What do you think?
Rate this book
Johnny Red #1
Johnny Red: Falcons' First Flight
When pilot Johnny Redburn is discharged from the RAF for striking an officer, he is forced to join the Merchant Navy. But a German sneak attack forces Redburn back into the air — in a stolen Hurricane! Redburn aims for Russia, planning to save his plane and career, but on landing, meets the “Falcon Squadron” of the 5th Soviet Air Brigade, who are under German attack! Redburn takes to the skies once more — to fight for Russia!
The classic series by Tom Tully (Roy of the Rovers) and Joe Colquhoun (Charley’s War) makes its explosive debut and includes a new introduction by comics legend Garth Ennis (The Boys, Preacher, War Story) and a feature on air combat!
The classic series by Tom Tully (Roy of the Rovers) and Joe Colquhoun (Charley’s War) makes its explosive debut and includes a new introduction by comics legend Garth Ennis (The Boys, Preacher, War Story) and a feature on air combat!
128 pages, Hardcover
First published July 6, 2010
About the author
Titan Books
62 books46 followersTitan Publishing Group is an independently owned British publishing company, established in 1981. It’s base at offices in London’s Bankside area,
The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins and cinema reference books; and graphic novels and comics récentes and art titles.
The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins and cinema reference books; and graphic novels and comics récentes and art titles.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 27, 2018
One of Battle's masterpieces, the story that started my love affair with Hawker's bruiser and educated a seven year old (insofar as it was possible) in the horrors of war and the Eastern Front. Yes, it's from a kid's comic, yes it doesn't really stand up, and no the Hurricane couldn't really take that much punishment. But it's an amazing piece of comic history, the art is just amazing and it was better than school history. Well worth a look.
June 6, 2017
This is the origins story of a British Comic book character that would have a respectable 13 year run. The original target audience was preteen males who had not yet turned their imaginations from WWII to the newer techno based comic characters.
Taken in just these terms the art work is very good when depicting military hardware and there is a fair variety of it displayed. The plot is heavy on action, tensions are always high and characters tend to be noble warriors or craven behind the lines... what another generation and country would call garrison troopers, or garri-troopers. At this level Johnny Red is about standard for this kind of material.
What makes this comic unusual is the set-up. Johnny Red is yet another misjudged loner forced out of his chosen role as a WWII RAF Pilot. A set of highly unusual events, albeit ones with a historic precedence has him flying a Hurricane fighter plane that was catapulted from a Murmansk Run Cargo Ship (Such things existed) and landing in Russia. (This did happen once). Johnny adopts or is adopted by a Russia Fighter squadron. The balance of the stories is Johnny fighting invading Germans, learning to respect his Russian fellow fighters while staving off murderous and cowardly bullies from the Community Party NKVD or other "apparatchiks". These books would have come out towards the end of the Cold War. England would have already abandoned much of it solidarity with America over the Viet Nam War, but the hideous crimes of Stalin would also have been common knowledge.
This Johnny Red book plays out the refrain that the West had great respect for the Russian People, and very little for its then Communist Government. If the art work makes this a graphic novel worth looking at; this pro Russians but not pro Soviet focus is worth at least this first book. I am unlikely to look for the rest of the series. I am content with this one.
Taken in just these terms the art work is very good when depicting military hardware and there is a fair variety of it displayed. The plot is heavy on action, tensions are always high and characters tend to be noble warriors or craven behind the lines... what another generation and country would call garrison troopers, or garri-troopers. At this level Johnny Red is about standard for this kind of material.
What makes this comic unusual is the set-up. Johnny Red is yet another misjudged loner forced out of his chosen role as a WWII RAF Pilot. A set of highly unusual events, albeit ones with a historic precedence has him flying a Hurricane fighter plane that was catapulted from a Murmansk Run Cargo Ship (Such things existed) and landing in Russia. (This did happen once). Johnny adopts or is adopted by a Russia Fighter squadron. The balance of the stories is Johnny fighting invading Germans, learning to respect his Russian fellow fighters while staving off murderous and cowardly bullies from the Community Party NKVD or other "apparatchiks". These books would have come out towards the end of the Cold War. England would have already abandoned much of it solidarity with America over the Viet Nam War, but the hideous crimes of Stalin would also have been common knowledge.
