Haunted Tank Vol.1 First Look Review
Okay, so I have read the first 200 or so pages of this book and I have to get a couple of things off my chest. First of all, I freckin' love war comics. I always did and I always will. Comics capture the war genre perfectly and The Haunted Tank is no exception. This series follows the crew of a small M-3 as they go from mission to mission, gunning down planes, tanks and anything else from the axis with the help of their leader's namesake, the ghost of former war hero Jeb Stuart.
Sadly, this ghost concept is the main flaw of the book. Many of the stories I've read thus far rely too heavily on this plot device to solve whatever problem the Haunted Tank runs into. Every tale has the same frame. The crew goes on a mission and face incredible odds, only to see Jeb Stuart's ghost intervene and solve the whole thing. This makes the stories look very similar to one another, which can get boring, especially when you read a couple of tales back to back. It rapidly becomes repetitive and you find yourself wanting for changes in the storytelling.
Artwise, the book is simply stunning. Russ Heath and Joe Kubert both did a great job at recreating the war zone settings and both are incredible at drawing war machines. If the writing part of the book is not perfect, its art nearly is and I have nothing bad to say about it.
After having gotten through a third of the book, I've come to the conclusion that it is best when read in small chunks. By doing this, you can avoid getting burned out on the repetitive storytelling while still enjoying the good parts of these stories. And believe me, there's a lot to be enjoyed.
Grade Thus Far : B-
Sadly, this ghost concept is the main flaw of the book. Many of the stories I've read thus far rely too heavily on this plot device to solve whatever problem the Haunted Tank runs into. Every tale has the same frame. The crew goes on a mission and face incredible odds, only to see Jeb Stuart's ghost intervene and solve the whole thing. This makes the stories look very similar to one another, which can get boring, especially when you read a couple of tales back to back. It rapidly becomes repetitive and you find yourself wanting for changes in the storytelling.
Artwise, the book is simply stunning. Russ Heath and Joe Kubert both did a great job at recreating the war zone settings and both are incredible at drawing war machines. If the writing part of the book is not perfect, its art nearly is and I have nothing bad to say about it.
After having gotten through a third of the book, I've come to the conclusion that it is best when read in small chunks. By doing this, you can avoid getting burned out on the repetitive storytelling while still enjoying the good parts of these stories. And believe me, there's a lot to be enjoyed.
Grade Thus Far : B-
posted by David Blais at 7:17 AM
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