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Monday, June 27, 2011
My Take On: Charley's War Vol 1 From 2 June 1916 - 1 August 1916
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: Comic Books - New

                                        

Michael D Hamersky On Comics Reviews:

Charley's  WAR!

Volume 1  of 7 (so far) Published by Titan Books

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Photos: (topmost above) The front cover to Volume One of Charley's WAR by Pat Mills & Joe Colquhoun from Titan Books. (Above top left) A photo of my grandfather, who though not a 'tommy', was a 'yank' who went 'over there' in World War I.  This book made me think of what he must have went through during that time, as he was also gassed.
  

TODAY'S FEATURE - Blog #3447:

As you can tell from the top left photo of this blog post... I have a 'personal' interest in this book about World War I.  Even though my grandfather, Aloyisus 'Ollie' Hamersky was not a 'tommy', he was one of many 'yanks' who was sent 'over there' in the 'Great War'.  But enough about my family... What's this book about?

Here's what the publisher has as a promo for this book:

"From renowned UK comics writer Pat Mills (Marshal Law, Sláine) and legendary artist Joe Colquhoun (Johnny Red) comes a truly classic piece of British comics history, by turns thrilling, humorous and horrifying.

In 1916, Charley Bourne lies about his age to enlist and fight on the battlefields of France. But thoughts of glory and patriotism are swept aside by bloody horror and needless sacrifice as artillery rains down on the trenches of the First World War.

Rich in the detailed minutiae of the terror-punctuated existence of a ‘Tommy’, Charley’s War features a brand new introduction and ‘director’s commentary’ by Pat Mills, a cultural history of the comic, and an essay on the Battle of the Somme."

Okay... The above is pretty much what I read in this book.

You see... Charley's War is mostly about the story of a 'simple-minded', yet quick-witted teenager named Charley Bourne. Like so many during those days, Charley lied about his age and signed up in 1916 to "fight the Hun for King and Country".

So like many other 'tommys', he found himself in what many called "Hell" in the trenches of France.  During the period that this book covers, he makes slowly makes friends, yet struggles to survive the living hell amid a company of strange persons of the same rank. And stranger yet, all of them are under orders from ranking officers, many whom come across as either simpletons, psychopaths, or out and out uncaring career military men out to make a name for themselves!

I found this story to be bleak and terrible at times, which the black & white artwork just reinforces!  There is also the overwhelming cynicism and negativity througout the story presented here.  It just permeates the trenches the men are in, almost as much as the posion gas does... Talk about grim n' gritty comics today... This story makes those look tame in comparsion!

The writer of this story uses what could be called a 'gimmick' in that there are Charley's letters to his parents in his own way of spelling, and the return letters from his family and other family members.

Yet, I found myself engaged in reading each of the chapters presented, as this was originally a comic book feature during the 1980s. So there are multiple chapters with breaks and partial recaps. 

I found this book to very well researched, very well written, and the artwork is fantastic, even though it is in black & white, which was just fine for me!

Again, although my grandfather was a 'yank' I could just imagine a 'little taste' of what he must have gone through as well.

My comic book grade for this hardcover book is a NEAR MINT MINUS (NM-) 9.2 out of a possible 10.0 grading scale.  The reason being, when the book was first brought to my attention, I had no idea there were seven volumes already in this series! I thought there was just the one book, and maybe he died?  That fact there are already 7 of them since 2005 is maybe a bit much for me to think about purchasing all of them... Although I wouldn't mind reading more of them!  The 8th volume is being released this upcoming October... Maybe I should ask a local library to buy 'em all?  This first one was that good!

Here's the info for purchasing the book:

Hardcover: 112 pages
Publisher: Titan Books (October 1, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1840239298
ISBN-13: 978-1840239294
Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 9 x 0.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds 

Here's the link where YOU can buy it online, as I don't have it listed for sale in my online comic book shop:  Charley's War (Vol. 1): 2 June - 1 August 1916

Again, this book is a great start for compiling into hardcover format what was printed years ago in UK Comic Book format!

~Michael D Hamersky


My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,447 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app!  We currently have over 2,466 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button! 

And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

~ Michael D Hamersky

Note:  My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item that was reviewed here today...!

If I have it... You can find it 'Under The Big Top Of Comics' at:  

http://www.ComicBooksCircus.com/ 

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written for the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up differently, sorry about that!

The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  As of Monday, June 27th, 2011, I'll be using my new laptop, where the default resolution is 'higher', so there may be some temporary glitches until I am used to the new resolution.

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

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Posted by makeitsomarketing at 12:01 AM PDT
Updated: Monday, June 27, 2011 7:29 AM PDT
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