Battle Action #3 Dredger / Major Eazy

[Tjm86]

I am wondering if anyone else is reading this series.  If not, shame on you all.  The quality of writing and artwork improves with each and every issue.  This one is no exception.  In all honesty, I have to admit to being surprised given that half of this issue involves a character I've never particularly enjoyed.

Dredger kicks off the issue.  This is the one I was concerned about when I saw the lineup.  I never really enjoyed it back in the day.  It just seemed so hackneyed.

Ennis has demonstrated the problem though.  At his core, Dredger is a complete bar-steward.  In fact it is fair to say that he is actually borderline psychotic.  Written as such, he works so much better.

Add into that, Ennis recognises the total deviancy of too much of our political elite.  The contempt he has for our supposed superiors drips from the pages.  Where Mills was perhaps a little oblique in his contempt, Ennis wastes no time at all on this.

Perhaps it is the public school upbringing that makes so many aspects of this tale so appealing.  The pretentious gits that believed themselves superior simply by dint of their parentage.  The ritual humiliation of the sport field.  The obsequious pandering of those afeared of those at the top of the pecking pole.

All of those aspects are played with aplomb by Ennis.  Cricket comes into its own in this tale.  The thought of former fellow students on the receiving end of Dredger's 'game' ...

Aligned with this tale is that other counter-cultural figure, Major Eazy.  Perhaps it was the fact that back in the day Ezquerra was given the task of bringing this character to life.  That lazy insouciance
that he captured so well.  The regular humiliation of 'Rupert's.  His calm and collected movement through various battlefields?

Williams' tale captures all of these aspects perfectly.  To be fair, he does an admirable job considering that he is up against Ennis in the writer stakes.  Then again he possible has the far easier job, telling a tale of efforts to steal a march on Rommel's forces in the North Africa campaign long before America realised it needed to get involved.

No, the real challenge is for Flint.  He has massive shoes to fill.  Higgins was always going to outperform the old Dredger artists.  Flint has to meet up to Ezquerra's standards.

... and he does, in spades.  For a man who can create the absolutely insane alien landscapes of Proteus Vex, his ability to capture the reality of 1940's African battlefields is awe-inspiring.  There are few artists who could come close to the standards he had to meet, yet he does (increasingly Jake Lynch is becoming one of those artists, despite inauspicious beginnings).

So once again we end up with an outstanding issue.  Two standalone tales that demonstrate the potential of the characters / settings involved.  Mind you, they also set the bars incredibly high.  If Rebellion are seriously considering a long-term revival of these characters and strips, it is clear that the creative team need to be superlative. 

[Barrington Boots]

Got this on Saturday and agree, it's superb, as have been the previous two issues. I feel like this mini-series has been of incredible quality throughout.

That Dredger story is shockingly brutal! Really enjoyed it though. It's so over the top and I think it's the best way to write this character now. Major Eazy also great but it was the art that really stood out for me on it, wonderful work from Henry Flint.

[Proudhuff]

Really enjoyed this whole clamjamfry! Dredger reminding me too much of the recently exhumed One-eyed Jacks and I found the action in the Dredger story a bit confusing( where did the digger come from? why's he not sodding wet? is that inside or out?), the dark colouring didn't help the fight scene either TBH, but a fun romp never the less.
Major Easy was top notch and very much in the style and panache of the original.
 

[Darren Stephens]

I've enjoyed all these so far. Only read Dredger in the newest issue. Very good indeed ( though I did struggle to work out what was happening at one point....with the JCB...). Hope they collect all these into a lovely hardback on completion.

[nxylas]

That Dredger story is shockingly brutal!

Not sure shocking is quite the right word. I'd say it's pretty much exactly what I expected an Ennis-scripted Dredger story to be like.

[Barrington Boots]

Ha! Certainly not shocking by Ennis standards, no.

[Colin YNWA]

These still aren't quite  timing the hits I'd hoped and the previous special had suggested.

Here Dredger let's the side down. The over the top violence just sucked any fun out the story and made it all seem very silly and childish to be honest. Shame

Major Eazy on the other hand was a triumph. I mean starting with the art. Henry Flint just gets better and better. Simply stunning stuff. But what also works is the way Rob Williams paces this. Its buzzes along and in doing so gives the strip the sense of energy of old Battle stories. Its just an excellent piece of work on all levels.