Guerillas Vol. 3

by Brahm Revel

Guerillas started life, at Image, as a semi-regular comic, before it shifted to a graphic novel format at Oni.  The delays between volumes are long, and this Volume three, which came out last May, is the first to contain all-new material.  It took me a while to get around to reading it, but now I remember why I was so enamoured with this project in the first place.

Guerillas is a story set during the Vietnam War, and concerns itself with a platoon of chimpanzees trained to be soldiers in the United States Army.  They've gone rogue, and are continuing the fight on their own, without direction.  Back in the first volume, they rescued a hapless private, Clayton, and taken him under their wing (mostly because he can light their cigarettes).  At the same time, a group of human soldiers, along with the German scientist that trained the chimps, and his trained baboon Adolf, are out in the jungle looking for them.

Where this kind of set-up could easily lead towards a solid comedic series, or feature just a ton of extreme style violence, Revel is approaching the concept directly, and with seriousness.  The chimpanzees, especially the leader, Goliath, have very distinct personalities that come across strongly in Revel's storytelling and drawing.  Revel digs into Goliath's past, and that of another of the squad.  Clayton is also a more multi-faceted character with this volume, as he reflects on his childhood and relationship with his grandfather (who died when he was quite young).  We also get a better look at Dr. Heisler, who started this program with his twin brother.

There is a very Apocalypse Now scene in an old temple to Shiva that really helped demonstrate some of the themes of this series.  I feel that, as Revel works so slowly on this book (mostly, I believe because he has other projects and film work), he really spends a lot of time making it more rich and complex, to the readers' benefit.

I don't know when Revel is going to complete this series, but I do know that it's a title that deserves a lot more recognition.

Guerillas Vol. 2

by Brahm Revel

Brahm Revel's Guerillas first began life as a series at Image in 2008, where four double-length issues were published within nine months, before Revel decided to move the project to Oni Press.  Then, in late 2010, the first three issues were reprinted in the black-and-white trade size that Oni often uses (bigger than a digest, smaller than a standard comic page).  And then there was nothing, until this week, when the second volume, comprising of the previously printed fourth issue, and the never before seen fifth and sixth issues, came out.

When Guerillas first hit the scene, I was immediately impressed and taken away by it.  The series is set during the Vietnam War, and it involves a group of chimpanzees who have been trained to be soldiers.  They are fierce fighters, and in their unit, have adopted the same command structure and various duties as the humans they are emulating.  The problem is, this unit has gotten loose, and are on their own mission through the jungles of Vietnam.

Guerillas is also the story of John Francis Clayton, a clueless private who was the only survivor of his first firefight.  Clayton has been adopted by the chimps, and he is accompanying them through the jungle.  This series is also about Dr. Kurt Heisler, the German who trained the chimps, and who is travelling with a group of American soldiers to look for them.  Heisler has brought his first project, the baboon Adolf, who is helping them to track the chimps.

This volume opens with the chimps assaulting a Viet Cong village, which they utterly destroy.  They begin to follow some escaping VC into a tunnel system, which eventually leads them to a fight so big that they take casualties for the first time.  Meanwhile, the soldiers that are following them link up with another group, and are ambushed by a large number of Vietnamese.  Adolf, meanwhile, snaps, and starts killing just about anyone he comes across.

Revel has done an incredible job on this book.  His art is great - he makes uniformed chimps firing rocket launchers believable, and he also excels at having his human and non-human characters display emotion.  His writing is also very sharp - Clayton is an interesting character; the coward who is determined to do the right thing and help his new friends.

I've long been a fan of Vietnam War fiction, and can count this among my favourites.  I hope the wait is not another two years before the final volume is published.

I Sell the Dead

Written by Glenn McQuaid
Art by Brahm Revel

As I'm only half-way through the pile of comics I bought this week, and it's quite a strong stack, it's too early to declare this book the best one of the week, but the bar has now been set pretty damn high.

This is a movie adaption, but as I'm not likely to see the movie, I'm approaching it as an original piece of work. As with 'The Last Winter', also a film by Glass Eye Pix, the producers have hired Brahm Revel to illustrate their film in graphic form. That has its positives and negatives: it means fantastic art, but it also means a longer wait between issues of the sublime 'Guerillas'.

This story consists of young Arthur Blake filling the last few hours before his execution for grave robbing in conversation with a priest who wishes to learn of his misadventures in that shadiest of industries. What makes Blake's tales most compelling is that he and his partner specialized in procuring the bodies of the undead; vampires, zombies, and once even an alien fall into their purview.

The story is witty and quick-paced, and ably illustrated by Revel. It's nice to see his work in full-colour for a change. I know zombies have become incredibly played out, but this is a unique comic with a few interesting twists along the way (and one incredibly obvious one). Highly recommended. In fact, everyone should buy two copies, so that Revel can head back to working on Guerillas!

Guerillas #4

by Brahm Revel

This is one series that just keeps improving. Revel starts this issue with a quote from Hunter S. Thompson: "He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man". This quote sets the theme for this issue, as our narrator begins to steal himself to the necessities of warfare, and tries to be more like the chimpanzee soldiers he is traveling with.

Revel has taken what, at first, seems like a campy sort of concept - monkey soldiers! - and has turned out a complex story about the separation of man and beast. It's become much more philosophical, while still giving us a ton of action and excitement.

I'm sorry to see that the book has had to move to a quarterly schedule. This is a fantastic comic, and I wish more people were picking it up. It's an incredible value for its cost, and there's nothing better than settling in with a 50 page comic of this quality.

Guerillas #3

by Brahm Revel

Next to the Walking Dead, I think this is my favorite book that Image puts out right now. This series amazes me with the amount of content that comes in each issue - we get some great action scenes, two expository scenes that explain why there are apes in army uniforms in the first place, and why they've gone AWOL, and some wonderful character moments. I love how Revel has developed each ape as a different character, and is able to show their personality through his art.

The last panel made me shiver.

In the text piece, Revel talks obliquely about sales for this book. I really hope it's something he's able to finish, as it is a fantastic book. For anyone trade-waiting: don't bother. Go buy the book now. If you can find the first three issues at your comic shop, go buy them. If you can't, order them. At $5.99 an issue, it might be intimidating, but these are thick, content-filled books, and worth every penny.

Guerillas #2

by Brahm Revel

This is an excellent, creative comic. The first issue set up a fairly typical (yet still compelling) Vietnam War story, somewhat reminiscent of Jason Aaron and Cameron Stewarts' brilliant "The Other Side", but from the American perspective alone. The story focused on a cowardly FNG on his first patrol, and showed his squad get cut to pieces. At the end of the book, he is rescued by a squad of monkeys in GI uniforms. Perfect ending for a first chapter (even if you knew it was coming by reading solicitations).

This issue provides some much-needed exposition, but still leaves us plenty of questions to explore over the remaining 7 issues of the series. We do know that there are German (ex-Nazi?) scientists involved, which is pretty much never a bad thing in comics. We also see our hero from issue one become a part of the monkey squad, being able to perform a much-needed task in their company.

Revel's story plays out slowly over these nice, chunky books (54 pages of story is a great deal at $6). His art reminds me of David Lapham and/or Cameron Stewart, and he is able to project human thoughts and emotions onto his simian soldiers. (I did find it a little hard to identify the monkey in the scene in Africa though - sometimes it looked like a wolf, sometimes a person).

This book is very well-paced. The story he has planned must be a long one - it's the equivalent of almost 23 regular comics. I'm definitely staying on board for the whole ride.