Battle Action #2 Crazy Keller / D-Day Dawson

[Tjm86]

In all honesty when I first read the line up for this issue I was prepared to be a little underwhelmed.  Crazy Keller was a strip that I never really connected with back in the day and D-Day Dawson felt like one of those early strips that didn't age particularly well.

What can I say.  The creative team on this issue managed to turn that completely on its head.  Both strips far surpassed my expectations and left me seriously impressed.  Both are standalone, in keeping with the series as a whole.  That said, it is clear that there is milage in both with the right team.

Crazy Keller meets Hot Wheels features a post-war situation.  A disgruntled German soldier determined to continue the fight even though Germany has officially surrendered.  A small group of Child soldiers.  A deal for an American tank and a plot to assassinate a high ranking American officer.

Burnham's art is perfect for the piece.  He captures dynamics, characters and backgrounds incredibly well.  There are moments when it feels a touch cartoony but that doesn't actually detract.  If anything it works in the moment.

Ennis delivers a plot for Burnham to illustrate that captures so many aspects of those early days of peace.  The damage the war caused, the shady deals that were making so many fortunes, the exploitation of idealistic youth.  In such a short space he packs an incredible amount in.  That plus an action packed script that screams along at the same pace as Keller often drives.

D-Day Dawson takes us to the other end of that final campaign, the early days after the invasion.  Perfectly understandable given the strip's setting.  This one is radically different, a simple vignette in keeping with the old strip's general pattern.  Dawson takes on a German platoon and cheerfully decimates them.  There is a sub-plot involving a French civilian and her fears over being discovered.  Like Crazy Keller though it is tightly paced tale, leaving little time to pause.

Winslade is on his usual top form.  It is interesting to see his work in full colour after we've seen so much of it in black and white in the meg these last few years.  His distinctive, detailed style renders the action incredibly well.  A minor gripe is the German helmets from time to time but that quibble is the height of pedantry.

All this under another first rate Burns cover.  Additional text features give a bit of background to the two strips for those less familiar with Battle during its heyday.  All round, this is another quality offering from Rebellion.

[Proudhuff]

Recommend this issue too, didn't think it would appeal to me but ended up a great read.
Chuffed something I mentioned a few years ago turned up in a storyline, (smug git emoji), even if I wasn't the source I'll claim it!