Customer Reviews

Charley's War (Vol. 1): 2 June - 1 August 1916

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been a student of the first world war for some time and I have also been a fan of comics. I ran across this book around a month ago at my local library and was positively thrilled to finally find a comic book treatment for world war 1. The art style is very reminicent of the old war comics from the 50's and 60's but the work itself dates from the 70's so this is not surprising and really works well in the story, the tales are well balanced if a little short(due of course to the format they were originally published in) and shows the level of research that went into the making of the strip.

In the 70's there were most likely plenty of WWI veterans still around (my own great grandfather did not pass away himself until 1984 at the age of 93)whom the writer no doubt could call upon for his research of this story, and the book reflects this all the way through. I even got information on aspects of the war that I've yet to read about in serious history books. I'm an artist myself and I always like to find a good graphic novel, I was amazed when I first pulled this book down off the shelf at the library because I had been hoping someone would do a graphic novel of the first world war for some time now (I was surprised to log onto Amazon.com that same day only to see that they had the book listed as 'not yet relesed' while I had a copy in my hands), I am now looking foreward to when the second volume is released although I suspect I wont be finding it at the library, perhapse this will help launch more WWI graphic novels, it shows that there was more to the war than endless slaughter and all the characters are well developed. Really this book is reminiscent of All quiet on the western front except it's with the British army rather than the Germans. The books introduction gives a brief review of the entire series which manages to cover nearly every aspect of the great war. If the rest of the strips are like the first published volume then this book is truely worth every penny spent.

I must admit that I had my doubts about Charley's War before reading it. It just didn't seem possible to even come close to capturing the horrors of war through a comic.

But then I realized that this wasn't a valid doubt. Because of course you can't. Nothing - books, movies, comics, documentaries, and so on - can truly make someone understand what war is all about. Only war itself can do that. You must thus go to war in order to fully understand war.

Yet still, through the use of different means, especially the written word and still or moving images, one can gain a sense of appreciation that at least comes close to something resembling the beginning of an understanding about warfare and everything about it, the First World War included. This is not for everyone though - warfare is a complex thing that requires an understanding in not only weaponry and military tactics, but also history, politics, sociology, and more - but by trying to capture what war is all about most people will if nothing else realize that people actually fought and died by the millions in the filthy trenches and what this really means; while the stubborn monarchs, the incompetent military leaders, and the stupid politicians relaxed in their easy-chairs miles and miles away from the front and the atrocities that took place there.

An interesting dilemma is mentioned in the introduction to this book. Trench warfare was everything but mobile, stalemate was the order of the day (and year after year), and doesn't this make the setting the worst possible to include in a comic, since the environments doesn't really change that much, if at all? Well, true, but on the other hand, this enabled the creators behind Charley's War to explore the characters in depth and create complex personalities, and no, just because you constantly don't have new environments doesn't mean the plot becomes boring.

The story centres around Charley Bourne, who joins the army in 1916 by lying about his age. Like millions of men and young boys at the time, Charley goes to war with an extremely romanticized, and severely flawed, view of what war is all about. This was a war like no other, ancient traditions and tactics clashed with modern and mechanized weaponry, which led to a conflict thought to be over and done with in a few months got stretched out for years and year, resulting in millions after millions of men being senselessly slaughtered.

You don't have to be a Word War One buff to understand everything that happens in Charley's War, but obviously you'll appreciate it more if you for instance have some knowledge beforehand about the Battle of the Somme. The drawings are extremely well done, all characters are quite believable (the Brits as well as the Germans), the chain of events is not the least predictable, and it's definitely never boring.

However, it's all in black and white, and while this in a way gives the filthy trenches a rough and unpleasant look (just like in real life), I still think the lack of color is highly unfortunate. There are no nauseating close-ups of bodyparts shot of by enemy fire, you'll never see the remnants of young men blown to pieces by murderous shelling, and the red blood that fertilized the ground all over Europe is nowhere to be found.

And that's too bad, because you need the nauseating stuff in a story such as this one. After all, in war, bodies are torn apart and mutilated in truly horrible stuff, and everyone should be aware of this. But not it's just like in the old and highly inaccurate war movies: grenades and shelling cause people to fly through the air, but their bodies remain intact and not a drop of blood is spilled.

If only this gruelling realism had been added to the mix; then Charley's War could've been a true masterpiece. But instead it ends up as "only" great, and nothing more. Which is still, however, not bad at all.

This beautifully produced black and white hardcover collects the first thirty or so episodes of the nearly 300 originally published in the British comic book "Battle Action" from 1979-85. The story follows Bethnal Green teenager Charley from his enlistment in 1916 through the end of the war, with this initial volume focusing on his acclimation to the Western Front and the Battle of the Somme. The book opens with a fiery foreword from the series' writer, who positions it as the antithesis of both the heroic "Boys Own" genre and the false anti-war sentiments of the "War is Hell" genre. Mills explains how his intent was to highlight the true class nature of warfare via the common man character of Charley -- not that smart, but brave and honorable when it counts.

