Customer Reviews

Seven Peaches: The First Seven Desert Peach Episodes

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I found this in the back of a small, friendly Manhattan comic book shop. The idea of a protagonist who is not only gay but a German soldier during World War II was strangely appealing. I bought it happily and accidentally took the wrong subway back home. I ended up in Brooklyn. I didn't mind, though. The Peach and his misadventures kept me company on the way back.

The collection of the first seven issues of the Desert Peach is funny, well-drawn, perceptive, and shrewdly written. I was hooked immediately. History, especially North American history and pop culture, have turned WWII into one-dimensional battle of good vs. evil. Blinded by the politics of the time, we forget that the Germans, especially the soldiers, were as human as the Allied forces.

The first issue is straight comedy. The Desert Peach, the fictional gay brother of the Desert Fox, forces his orderly to follow him around with a pink parasol and then manages to capture a number of English soldiers in the African desert.

My favorite of the book is probably "Is There a Nazi in the House?" in which the Peach tries desperately to find someone in his battalion who's ACTUALLY a member of Hitler's political party. The issue raises questions about morality and sanity similarly explored in "Flight of Fancy." "A Day Like Any Other" and "Spoiled Fruit" are also hilarious as they speculate about humanity and innocence.

Barr asks us not only to laugh but also to think. Purchasing this collection was a wonderful decision. I've ordered subsequent issues from Amazon.com and have grown more and more pleased with the development of the series. It all begins with this book, however.

Last night, I showed it to friends. I gushed over it as they passed the book between them. Like myself, they wondered about the flamboyant and likeable German officer having adventures during WWII. One of them, however, was soon interested. I wonder if I'll have to loan my collection to her, soon?