By Mike Donachie — There are two Garth Ennises writing in comics, or so it seems. They manifest as one man, but his body of work is split like divergent timelines. 

There’s the iconoclastic, hilarious, riskily near-the-knuckle work of Gross-Out Garth, as seen in books like The Boys or Hitman, and there’s Sentimental Garth, who writes wonderful war stories in books such as the DC Vertigo title War Stories or the Avatar series, er, also War Story. Sometimes his two styles meet – look at Sentimental Garth’s work on the Saint of Killers as part of the Gross-Out Garth masterpiece that is Preacher – and the result is, in my opinion, the best work of one of the most underrated writers in comic book history. 

In The Stringbags, which, unusually, has been published with the support of the U.S. Naval Institute, it’s mostly Sentimental Garth, in that we’re given an under-reported story from the Second World War, centered on flawed warriors doing their best in dreadful circumstances. 

British air crew Archie, Ollie and Pops aren’t actual cowards or idiots, but they aren’t heroes or air aces either. Unexpectedly called upon to take part in 1940s surprise attack by the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm on the Italian fleet at Taranto, the trio get their chance to shine, despite being cursed with an unpopular relic in their creaky Fairey Swordfish biplane. 

Ennis gives us the hijinks and banter he does so well, with fictional actors taking part in real events. It’s that tapestry of historical threads that makes his war books so compelling. He could tell the same story in a different genre – alien worlds or some such – and it just wouldn’t be the same. Here, we’re given an impactful history lesson along with our character arcs and adventure stories, and it makes it so rewarding. Ennis, who grew up on 1970s British war comics like Battle Picture Weekly, loves a good war story and might be the last writer in comics doing them really well.

Let’s also mention the stellar work from artist PJ Holden, who gives us exciting depictions of air battles from every possible angle. Holden also has a talent for showing emotion on characters’ faces; this depiction of acting isn’t recognized often enough in comics and it should be no surprise that this artist is himself an amateur thespian.

As well as Taranto, which changed the balance of power in the Mediterranean Sea, the Stringbags take part in the awe-inspiring efforts to stop the Bismarck, the giant battleship that was the pride of the German fleet, and in attacks on warships making a dash through the English Channel later in the war. Our trio of characters is there throughout, aboard an unpredictable aircraft with a payload of one torpedo and a top speed of not very much, and the addition of luck that’s good and bad.

This is a good, meaty story with lots of detail and a narrative that pays off. As you might expect, Sentimental Garth does what he does best, but I won’t spoil it. Just know this: it’s superb stuff, up there with the most resonant of his war stories, like D Day Dodgers from the Vertigo title, or Valley Forge, Valley Forge, a story of Frank Castle’s service presented in Marvel’s Punisher MAX. There’s caption-based narration that rivals the poetic Saint of Killers pages, and dialogue as inspiring as the words Ennis put in Dan Dare’s mouth in the Virgin Comics limited series. And the human element from Archie, Ollie and Pops is as good as the character work in Night Witches, from the Dynamite series Battlefields.

But this book’s really all about the Stringbags: the aircraft so crappy that the normal rules didn’t apply. Pick it up and find out more.

The Stringbags - Graphic Novel Review

The Stringbags
Writer: Garth Ennis
Artist: P.J. Holden
Colorist: Kelly Fitzpatrick
Letterer: Rob Steen
Publisher: Dead Reckoning
Writer Garth Ennis and artist PJ Holden present The Stringbags, based on the true story of the Royal Navy's Swordfish crews in early World War II. A biplane torpedo bomber in an age of monoplanes, the Fairey Swordfish was underpowered and under-gunned; an obsolete museum piece, an embarrassment. Its crews fully expected to be shot from the skies. Instead, they flew the ancient "Stringbag" into legend. From their triumphs against the Italian Fleet at Taranto and the mighty German battleship Bismarck in the Atlantic, to the deadly challenge of the Channel Dash in the bleak winter waters of their homeland. They lived as they flew, without a second to lose-and the greatest tributes to their courage would come from the enemy who strove to kill them.
Release Date: June 24, 2020

Buy it from the U.S. Naval Institute (yes, really) here.

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Mike Donachie is a communications professional and newspaper columnist who takes delight in having a thick Scottish accent nobody can understand. You can find him at @Mike_Donachie.