Sara

Written by Garth Ennis
Art by Steve Epting
Colour by Elizabeth Breitweiser

TKO Studios is two for two with me now, as I found Sara to be as impressive as Goodnight Paradise.

In Sara, Garth Ennis returns to the Second World War, looking this time at the female Russian snipers deployed to slow the Nazi advance into Russian territory in 1942.  The group of women, all of whom have distinguished themselves at their task, form a kind of family, inhabiting a building left unstable from a tank collision, and going out during the day to hunt, well past the protection of the Russian Army.

Among the group, Sara stands out as the most accomplished, but also the least patriotic, something that her squad leader has noticed, and is working hard to hide from Raisa, the political operative assigned to the girls.

Ennis's best war stories tend to feature female protagonists (I'm thinking of the first wave of Battlefields books here), and this one is no different.  Sara is a layered and complex character, fighting for her own motives, and holding on to most of her opinions.  She's not blind to the use of propaganda, and the corruption and evil on her side of the war.  Still, she's made a vow to kill every German she sees.

TKO's books are published on very nice paper, and that helps Steve Epting's pencils and Elizabeth Breitweiser's gorgeous colours really stand out.  This book is beautiful, and the characters begin to feel very real.

At this point, you start to wonder if Ennis could possibly have more to say about war, but he always manages to surprise with a solid, meticulously researched story that leaves you thinking and caring about a perspective you might not have considered before.  I recommend this book, and am starting to think it's worth checking out everything TKO Studios is publishing.