"You can say it as loud as you like, Ollie. No one cares." The Stringbags review

I recently read The Stringbags by Garth Ennis and P. J. Holden, published by Dead Reckoning earlier this year. This graphic novel brought me a sudden realization: I have not been reading enough Garth Ennis war comics!

It seems virtually every publisher has published at least one of Ennis' war comics: Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Aftershock, Rebellion, TKO, Avatar, Dynamite, First Second, Titan... one can only wonder when Boom! or IDW will take the plunge. Dead Reckoning is a fairly new comics publisher working as an imprint for the Naval Institute Press. Many of their publication are centered around naval histories, but they branch out into almost anything in the military. The Stringbags is drawn from the history of the British Navy in World War II.

I had never heard of 'stringbags' before reading this book. As is helpfully explained (and demonstrated), the 'stringbags' were biplanes outfitted with torpedoes to combat enemy battleships. The Stringbags is divided into three chapters, each featuring a three-man 'stringbag' crew consisting of Archie, Ollie and Pops. They're fairly broad characters, but the stories aren't character-driven. I was surprised by how educational this book was -- Ennis frequently indulged in lengthy explanations of the actual battles and what their implications were. In the first chapter he depicts the battle of Taranto (previously unknown to me) and how it demonstrated aircraft carriers were superior to battleships. The second chapter depicts the legendary battle of the Bismarck while the third chapter depicts Operation Fuller, an unsuccessful British naval battle (but Ennis explains how the German victory was ultimately insubtantial).

I wasn't familiar with artist P. J. Holden prior to this book either. Even though I'm not well-versed in the details of military equipment, any artist tackling a realistic war comic has to be. Holden's art is full of details but it isn't mechanical -- the details don't interfere with the plot. It's really fine work, as beautiful as a war comic can be.

Whatever my word may be worth, I do highly recommend The Stringbags and I intend to read more of the Ennis war comics that I've missed.