This Johnny Red book plays out the refrain that the West had great respect for the Russian People, and very little for its then Communist Government. If the art work makes this a graphic novel worth looking at; this pro Russians but not pro Soviet focus is worth at least this first book. I am unlikely to look for the rest of the series. I am content with this one.
June 25, 2023
The first collection of stories featuring Johnny Redburn aka. "Johnny Red", from the great British war comic "Battle". In the first episode alone our teenage hero takes to the skies in a Hawker Hurricane, catapulted from the deck of his Murmansk convoy ship. A flashback shows how he was thrown out of the RAF for assaulting an officer (he had it coming). No sooner can you say "bandits at twelve o'clock" than our boy is downing ME-109s and fleeing to the Kola peninsula to join Russia's Falcons' squadron.
It's great fun, action all the way with hardly a chance to draw breath. Joe Colquhoun's black & white art is gritty and detailed with the aerial combat rendered superbly. The historical accuracy is impressive for a children's comic with an unflinching view of the bleak Russian front (Leningrad especially). It's a lovely hardback book with a glossy colour dustjacket and Garth Ennis provides a useful introduction. Ideal reading for those looking to jump onboard this recently relaunched series.
It's great fun, action all the way with hardly a chance to draw breath. Joe Colquhoun's black & white art is gritty and detailed with the aerial combat rendered superbly. The historical accuracy is impressive for a children's comic with an unflinching view of the bleak Russian front (Leningrad especially). It's a lovely hardback book with a glossy colour dustjacket and Garth Ennis provides a useful introduction. Ideal reading for those looking to jump onboard this recently relaunched series.
June 10, 2022
Johnny Red, along with Charley's War, were two of the greatest story lines battle Picture Weekly ever had. Johnny is a disgraced pilot, who ends up on a tramp steamer heading to Murmansk as part of a convoy. When his ship is attacked, he takes the flight suit of the Hurricat pilot on board, and flies the Hurricane to attack the German bombers. He then heads for Murmansk, where he lands at the airfield the Falcon's fighter squadron is.
The Falcons are low on morale, low on supplies, and low on aircraft, but Johnny joins them in attacking the Germans, and slowly bringing some pride back to them, as them get new aircraft, and survive both attacks from the Germans, and from the Soviet secret police as well.
This is the first of four volumes, and I look forward to reading the others as well.
The Falcons are low on morale, low on supplies, and low on aircraft, but Johnny joins them in attacking the Germans, and slowly bringing some pride back to them, as them get new aircraft, and survive both attacks from the Germans, and from the Soviet secret police as well.
This is the first of four volumes, and I look forward to reading the others as well.
August 30, 2024
From the pages of Battle Action weekly comics comes the story of Johnny Redburn, a Liverpudlian and disgraced RAF pilot, courtmartialled for striking a superior officer.
On an Arctic convoy Johnny Red commandeers a Hawker Hurricane and flies to Soviet Russia to be absorbed into the Falcons squadron fighting in Murmansk and later transferred to Leningrad.
Not as good and engaging a read as Charley's war but gives a totally different perspective on Wotld War 2 usually seen from Western eyes.
The fighting is accurately portrayed as brutal and more unforgiving with Soviet troops, despite their patriotic endeavours and sacrifice, having Soviet threats to execute them for not showing the necessary mettle.
This was not the clean and clinical war that Hollywood portrayed on the silver screen.
The comic strip is wonderfully drawn and conveys the starkness and savagery of the fighting.
