I really had high hopes for this comic.I'm a huge fan of the original Sgt. Fury & His Howling Commandos, which was labeled "the war comic for people who hate war comics."
It earned the title because it was a peculiar mix of wartime heroics, colorful characters and comedy. It was about as realistic as an episode of the TV show Hogan's Heroes, but under the skillful hands of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Dick Ayers and John Severin (among many others), the original comic was tremendously entertaining and often surprisingly moving.
I picked up this new issue not knowing what to expect. Would it be realistic? Would it try to recapture the original feel of the comic? Would it be good?
The answers are: no, sorta, and sorta.
There's no doubt that John Paul Leon's art is excellent. It's dark, detailed and does a great job of showcasing the action and the Howlers, all of whom are easily identifiable.
It's the story by Jesse Alexander that stands on somewhat shaky ground. The story veers from (somewhat) realistic action to over-the-top stunts, raw violence to cartoon stunts, and even a brief sex romp for the Howlers! (Uh, not with each other - they apparently visit a brothel. Wait'll Dum-Dum's wife hears about this!)
That could all be forgiven, but the dialogue is where the issue really stumbles. Instead of the trademark give-and-take banter, Fury and the Howlers speak in terse statements - it just doesn't "sound" like Fury's men.
I'd be curious to hear if this book was written "Marvel" style - where the artist draws the book, and then the script is written to the art. That's what this feels like, with the writer trying to recapture the feel of the original book.
Sadly, it falls short - but I can't bring myself to be too harsh in judging this comic. I'm just so happy to see the Commandos back on the stands after so many years in comic book limbo, I can forgive the stumbles.
This team just needs more practice - that's the ticket! The answer is more Howlers, not less! Please?
Grade: B-
3 comments:
How disappointing. I was seriously thinking about picking this up. Ah well.
Yeah, I had mixed feelings about this too. It really packed a lot in, and there were touches, and the art was quite nice, but the roughness of it all kind of soured it for me. Everything has to be so frickin' gritty!
I think that was the problem - it was trying to be a throwback to the original AND tough and gritty at the same time. Two great tastes that don't go together!
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