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Battlefields #2
Battlefields, Volume 2: Dear Billy
1942: In the tropical splendour of the South China sea, as the Second World War spreads across the far east, a young woman finds herself in paradise... and then in hell. Nurse Carrie Sutton is caught up in the Japanese invasion of Singapore, suffering horrors beyond her wildest nightmares -- and survives Now, she attempts to start her life anew, buoyed up by a growing friendship with a wounded pilot, only for fate to deliver up the last thing she ever expected. Carrie, at last, has a chance for revenge... but should she take it? In the midst of a world torn apart by war, you can fight and you can win, but you still might not get the things you truly want. More incredible stories from Garth Ennis (The Boys, Preacher) as his Battlefields series continues exclusively from Dynamite Entertainment For this second mini-series -- Dear Billy -- Garth is joined by artist Peter Snejbjerg and cover artist John Cassaday for a haunting tale of wartime in 1942...
88 pages, Paperback
First published September 15, 2009
2 people are currently reading
99 people want to read
About the author
Garth Ennis
2,621 books3,167 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 - 22 of 22 reviews
May 14, 2019
Carrie Sutton is a British nurse who barely survives after being almost killed alongside her colleagues by Japanese soldiers. They were raped beforehand, but she can't mention this detail to maintain her dignity in society. She gets close with Billy Edgewood, a British fighter pilot with an even hairier story than her own. Their love for one another can't prevent her turning into a monster as a result of her ordeal.
April 11, 2019
The protagonist here is a nurse, in the China-Burma-India theater of WW2.
My grandfather's sister was a nurse in the European theater of WW2, and she did not survive the homecoming.
Art by Snejbjerg is really great, with sly attention to expression on faces. This really makes me want to reread the last half of Starman by James Robinson, featuring art by Snejberg. But I love Ennis's war stories, and this one is appropriately dark.
Recommended.
My grandfather's sister was a nurse in the European theater of WW2, and she did not survive the homecoming.
Art by Snejbjerg is really great, with sly attention to expression on faces. This really makes me want to reread the last half of Starman by James Robinson, featuring art by Snejberg. But I love Ennis's war stories, and this one is appropriately dark.
Recommended.
March 6, 2017
what a horrific story of pain and suffering.
Carrie was a nurse in the second world war, she was attacked and almost killed by the Japanese. she survived by some miracle and then spent the next few years treating patients like nothing happened. but inside she was rotting; the hurt, hatred and anger boiled up until it consumed her.
thank you Garth for this wonderful story.
Carrie was a nurse in the second world war, she was attacked and almost killed by the Japanese. she survived by some miracle and then spent the next few years treating patients like nothing happened. but inside she was rotting; the hurt, hatred and anger boiled up until it consumed her.
thank you Garth for this wonderful story.
February 16, 2018
ABSOLUTE RATING: {3+/5 stars}
STANDARDIZED RATING: <3/5 stars>
STANDARDIZED RATING: <3/5 stars>
July 24, 2014
More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/
Battlefields, Volume 2: Dear Billy is a devastating story of the emotional wounds of war, as told by a young British Nurse. Her perspective on the war is brutal and also an irony that in killing young nurses captured in Asia, the Japanese ended up killing far more of their own down the line. The story is uncompromising but also beautifully written in the form of a letter from the nurse to her lover, a British officer, explaining her decisions at the end of the story. The story is distinct and separate from the first volume, which you do not need to have read before this volume.
Nurse Carrie Sutton is serving as a nurse in the South China Sea in World War II when the base is captured by Japanese soldiers. The men are killed, nurses raped and then herded into the ocean and promptly executed. But one survives and is transferred to India to continue to serve in the war effort. There, she meets a young British officer who also has his tragic tales to tell about brutality from the enemy. But while he can recover and move on, Carrie has not been able to heal inside. When Japanese prisoners of war start showing up at her hospital, she exacts her own revenge.
The story is beautifully illustrated and colored. The story both beautiful and tragic in that the love of the soldier, who takes things in stride, will end up being the catalyst that destroys her. There are great moments in the story - full of pensiveness, reflection, laughter, joy, and more as the Americans join the British in India. Both the writing and the art bring the era to life and makes the characters breathe.
Nurse Carrie can almost be considered an anti-hero as she tonelessly recounts, "in very British fashion" all the things she could not tell her lover, Billy. And there is the irony that both experienced the exact same brutality but both came out of it so differently.
This was a good read and one I plan to return to again.
December 22, 2017
LISTEN!
Ennis's Battlefields series, so far, are his best works, perhaps among the best trad-US comics.
No-one told me, so I'm telling you.
These are stories arousing intense feelings. At the centre are rounded characters with complicated relationships. The character work is thoughtful, throwing the notion of 'war stories=exclusively man stories' down flights of stairs. As with Vol. 1 (both these are self-contained), treatment of gender is even handed. This is about people.