On an Arctic convoy Johnny Red commandeers a Hawker Hurricane and flies to Soviet Russia to be absorbed into the Falcons squadron fighting in Murmansk and later transferred to Leningrad.
Not as good and engaging a read as Charley's war but gives a totally different perspective on Wotld War 2 usually seen from Western eyes.
The fighting is accurately portrayed as brutal and more unforgiving with Soviet troops, despite their patriotic endeavours and sacrifice, having Soviet threats to execute them for not showing the necessary mettle.
This was not the clean and clinical war that Hollywood portrayed on the silver screen.
The comic strip is wonderfully drawn and conveys the starkness and savagery of the fighting.
March 1, 2019
3.5 stars
July 19, 2022
Revisiting a childhood classic; did not disappoint. Plenty of "Take that, Fritz" gung-ho spirit, of course, but tempered with a brutal, honest account of the horrors of the Eastern Front.
September 12, 2013
This is the first volume in a 3 volume collection of the recurring series "Johnny Red" from the 1970's British war comic Battle Action. The story follows the eponymous hero, Johnny Red, a disgraced WWII RAF pilot who finds redemption and recognition as a pilot in and later the commander of a Soviet fighter-bomber squadron. This review will stand for all three volumes of Titan's collections, which are beautifully bound in cloth hardcover, and include introductions by Garth Ennis in each book.
This is probably as close to a realistic portrayal of the Russian Front as has ever been attempted in sequential art. Granted the necessities of the story, the plot elements are occasionally more than a little far-fetched, but the misery, weariness, horror, and relentlessness of the war come powerfully through. This is due in no small part to the artwork of Joe Colquhoun who creates some of the most visceral, detailed, and accurate images of aerial combat, and the brutal realities of war in the east in places like Leningrad and Stalingrad. The heroes are ragged, dirty, unshaven, and threatened by enemies both within and without, and the almost hopeless bravery of a people who were often outnumbered, usually outclassed in terms of material quality, yet determined to fight until the invader had been hurled from their homeland is shown in gritty detail. There is hate here, and courage, and cowardice, and friendship, and the sheer struggle for survival in Hell on Earth.
One of, if not THE, finest war comics I have ever read.
This is probably as close to a realistic portrayal of the Russian Front as has ever been attempted in sequential art. Granted the necessities of the story, the plot elements are occasionally more than a little far-fetched, but the misery, weariness, horror, and relentlessness of the war come powerfully through. This is due in no small part to the artwork of Joe Colquhoun who creates some of the most visceral, detailed, and accurate images of aerial combat, and the brutal realities of war in the east in places like Leningrad and Stalingrad. The heroes are ragged, dirty, unshaven, and threatened by enemies both within and without, and the almost hopeless bravery of a people who were often outnumbered, usually outclassed in terms of material quality, yet determined to fight until the invader had been hurled from their homeland is shown in gritty detail. There is hate here, and courage, and cowardice, and friendship, and the sheer struggle for survival in Hell on Earth.
One of, if not THE, finest war comics I have ever read.
June 4, 2011
I read this strip in Battle when I was young, although I came in "halfway through", so it's interesting to see how it all started. Taken on its own merits, it works fine, although the continuity is a bit shaky at the start, which implies that the writer was making it up as he went along rather than planning it in advance.
The format of this book is very similar to the "Charley's War" reprints. This book is almost entirely comics, whereas "Charley's War" is about 2/3 comic and 1/3 commentary, so it may feel as if you get better value for money here. However, "Charley's War" is far more substantial (and historically accurate), so I'd recommend it to adults who've never read it before. "Johnny Red" is much more for people who feel nostalgic, since it's easier to read than ancient comics.
The format of this book is very similar to the "Charley's War" reprints. This book is almost entirely comics, whereas "Charley's War" is about 2/3 comic and 1/3 commentary, so it may feel as if you get better value for money here. However, "Charley's War" is far more substantial (and historically accurate), so I'd recommend it to adults who've never read it before. "Johnny Red" is much more for people who feel nostalgic, since it's easier to read than ancient comics.
