Third World War Book 1 vs. Sticky Fingers

[Colin YNWA]

It will be a fair fight I promise, though the differences in scale are part of the interest to me...

... but I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Over the last week I've reached the point in my (re)reading pile of working through the early issues of Crisis. So far I've read the two strips listed above and I'm saving new Statesmen (the best as I recall) until last. Since I think I've kept all of Troubled Souls too I might give that a punt as well actually.

Anyway I remembered liking Third World War (by Pat Mills and Carlos Ezquerra mostly) back in the day and loving Sticky Fingers (Myra Hancock and David Hines) but approached both with a certain degree of nervousness this time, after all I'm a very different beast that the socially conscious late teen I was when I last read these two. Have to say while both deal with very interesting and worthwhile issues only one is a good comic strip, and it seems that's all I'm after these days.

Third World War has a fantastic setting. A South American country invaded by an army of aid workers paid for by a multi-national to ensure their interests are served in the guise of development. That should be the source of many great stories (you can see where this is going already can't you). Its epic in scale and has 5 potentially interesting characters to play off each other. The troubled student of the situation, the crazy punk rebel, the jack the lad, the religious zealot and anarchist with a deep dark past full of secrets. The scale however of the message and issues that Mr Mills is tackling just swamps everything. It goes beyond the fact that its preachy, after all the subjects being faced head on are worth preaching about, even to the more conservative (small c, small c okay) late 30s me. They still seem relevant and as important now as they did then.

They are however dealt with in a way that crushes this as a comic strip. The characters are at best mere sounding boards for the ideas being presented. At worst they are pretty terrible cliches that deaden any real impact. The corporate soldiers are terrible, hideous beasts. The downtrodden indigenous population worthy and dignified. The stories and the issues there in therefore become very black and white and strangely lose their impact because of it.

The 5 leads are so polarised and therefore any potentially interesting interaction and conflict between them becomes lost in clumsy caricaturisation and they end up being pretty dull to be honest.

Sticky Fingers on the other hand deals with much more 'small' scale issues. A young girl trying to change her life from one of shop lifting and crime to one of... well carpentry. She finds a flat and we meet the characters that live there and their friends. These issues are just as relevant, as with the Third World War, today and just as important, on its own very different scale. Here however a wonderful cast of characters (I can't provide a snappy phrase to sum them all up as they are all so well realised) lead the story. Not the subject matter. Because of this the issues tackled become all the more powerful and had a much bigger impact. Its an absolutely brilliant bit of work that speaks to me as much today as it did when I first read it.

Weeny the led is trying so hard to change, you hear the inner conflicts she has to deal with so much more subtly that the global conflicts that hammer any subtly out of Third World War. She's a character I care about surrounded by characters I care about. In the end Book 1 of Pat Mills story seems to take a rushed change of direction and things are wrapped up very quickly. One character is brushed aside off panel and terrible things and twists await some of the others, none of which I really cared about. The grand set piece of Sticky Fingers is in a Magistrates count with no life or death stakes, though because I cared all the more for the people involved the stakes seemed so much higher than in Third World War.

Its worth noting again with differences of scale both look absolutely fantastic and both artists are perfect for the story they are telling.

[TordelBack]

Fair comments, Colin.  How far did you get with Third World War?  In my opinion it improved when Mills basically gave up on the set-up and just started doing quasi-historical pieces about Rastafari and the Mau-Mau, and straight-up Amnesty International material, retaining Eve as a vague framing device. 

Aside from the gorgeous look of the thing, early TWW just never delivered - there was occasional worthwhile worthiness, but it was impossible to disentangle actual issues and/or facts from the hyperbolic dialogue and parodic organisations, and as you say, the characters themselves never managed to do more than spout slogans at each other.  The Moore drold told better stories and still managed to do more of substance about the politics of 'helpful' foreign occupiers in a handful of episodes of HJ Book III. 

The later, more direct, stuff was more successful.

Always liked Sticky Fingers, though. 

[strontium71]

I've not read Third World War in ages , and I can't be bothered to hunt for it but isn't this where Finn came from? Finn from the story of the same name?

[I, Cosh]

Over the last week I've reached the point in my (re)reading pile of working through the early issues of Crisis.

This has taken you two years!

...3rd World War. As I recall, and I've not read it for an age (though it is slowly working up my to be read pile) it was ok but suffered from being Pat Mills at his preachiest (nice word there!).

You've pretty much summed up my own feelings on Third World War, both then and now. At the time, I found the politics interesting and enlightening; when I reread it a couple of years ago, the issue of the week structure drained it of pretty much any fun. I've never read anything after the first book. I always meant to get round to reading the whole lot, but never did.

I did rave about this on one of your old threads, but New Statesmen remains a fantastic read. Remember to seek out the unheralded "epilogue" which pops up about six months after it ends.

You've inspired me to get off and knock up another couple of mini-reviews of my own. One topically related to this, with an unexpected payoff.

[Colin YNWA]

Over the last week I've reached the point in my (re)reading pile of working through the early issues of Crisis.

This has taken you two years!

...3rd World War. As I recall, and I've not read it for an age (though it is slowly working up my to be read pile) it was ok but suffered from being Pat Mills at his preachiest (nice word there!).

Well there's a lot of comics out there! My to read list is about 2 1/2 years long at the moment (I'm kinda ashamed, kinda proud of this?)! This is at least 1/2 material to re-read as I released I'd never get around to doing this if I didn't include it. All started when I began to build a stash for when the little came along and developed into a bit of a monster! I really do need to stop buying stuff but there's so much out there still!

Looking forward to seeing what you review?