Haunted Tank #1

Written by Frank Marraffino
Art by Henry Flint

This is the second time in as many months that Vertigo has resurrected one of the classic DC war comics. Unknown Soldier is now set in 2001/2002 Uganda, and now The Haunted Tank is fighting in the early days of the Iraq War.

While Unknown Soldier is as serious as can be, this title is a little more of a HBO-style sitcom. The soldiers speak like your standard poorly-educated enlistee, blending military jargon, creative cursing, and back-home pearls of wisdom.

Their tank is attacked by a random group of jihadis, and they are rescued by the ghost of a Confederate general. As they discuss this, they learn that the black tank commander is a descendant of the general, and hilarity ensues.

It's a good comic. The art by Henry Flint is lushly coloured, and much easier to follow than the work he did on the recent Omega Men. His faces are very expressive, and he does a lot to convey the attitudes of the characters.

My only problem with the book, and I might be wrong here, is that I didn't think there was much of a defence of Iraq, especially with regards to tank battles in the middle of the desert. I like that they've updated the title from its WWII roots, but unless they start using their tank to explode IEDs, this isn't a very accurate portrayal of the situation in Iraq.

They might have had more fun playing around with racial politics in Afbaghistan, Rick Veitch's little war torn country (more on this later today).

Also, although I couldn't find an image of it on-line, I do really like Joe Kubert's cover to the copy that I bought. It's very fitting that he have some hand in this title.