narratives of these different chapters.
Oh my goodness. Certain insanity crosses the narratives of these different chapters.
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July 13, 2022Garth Ennis takes charge of the old British war comic for a comeback special, writing every strip himself with all the gusto of a kid who's been left in charge of a sweetshop and doesn't care if it's because none of the other kids are into sweets anymore. His artistic collaborators range from the usual suspects like PJ Holden and Keith Burns, through Chris Burnham and Patrick Goddard, to Kevin O'Neill, who I'm sure was allegedly retiring from comics along with Alan Moore after the final LoEG. The format is what a bunch of ponces will doubtless try to call BD or European album style, but which anyone who was once a British child will instantly recognise as an annual – and I mean a proper annual like you'd get in your stocking and would last out the holidays, not the US comics sense of the word where it's 30 pages of story instead of 22, or whatever sorry state that's come to.
Granted, I don't actually have any childhood familiarity with characters like Johnny Red, the Sarge or Hellman, having only encountered this whole tradition of comics once 2000AD, its name already in the past, started exhuming the treasures of its departed peers. But even for the ones where I know nothing beyond the info pages here and what's in the stories (Crazy Keller? Skreamer of the Stukas?), the creators' expertise in the field and delight at getting to play with these toys still comes through. Any fear that having an entire anthology taken over by one writer might lead to homogeneity is misplaced, or at least it is when that writer is Ennis, at this point probably the most reliably impressive of his generation; the tone ranges from respectfully melancholy through gruesome to, in Dredger, a sort of amped up Gene Hunt romp with castration threats (and John Higgins' art for it is very good, but you just know that in a better world this would have been the Steve Dillon story). Furthest from what you'd expect of Ennis, though, is the very meta take on Kids Rule O.K., tying in the infamous cover usually blamed for Action's outraged cancellation with glimpses behind the scenes, whilst also playing off the resonances since accrued by the original strip's idea of a plague which mostly left the young undamaged – in direct physical terms, at least.
Granted, I don't actually have any childhood familiarity with characters like Johnny Red, the Sarge or Hellman, having only encountered this whole tradition of comics once 2000AD, its name already in the past, started exhuming the treasures of its departed peers. But even for the ones where I know nothing beyond the info pages here and what's in the stories (Crazy Keller? Skreamer of the Stukas?), the creators' expertise in the field and delight at getting to play with these toys still comes through. Any fear that having an entire anthology taken over by one writer might lead to homogeneity is misplaced, or at least it is when that writer is Ennis, at this point probably the most reliably impressive of his generation; the tone ranges from respectfully melancholy through gruesome to, in Dredger, a sort of amped up Gene Hunt romp with castration threats (and John Higgins' art for it is very good, but you just know that in a better world this would have been the Steve Dillon story). Furthest from what you'd expect of Ennis, though, is the very meta take on Kids Rule O.K., tying in the infamous cover usually blamed for Action's outraged cancellation with glimpses behind the scenes, whilst also playing off the resonances since accrued by the original strip's idea of a plague which mostly left the young undamaged – in direct physical terms, at least.
October 4, 2022
Garth Ennis revisits characters and strips from 1970s war comics Battle and Action. Action, a brutal comic in which, as someone says at one point in this homage, "one of the characters is a German panzer commander, and he's the nicest bloke in it".
Some excellent crossovers, bringing out what made the stories work by having their protagonists encounter each other to reveal the depth of character.
I agree with Ennis on Crazy Keller vs Major Eazy - the latter made no sense as a character, just an exercise in "cool". Great though Ezquerra's artwork always was. This was a good, "even the criminals have standards" story, quite subtly played considering the insanely violent action.
The Dredger story was pretty near the knuckle. It did remind me of that brutal 70s secret agent as a comics ancestor to later OTT series like Accident Man, Johnny Nemo and Big Dave.
The bookending of the collection with what is effectively a two-part story crossing over Johnny Red (bolshie British working class fighter pilot flying with the Soviets) and his worthy adversary Von Jurgen with his ally (and here, more than implicitly romantic partner) Nina Petrova, and also gloriously despicable Skreamer of the Stukas.
Perhaps the most interesting comic is the deconstruction of the iconic and notorious "aggro" Action cover, showing violence and disrespect to authority, that led to the closure of that comic and its merger with Battle. It shows the fallout in the real world, but also explores the same in-world too.
Some excellent crossovers, bringing out what made the stories work by having their protagonists encounter each other to reveal the depth of character.
I agree with Ennis on Crazy Keller vs Major Eazy - the latter made no sense as a character, just an exercise in "cool". Great though Ezquerra's artwork always was. This was a good, "even the criminals have standards" story, quite subtly played considering the insanely violent action.
The Dredger story was pretty near the knuckle. It did remind me of that brutal 70s secret agent as a comics ancestor to later OTT series like Accident Man, Johnny Nemo and Big Dave.
The bookending of the collection with what is effectively a two-part story crossing over Johnny Red (bolshie British working class fighter pilot flying with the Soviets) and his worthy adversary Von Jurgen with his ally (and here, more than implicitly romantic partner) Nina Petrova, and also gloriously despicable Skreamer of the Stukas.
Perhaps the most interesting comic is the deconstruction of the iconic and notorious "aggro" Action cover, showing violence and disrespect to authority, that led to the closure of that comic and its merger with Battle. It shows the fallout in the real world, but also explores the same in-world too.
