The Complete Battlefields vol. 3

This final collection of Garth Ennis’ latest series of war comics comes with two strikes against it.  As the run consisted of only two three-issue miniseries, this final collection is shorter than the others by a third.  The hardcover collecting them is unfortunately not correspondingly cheaper as it bears a $25 cover price instead of a $20 one.  Yet if you’ve followed the previous “Battlefields” series you’ll still want to have this one in your collection.  Not only does it offer the final chapters in the stories of the characters who have persisted through the first two volumes, but it offers further evidence of Garth Ennis’ skill at finding new and compelling stories to tell in the genre.

The first miniseries in this collection is “The Fall and Rise of Anna Kharkova” demonstrates these qualities well.  First introduced as a Russian pilot in World War II, we get to see how the title character spent the last of her time in the war, the brief contribution she made in Korea, and the harsh fate she endures after crossing the arrogant, sexist coward Major Merkulov one too many times.  Each of these stories takes place in a different decade, but the narrative doesn’t feel unfocused thanks to how Ennis tells a complete story in each issue.  Anna certainly makes for a tragic figure, being one of the best pilots out there yet unable to fully engage in her calling due to her gender and she is made to pay for what is perceived as hubris by her superiors.

While Anna makes for a compelling central figure in this story, there are other virtues to it as well.  Even though Merkulov is clearly made out to be a villain here, he’s ultimately more pathetic than hateable as his obsession with getting Anna to know her place becomes her downfall.  Anna’s fellow pilot Mouse also gets a very interesting arc in these issues while other characters like the English doctor Chris and Merkulov’s adjutant Fyodorovich are memorable in the matter-of-fact way they play their roles.  We also get some insight into how Russia descended into the “Evil Empire” of the Cold War era without resorting to caricature in Anna’s military tribunal and time at a prison camp.  Russ Braun, Ennis’ collaborator on the latter half of “The Boys” and Anna’s previous adventures, also provides some great detailed character work that succeeds in drawing.  Anna’s fall and rise may have a familiar arc to it, but it’s hard not to reach the end of her story and not think that her ending felt like it was earned.

“The Green Fields Beyond” has us joining up with Sgt. Stiles, he of the peerless tank-piloting skills and neigh-indecipherable accent, as the man is now part of another tank brigade in the Korean War.  While he still has his no-nonsense manner about him, Stiles is taken aback when he finds out that the newest member of his squad is the brother of one of his comrades from WWII.  It seems that the young man has a bit of hero worship in him after his brother’s tales of the sergeant and Stiles wants none of it.  This leads the sergeant to an effort to scare his young admirerer straight and leads to the two of them stranded on a hill a British battalion has been ordered to hold in the face of what is described as “rampaging hordes” of Chinese attackers.

Sgt. Stiles debut story in “Battlefields,” “The Tankies,” was one of the least successful of Ennis’ war stories.  Suffering from a lack of focus, it failed to cohere as a real story by the end of its three issues.  The follow-up, “The Firefly and His Majesty” was a marked improvement and led to what is probably the most indelible image in the series for me:  That of a bloody, ragged Sgt. Stiles with a big rock in his hands telling the German Tiger commander he’s been chasing that the whole thing hasn’t been a game to him.  “The Green Fields Beyond” is even better as it shows that the only thing more difficult than surviving a near-death experience in war is living with all that comes after it.  Stiles has to deal with the fact that he’s back in this war because he doesn’t know what to do with himself otherwise, and his actions have led to some hero-worship he wants nothing to do with.  The funny thing is that even though the man does nothing to directly engender such a thing, he winds up affirming it in the young soldier simply by doing his job and managing to survive in the process.

In the process we get to see some gripping scenes involving the horrors of war courtesy of Ennis and artist Carlos Ezquerra.  Ezquerra is an old hat at drawing graphic violence thanks to his previous collaborations with the writer and long association with Judge Dredd as the character’s co-creator.  However, he doesn’t glamorize it at all with the brutality of all the carnage coming through quite clearly on the page.  Even with all of the horrors of war we see here, Ennis still finds ways to showcase the camaraderie that bonds men through these experiences as well as the ordinary heroism that a man can have when he simply stands his ground and pushes on through impossible odds.  I’d have liked to see more stories about Sgt. Stiles after this, but I think it’s hard to argue with where he ends up here.

Another thing about these stories is that I didn’t go back and re-read the previous ones before diving into this.  I didn’t feel lost as Ennis puts all of the information you need to know about the characters and their pasts in the stories themselves.  The writer also provides some insightful commentary on his inspiration and research into the events that inspired what he wrote.  It’s very welcome and the kind of commentary I’d like to see more of in my collected editions.

Even if the stories of Anna and Sgt. Stiles weren’t originally intended to be a trilogy of tales, they still wrap up quite well.  About the only real criticism I can make is that it’s not likely to change the mind of anyone who has decided that Ennis’ war stories aren’t for them.  Then again, if you’re not that kind of person then I doubt you’ve been reading this so far.  For everyone else, this third hardcover volume of “Battlefields” is worth its cover price and a fitting end to the series.