From 1975 to 1988, the weekly war comic ‘Battle’ featured work by some of the greatest names in British comics, including Pat Mills, John Wagner, Joe Colquhoun, Carlos Ezquerra and Cam Kennedy. In this second volume of Battle Classics, Garth Ennis – writer of ‘Preacher’, ‘The Boys’ and ‘Red Team’, as well as his own series ‘War Story’ and ‘Battlefields’ – selects and introduces some of his favorite stories from ‘Battle’s’ heyday. ‘Fighting Mann’, by Alan Hebden and Cam Kennedy, is the first British comic story set during the Vietnam War. When retired US Marine Colonel Walt Mann’s son goes missing over South Vietnam, the old soldier finds himself back in the harness – fighting a new and very different kind of war. With is loyal Korean comrade Chol Chong along to watch his back, Mann’s search for his son leads him to a plan so terrible it could escalate the war in Vietnam to undreamt-of-heights – and drag in the rest of the world. In ‘War Dog’ also by Hebden and Kennedy with Mike Western, Battle’s unlikeliest hero makes his debut: Kazan, a huge German guard dog hunting his masters’ enemies on the savage Russian front. The humans’ war is beyond the unfortunate hound’s understanding – but its terrible currents will drag him halfway around the world, from a frozen ocean to the merciless African desert.