Peter Snejberg's portrait work is graceful and accomplished, iconic, vibrant when it needs to be and suitably heart-breaking when it needs to be.
Ennis's Battlefields series, so far, are his best works, perhaps among the best trad-US comics.
No-one told me, so I'm telling you.
These are stories arousing intense feelings. At the centre are rounded characters with complicated relationships. The character work is thoughtful, throwing the notion of 'war stories=exclusively man stories' down flights of stairs. As with Vol. 1 (both these are self-contained), treatment of gender is even handed. This is about people.
Peter Snejberg's portrait work is graceful and accomplished, iconic, vibrant when it needs to be and suitably heart-breaking when it needs to be.
August 17, 2018
Coyer Summer Bash
This is a very bittersweet tale about a young woman who was victimized by Japanese soldiers trying to rebuild her life in a post war world. The characters romance with Billy is the only bright spot in her life. He has no idea what the stress of her experiences has driven her to do and when she realizes he is trying to move forward from the horrors of war she makes a stunning decision.
This is a very bittersweet tale about a young woman who was victimized by Japanese soldiers trying to rebuild her life in a post war world. The characters romance with Billy is the only bright spot in her life. He has no idea what the stress of her experiences has driven her to do and when she realizes he is trying to move forward from the horrors of war she makes a stunning decision.
July 25, 2022
Another brilliant war story from the mind of Garth Ennis. The first issue opens with the following text box: “First they raped us. Then they walked us into the shallows and turned machine guns on us.” Our narrator spends the rest of the story arc grappling with the trauma of that violence, with tragic consequences.
December 13, 2016
Well. That was bleak. These are some punch-in-the-gut war stories. The art is pretty good--serves the story well.
February 28, 2019
Emotional story set on the Asian front line of World War 2. Great work as always by Garth Ennis,with beautiful art by Peter Snejberg.
January 16, 2020
Trigger warnings for : PTSD, sexual assault, death, war, blood, violence, suicide, depression
November 15, 2021
Harrowing
August 19, 2011
My friend gave me Battlefields knowing too well that I like military stuff. Dear Billy was moving story of girl who was survivor, she survived firing squad but she could not survive herself. She was a nurse, her transport was caught by Japanese and women were raped then shot. She survived, but she was wounded body and soul. She started to work in hospital, when she met a pilot, Billy. Who was as brave as honorable. He had his own personal hell, when he was caught by Japanese and survived bayonet attack. He was still open to respect enemy and believed that after war there could be cooperation, however she was hating Japanese to the point of killing two of her patients (Japanese).
Pair had a spat and she wrote her last letter, where she explained her motives...however ultimate letter needed ultimate exclamation and she made it.
Pair had a spat and she wrote her last letter, where she explained her motives...however ultimate letter needed ultimate exclamation and she made it.
March 5, 2016
Volume 2 of the series is more chilling and grim. Like the previous volume it’s based during WW 2 only the theater this time around is Asia. It’s about a British nurse surviving rape & execution by the Japanese, the way it changes her life, how she copes with it & her thirst for revenge. The writing is amazing, the ending is a haunting.
This volume has a new artist and his work is superior to that of the previous volume, a lot is to do with more use of color and cleaner lines, both of which compliments the story.
This volume has a new artist and his work is superior to that of the previous volume, a lot is to do with more use of color and cleaner lines, both of which compliments the story.
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November 9, 2009Didn't enjoy this quite as much as Battlefields: Night Witches, but still good. Actually, I think the problem was that I didn't like the characters very much. Of course I wasn't meant to, I suppose, flawed and ruined as they were.
The colorists for this series are very good! This one was done by Bob Steen.
The colorists for this series are very good! This one was done by Bob Steen.
October 30, 2016
Two volumes into Ennis' WWII anthology "Battlefields" and it's got me pondering what people exactly mean when comics are called "grim and gritty", often derisively. Certainly, "Vol. 2, Dear Billy" contains rape, murder and wholesale slaughter, but it's also an emotionally harrowing tale of tragic ingrained misogyny and colonialism. A tale worth telling, I would say!
June 9, 2009
Well written, but not quite as enjoyable as some of Ennis's other war stories. It was an interesting take on anger and the inability to forgive, and how to deal with all of that for someone not on the front lines and what happens to that rage when the war ends.
October 3, 2015
This touching and tragic story wasn't enjoyable, but it was good. The writing and art was beautiful, and shows you both the front lines as well as what happens with bottled up emotions when the war ends.
September 4, 2009
This is among the strongest of Ennis' short, standalone works. It's predictable at times, but devastatingly effective nonetheless.
December 29, 2011
Not as good as the first offering in Battlefields, but still pretty damn good. And the art was by Snejbjerg was brilliant.
January 26, 2013
<3 the Malayan Campaign,timeline,the love doomed story,and the spunky survivor nurse protaganist.
July 2, 2016
This series really pulls out the emotions in me.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews