Unleash Hell: 12 Of The Best War Picture Library Comic Books Ever!

by Steve Holland (Editor)

The conflict that engulfed Europe forced ordinary men to give up their happy lives and fight for freedom against an enemy who had been preparing for war for years. Written by authors who had themselves seen combat, these stories give youngsters growing up in the years after the war an answer to the question, "What did you do in the war, daddy?"

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

776 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Keyshawn]

A very good book. Took me months to read. :)

[Gareth]

Have slowly read this book over time, as friends elsewhere have this and so have been reading it in bits and pieces whenever staying there. An enjoyable collection - nothing particularly amazing, but nothing bad either. Captures various points of WW2 well I think, and though somewhat one-sided in nature for each story, isn't too surprising when is around one group of characters each time. I think shows well the bleakness and harshness of war - many deaths that occur, and the characters have to shrug them off for their own sake.

[Glenn]

I have been critical of graphics of these books in the past, but usually they have very good stories... However this series of stories I found hard to enjoy - at most only 4 of the 12 are worth reading again - so really maybe only 2.5 stars...

[Ian Cooper]

This graphic novel collection contains 12 of the earliest "War Picture Library" stories, all from the years 1958 to 1962. Sadly, with one exception, none of the stories in this collection are particularly memorable, nor are the graphics anything to write home about. I remember reading WPL as a kid in the 1970s, and I recall there being far better stories than these. Perhaps the writers and artists of the early years hadn't hit their stride yet.

The one exception to this is "The Black Ace", which has an interesting story and a nice twist at the end, though the artwork, like all the rest of the stories in this collection, is not as good as that in some of the later War Picture Library books.

Presumably the editor, Steve Holland, wanted to include a variety of stories from the early "War Picture Library" years, and while he has taken care to choose stories from many battle fronts on land, in the air, and at sea, it's a pity Mr. Holland was not focused more on collecting interesting stories and stunning artwork. All-in-all, this collection is somewhat pedestrian - it gives an idea of what readers of these stories could expect, but I think it fails to showcase the best of the genre. I recently bought the complete collection of these omnibus editions, so I'm hoping later volumes will be better.