January 14, 2023
This collection of one shots doesn't disappoint. It's agood introduction for the War Stories from the same author. I highly recommend those as well. They dedicate more time to each story than we see here, but that's the only thing I can complain about. Also each story is drawn by a different artist, but I didn't really mind any of their styles. The humor and plot variety make this book highly enjoyable, as far as I'm concerned.
A challenge between ace pilots gives the Allied squadron the distraction they need to take out several German fighters. Blackmail form a superior officer doesn't stop a couple of war profiteers from their unethical ways. Dredger, a violent mercenary who always gets his target, is about to get a new boss, a woman who will put the man in his place - but, wait, it's his mother. She bands up with him for some clean up.
Knowing the animosity between the opposing sides of WW2, it's difficult to imagine any social interaction between a German and American soldier. But they did happen, very likely. Not everyone wanted to choke the life out of his enemy on the battlefield. In fact, the story has a German officer who, basically, saves the life of an American soldier. He even hopes they meet again after the war. Doesn't sound blood-thirsty to me.
The last story is probably the best one. The Night Witches were featured in Ennis's War Stories and their dedication is obvious here as well. Sure, they gossip about their commanding officers and fellow pilots, but they risk their lives just like any other soldier.
A challenge between ace pilots gives the Allied squadron the distraction they need to take out several German fighters. Blackmail form a superior officer doesn't stop a couple of war profiteers from their unethical ways. Dredger, a violent mercenary who always gets his target, is about to get a new boss, a woman who will put the man in his place - but, wait, it's his mother. She bands up with him for some clean up.
Knowing the animosity between the opposing sides of WW2, it's difficult to imagine any social interaction between a German and American soldier. But they did happen, very likely. Not everyone wanted to choke the life out of his enemy on the battlefield. In fact, the story has a German officer who, basically, saves the life of an American soldier. He even hopes they meet again after the war. Doesn't sound blood-thirsty to me.
The last story is probably the best one. The Night Witches were featured in Ennis's War Stories and their dedication is obvious here as well. Sure, they gossip about their commanding officers and fellow pilots, but they risk their lives just like any other soldier.
April 11, 2023
It’s fine as a short anthology of stories. I purchased this book because of my love for Garth Ennis’ “Battlefields” series, but this is not that. While most of the stories are set during ww2 a few aren’t, as this collection is more about the celebration of “Battle Action” comics (which were a big thing in the UK back in the day.) About half the book are black and white illustrations which come off as a little flat and a couple stories written with similar effect, but if you’re a diehard Ennis fan or fond of the old BA comics it’s definitely worth picking up.
July 23, 2022
Even better than my already high expectations
A work of quality and passion from being in to end
There’s a lot of newer writers who could learn a lot from this in terms of telling a satisfactory story in a handful of pages.
Best special 2000ad/Rebellion have put out in decades
A work of quality and passion from being in to end
There’s a lot of newer writers who could learn a lot from this in terms of telling a satisfactory story in a handful of pages.
Best special 2000ad/Rebellion have put out in decades
June 22, 2022
Update but still clinging strongly to what used to be adventures of heroes I used to know. Not bad, not bad at all. Very lovingly made.
March 29, 2023
A great homage and reminder of the Battle Action comics from my childhood
April 17, 2026
This anthology shows us both sides of Ennis as a writer. You get the edginess that many have come to expect, but the majority of these are war stories - so it's mostly the more restrained Ennis we're dealing with.
I've written before about how the guy is in the tricky position of absolutely loving that period of history around the World Wars, but hating everything war stands for. It makes for some really fantastic stories, and reinforces my opinion that Ennis is a misunderstood master of the comics world.
Some of the stories here are stronger than others, but the collection is well worth the read.
I've written before about how the guy is in the tricky position of absolutely loving that period of history around the World Wars, but hating everything war stands for. It makes for some really fantastic stories, and reinforces my opinion that Ennis is a misunderstood master of the comics world.
Some of the stories here are stronger than others, but the collection is well worth the read.
May 2, 2025
That the stories are all written by Garth Ennis means that the quality is great throughout the whole collection.
Garth Ennis is probably correctly labelled the king of writing war stories in comics and here he brings his great writing to the traditional Battle-Action comic strips.
Only bettered by Charley’s War by Pat Mills.
Garth Ennis is probably correctly labelled the king of writing war stories in comics and here he brings his great writing to the traditional Battle-Action comic strips.
Only bettered by Charley’s War by Pat Mills.
February 1, 2023
A nostalgia trip, finally found a copy in Travelling Man in Leeds.
December 18, 2024
Really fun - and informative - collection bringing new life to old comic titles. Garth Ennis lovingly writes a new tale for a multitude of characters and the reader is all the better for it.
November 17, 2023
A great addition to the original Battle Picture Library & Action comics from Garth Ennis. He's taken 9 stories from the old comics, and created new stories of the characters. I like how he's managed to bring out the old characters and show them in a new story.
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January 31, 2024This is Garth Ennis' tribute to the British war comics he grew up reading, with seven stories all written by him and drawn by a sterling crew of artists. I'm American; what familiarity I have with British comics of the 70s and 80s mostly comes from reading Ennis, so these characters are largely new to me. Still, his enthusiasm and expertise leaps off the pages, even though the stories themselves are only 12 pages and therefore slight. My favorites are Hellman, starring a somewhat sympathetic German tank commander; Kids Rule O.K., a very meta take on the extremity that got Action pulled from the shelves; and The Angels of Death, about female Soviet pilots (whom Ennis also touched on in his masterful Night Witches stories).
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews