Sometimes we forget history. This might be a mind-numbing truism, but it’s worth remembering. History is a collection of moments remembered and forgotten, and a measure of any healthy society is its ability to excavate, inspect, and learn from the past. Introspection is key to humility, and perhaps history is a civilization’s way of acknowledging that truth on a wider scale. Maybe we’re waxing poetic, or maybe we’re sitting back and reflecting after reading “The Lion and the Eagle” #1. This is an Ennis book, so you can expect a lot of dialogue, deep character work, and just a lot of narrative heft in general. This is also an oversize first issue clocking in at over forty pages, which will surely excite some and daunt others. We land somewhere in the middle: “The Lion and the Eagle” #1 is best understood as a piece of historical fiction in graphic novel form. If you’re looking for a deep dive into the minutiae and nitty-gritty of a brutal yet relatively forgotten segment of World War II, this will be your diamond in the rough. If you’re looking for a saber rattling, explosion dense, Inglorious Basterds style bonanza, don’t waste your time.
Cover by Keith BurnsWritten by Garth Ennis
Illustrated by PJ Holden
Colored by Matt Milla
Lettered by Rob Steen
Reviewed by Kobi Bordoley1944: Imperial Japan still commands most of Asia. Determined to regain their hold on Burma, the British send a special forces unit – the Chindits – deep behind Japanese lines. Their mission is to attack the enemy wherever they find him. What awaits them is a nightmare equal to anything the Second World War can deliver.
Colonel Keith Crosby and Doctor Alistair Whitamore have old scores to settle, being veterans of the long retreat through Burma two years before. But neither the jungle nor the foe have gotten any less savage, and when the shooting starts and the Japanese descend on the smaller British force in their midst, every man will be tested to his limit.
Writer Garth Ennis (The Boys, Preacher, OUT OF THE BLUE, DREAMING EAGLES) and artist PJ Holden (The Stringbags, World of Tanks, Judge Dredd) present a special 4-issue Oversized Prestige Format Mini-Series – a tale of hellish jungle warfare, as apparently civilized human beings descend into an apocalyptic heart of darkness.
With that caveat out of the way, we can dive into “The Lion and the Eagle” #1 and look a little more closely. First off, what’s this all about? At the start of this review we mentioned forgotten history, and when it comes to World War II, there’s a lot of it. Spread across multiple continents and the better part of a decade, thousands upon thousands of people lived and died in battles, skirmishes, and ill fated campaigns that exist as little more than a footnote to the average person. As Americans, our understanding of the war is especially anemic, as our education usually focuses only on the parts of it that make the good ol’ USA look good. “The Lion and the Eagle” #1 seeks to fill one such hole, focusing on the Chindits, a group of British special forces sent deep into Burma in 1944 to cause mayhem among the Japanese, disrupting supply lines, communications, and all that jazz. Our main characters are Colonel Keith Crosby and Doctor Alistair Whitamore, along with Havildar Singh, from the Indian contingent of the British Army. There are other side characters aplenty, including a few members of the Chinese resistance who have a tenuous alliance with the British. All this adds to historical verisimilitude and increases the moral complexity of “The Lion and the Eagle” #1. It’s meaty material, but it doesn’t always work.
Before addressing the weaker aspects of “The Lion and the Eagle” #1, let’s talk about what really works. PJ Holden’s illustrations are wonderful and lush. The jungles in “The Lion and the Eagle” #1 are verdant and full. Comics are a two dimensional medium, yet Holden illustrates with such depth that you’d forget it in “The Lion and the Eagle” #1. There’s great attention to detail here as well. Any World War II story, especially one about something obscure, will attract history buffs, and as content creators, you best come correct when it comes to historical accuracy. While we’re no experts on that front, at a glance the art in “The Lion and the Eagle” #1 is on point in terms of equipment and machinery of the era. The characters are also well drawn in “The Lion and the Eagle” #1. This is an ensemble story in the greatest sense possible, given the massive number of soldiers in the comic, not even counting the side characters. Holden renders each carefully when necessary, holding back some detail in larger scenes with more going on while giving us the close-up zoom-ins we need to really get to know people. It’s quite effective. Milla’s colors are also pristine, and “The Lion and the Eagle” #1 glows with impressive color palettes that evoke the danger and darkness of the Burmese jungle. While the violence in “The Lion and the Eagle” #1 is relatively tame, the colors do a lot of work ratcheting up the terror of war.
Continued below“The Lion and the Eagle” #1 wavers in the narrative front. Ennis’ writing is strong, there’s no doubt about it, there’s just…a lot of it. Again, if historical fiction is your jam you might not mind, but for a general audience there’s a lot of density here that heavily outweighs the action. We get the sense that “The Lion and the Eagle” #1 is the set-up for bigger things to come, but there’s just a little too much pontificating for not enough payoff. Additionally, given the fact that this is historical fiction, there are many winks and nods to historical events or greater politics that again would be exciting for history buffs but would be unnecessary in a fictional story. Finally, imperial politics are plentiful in “The Lion and the Eagle” #1. This makes for fertile narrative ground, but it feels a bit squandered in “The Lion and the Eagle” #1. Instead of thought provoking content about the interlocking dynamics of the ethnic conflicts at play, we get little quips here and there letting us know that the main characters think the imperial nature of their empires are a bit dastardly but so it goes. It just seems a bit stale. Regardless, we’re excited to see how “The Lion and the Eagle” #1 picks up from here.
“The Lion and the Eagle” #1 works best when it’s a brooding, historical fiction, realist epic. Caught somewhere between The Heart of Darkness and Bridge on the River Kwai, it’s a powerful story that sometimes treads water for too long. If this kind of stuff is your bread and butter then this will be a treat; otherwise, I imagine you’ll find the story a little cumbersome.
Final Verdict: 7.5. Beautiful to look it if at times slow, this is a solid piece of dark, historical fiction that sheds light on a forgotten slice of World War II history.