March 5, 2011
Not as good as Charley's War in as far as the story goes but excellent artwork.
April 2, 2017
This is not the kind of graphic novel that I would normally read, but it was highly recommended by one of my favourite comic writers, Garth Ennis so I was prepared to give it a go. (Ennis himself has just completed a limited series based on the character and I was intrigued enough to give it a shot.)
Johnny Red was a strip that ran in the UK comic Battle and it ran for ten years. Being part of an anthology title limited the number of pages per instalment to about four, so the story built up over weeks and was aimed at kids. It was a stable mate to 2000AD published by IPC, and was written by comics veteran Tom Tully with art by Joe Colquhoun.
It is the story of 19 year old Johnny 'Red' Redburn, desperate to prove himself as a pilot during the second world war. Unfortunately he and his superior officer don`t see eye to eye and in a moment of temper Redburn pushes the other severely injuring him. He is accused of striking a senior officer and grounded, probably never to fly again.
In a moment of crisis he secretly replaces pilot on a Hawker Hurricane and ends up lost in Russia, where he ultimately meets up with a broken down, worn out and under-equipped squadron, the Falcons. He is able to motivate them, and get them back in the air, through guile and bravery get them resupplied and makes them a squadron of note again, despite interfering and the animosity of some Russian higher-ups.
Despite being written predominantly for kids, the story holds up really well and was enjoyable for this adult. The research is apparently excellent, the story fast paced and does not shy away from the brutality of war. In some places it is told a little less deeply than a more modern strip would have been but it is not detrimental to the reading. It does over repeat itself a few times, but this is probably down to it's original weekly format - reminding everyone of what has gone before. The art is incredible especially the depiction of the planes and arial combat.
The collection itself is beautifully presented from the dustjacket through to the cover itself. The pages are on a high quality paper and the printing as a whole is good. It is let down in places to fading in the art and lettering possibly due to the source material.
I'm not sure whether it was a mistake or my mis-reading of something, but it seems that over the course of the story the officer struck by Redburn at the start goes from being injured to being killed, but this is a little quibble.
All in all surprisingly excellent read.
Johnny Red was a strip that ran in the UK comic Battle and it ran for ten years. Being part of an anthology title limited the number of pages per instalment to about four, so the story built up over weeks and was aimed at kids. It was a stable mate to 2000AD published by IPC, and was written by comics veteran Tom Tully with art by Joe Colquhoun.
It is the story of 19 year old Johnny 'Red' Redburn, desperate to prove himself as a pilot during the second world war. Unfortunately he and his superior officer don`t see eye to eye and in a moment of temper Redburn pushes the other severely injuring him. He is accused of striking a senior officer and grounded, probably never to fly again.
In a moment of crisis he secretly replaces pilot on a Hawker Hurricane and ends up lost in Russia, where he ultimately meets up with a broken down, worn out and under-equipped squadron, the Falcons. He is able to motivate them, and get them back in the air, through guile and bravery get them resupplied and makes them a squadron of note again, despite interfering and the animosity of some Russian higher-ups.
Despite being written predominantly for kids, the story holds up really well and was enjoyable for this adult. The research is apparently excellent, the story fast paced and does not shy away from the brutality of war. In some places it is told a little less deeply than a more modern strip would have been but it is not detrimental to the reading. It does over repeat itself a few times, but this is probably down to it's original weekly format - reminding everyone of what has gone before. The art is incredible especially the depiction of the planes and arial combat.
The collection itself is beautifully presented from the dustjacket through to the cover itself. The pages are on a high quality paper and the printing as a whole is good. It is let down in places to fading in the art and lettering possibly due to the source material.
I'm not sure whether it was a mistake or my mis-reading of something, but it seems that over the course of the story the officer struck by Redburn at the start goes from being injured to being killed, but this is a little quibble.
All in all surprisingly excellent read.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews