David Kendall

Source: The List (Issue 584)
Date: 23 August 2007
Written by: Henry Northmore

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The Mammoth Book of Best War Comics

This really is a weighty tome with over 500 pages of war comics culled from across the world and through the ages (from 1965–2006). Keiji Nakazawa sets the mood with his personal account of the bombing of Hiroshima in I Saw It, a poignant tale that spells out the human cost of the atomic bomb and the implications that resonate throughout the rest of their lives.

There is an anti-war tone throughout, and even stories from 1965 which are wrapped in patriotism can still often be fundamentally bleak. Respected names like Will Eisner, Pat Mills and Raymond Briggs add their own visions and experiences, touching on, among other conflicts, Vietnam and the Falklands War. From out and out comedy through esoteric art to 70s underground comix and classic Combat war stories, this mammoth book’s catch-all nature means it can be hit and miss, but it’s still an admirable and enlightening collection. (Henry Northmore)

More: David Kendall, I Saw It, Keiji Nakazawa, Pat Mills, Raymond Briggs, The Mammoth Book of Best War Comics, War, Will Eisner, Comics (Books)