At first I wasn't that drawn to Charley, he seemed like a pretty typical wisecracking Cockney lad, but as the story advances, you see his sunny disposition get realistically worn down, and a bitterness emerging. Some of the supporting cast are a bit stock, such as Mad Mick, the massive Irishman who can't hold his drink, or Ginger, the perpetual whiner, the straight-arrow Sarge, and the odious Lt. Snell. But others are a little more interesting, like Pop, who enlisted after both sons were killed in the war, or Lonely, the lone survivor of a platoon, or Smith 70, the nerdy machine gunner. The Germans are reasonably well done as Mills does take pains to point out the difference between the Bavarians and Prussians, and the dieharders and the casual soldiers, and there's an obligatory scene with a prisoner where the Brits learn "he's just like one of us."

On the whole, Mills succeeds in his objective of peeling the mythology away from the war, and the comic is truly subversive (especially for its time). He clearly did massive amounts of research and it shows in both the writing and artist Joe Colquhuon's amazingly detailed artwork. In fact, the artwork is the true strength of the series -- each page is jam-packed with visual information and there are tons of small details and mordant humor lurking in the background for the reader to discover. It's amazing to learn in the afterword that Mills and Colquhuon didn't slave away together over each episode. Rather, per the working processes of the day, Mills would write the script and it was edited and sent off to Colquhuon -- and they only spoke a handful of times over the run of the series! I can't speak to whether or not the series would appeal to children of today, but it certainly held the attention of this adult reader.

PS. A very minor quibble with the supplementary material is that it can be hard to match Mills' comments to the corresponding episodes, since they aren't numbered in any way.

"Charley's War" was a comic strip that featured prominently in the British comic "Battle" (later "Battle Action" and then "Battle Action Force") and evolved into that comic's longest running strip, alongside "Johnny Red". Charley's War is the tale of Charley Bourne, who in 1916, enlists in the British Army at the age of 16, and before long is shipped off to the horrors of the trenches. Through his eyes (and occasionally his family's) the reader experiences the horrors of the war, in the trenches (and in later volumes), in POW camps and on the home front. Titan Books began publishing the series of strips in hardback in 2005, releasing a new volume every year around October/November. At the time of writing, the 7th volume is about to be released (November 2010).

Charley's War is a masterpiece series from Brit writer Pat Mills and artist Joe Colquhoun, It is their work that makes "Charley's War" so memorable. They breathe life into their characters; Sarge, Ginger, "Oily", Kate, Captain Snell and all the other characters that populate Charley's world. The artwork is superb; Joe Colquhuon spared no effort in his drawings, and the level of detail is incredible - each panel needs to carefully scrutinised before proceeding to the next panel to fully appreciate the detail. Through his clever writing, Pat Mills was able to get his readership to appreciate the horrors of war but without overwhelming them.

Although the storyine began in World War One, Charley also went on to participate in the early stages of World War Two. Note that Volume 7, to be published shortly, deals with the Great Mutiny, so the storyline is still well within World War One. I am unsure if Titan will go and publish the storyline as it proceeds into World War Two (I hope they do). Pat Mills had stopped work on "Charley's War" by the time the storyline moved into World War Two and the quality of the storyline suffered - although the continued artwork by Joe Colquhoun ensured that visually, "Charley's War" did not suffer with the change of writer. Unusually, the "Charley's War" storyline also takes in the Russian Civil War of 1919; has this ever been the subject of a comic strip before? In fact, it is during Charley's time in Russia (around late 1984) that this reviewer first started buying "Battle Action Force" and reading "Charley's War". Although I managed to buy many back editions of "Battle Action Force" there were substantial gaps in the storyline. Thus, the publication of this book series is the first time I have been able to read Charley's story from its beginning.

Each of the "Charley's War" books usually include extras, and Pat Mills always provides essays and comments on the various episodes that feature in each both. His commentary is interesting, as it often reveals insights into storytelling and comic book production that a casual reader doesn't appreciate. The quality of the reproduction varies. Printed in black and white, pages that were originally produced in colour (because "Charley's War" was so popular, it often featured on the first page of the comic book and was thus in colour) don't tend to reproduce so well as black and white.

"Charley's War" is hands down one of the best, if not the best, war comics of all time. It is hard to imagine it being bettered. I suspect that these books probably have greatest appeal to those (such as this reviewer) rediscovering the comic books of their youth. Looking back at "Charley's War" as an adult, rather than a 10 year old, the stories are just as good now as they were back then (in contrast to some of the other strips that featured in "Battle Action Force"). But "Charley's War" should also appeal to the younger readers of today. Thanks to Titan Books, a new readership can now discover and enjoy "Charley's War".

Absolutely fantastic just as emotional and visually exciting as when I first read them as a child. Beautifully presented and reprinted. Highly reccomended to anyone interested in the first world war or looking to get into studying it as a hobby. Keep em coming !!!

It's tough to know how to express gratitude to the Publishers. Once again Charleys war can be read by a new generation.
This comic series from Battle and Battle action in the seventies and early eighties is simply the most moving, shocking, profound, detailed, magically drawn, superbly scripted Graphic war story ever.

The characters will suck you in, they have the depth and belivabilty that i remember as a boy reading and it making me think...ahh..this is what the war was really like.

Just dont waste any more of your time. Buy this book and the others NOW. You might die next week having never known Charleys War. And that would be a big mistake.