Battlefields #5

Written by Garth Ennis
Art by Carlos Ezquerra

Here's another strong issue of The Firefly and His Majesty, the follow-up to the earlier Battlefields story The Tankies.  Our tank crew is now hunting the King Tiger that they learned about last issue, and it has become somewhat personal for the Sergeant in command.  We finally learn why he hates Tigers so much, and what is driving his contempt for the German tank crews they have come across.

There is also some very nice character work involving the rest of the crew, and their German enemies are given some screen time as well.  Ennis usually personalizes both sides in these conflicts, which adds a lot of depth to his story, except for the Obersturmbanfuhrer, who he leaves a right scary bastard.

Most of this issue involves men sitting in and around tanks talking, and yet Ennis maintains a degree of suspense and foreboding throughout.  Ezquerra's art is spot-on, and I like the reference to one of Ennis's earlier War Story tales, Johann's Tiger.  I never thought of these books as having a continuity before, but I like the idea of Ennis weaving together some of these different stories one day.