What do you think?
Rate this book
The Tankies
From the bloody battle for Normandy to the Nazi heartland, from war's end to the killing fields of Korea, the men of the British Army's Royal Tank Regiment fight battle after battle against terrible odds. Whether outnumbered or outgunned, the Tankies soldier on--as their motto would have it, "From Mud, Through Blood, to the Green Fields Beyond."
After D-Day the largely untried Allied armies meet their seasoned German counterparts on the killing grounds of Bocage country. As Panzers and SS units turn the French hedgerows into a slaughterhouse, a lone British tank crew struggles to rejoin their squadron. Their only hope lies in their commander, Corporal Stiles--but does even this wily old trooper stand a chance against the infamous Tiger?
Newly promoted but just as angry, Sergeant Stiles enters the battle for Germany in command of a Sherman Firefly--capable of taking out any tank thus far encountered. Unfortunately, the enemy have a new tank of their own, the mighty "King Tiger," with twice the firepower of the original. As Stiles and his men join the Allied advance into the Nazi homeland, they find worse horrors than Tigers lurking in the German twilight.
Six years later, as massed Chinese armies descend on UN forces defending South Korea, a British infantry brigade digs in amidst the hills of the Imjin River sector. With them are the Centurion tanks of the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars, including WWII veteran Sergeant Stiles. But Stiles is a man haunted by the horrors of his past, and when the Communist offensive smashes into the tiny British force, he must battle his own demons along with the enemy's might.
After D-Day the largely untried Allied armies meet their seasoned German counterparts on the killing grounds of Bocage country. As Panzers and SS units turn the French hedgerows into a slaughterhouse, a lone British tank crew struggles to rejoin their squadron. Their only hope lies in their commander, Corporal Stiles--but does even this wily old trooper stand a chance against the infamous Tiger?
Newly promoted but just as angry, Sergeant Stiles enters the battle for Germany in command of a Sherman Firefly--capable of taking out any tank thus far encountered. Unfortunately, the enemy have a new tank of their own, the mighty "King Tiger," with twice the firepower of the original. As Stiles and his men join the Allied advance into the Nazi homeland, they find worse horrors than Tigers lurking in the German twilight.
Six years later, as massed Chinese armies descend on UN forces defending South Korea, a British infantry brigade digs in amidst the hills of the Imjin River sector. With them are the Centurion tanks of the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars, including WWII veteran Sergeant Stiles. But Stiles is a man haunted by the horrors of his past, and when the Communist offensive smashes into the tiny British force, he must battle his own demons along with the enemy's might.
256 pages, Paperback
First published March 17, 2021
27 people want to read
About the author
Garth Ennis
2,624 books3,169 followersEnnis began his comic-writing career in 1989 with the series Troubled Souls. Appearing in the short-lived but critically-acclaimed British anthology Crisis and illustrated by McCrea, it told the story of a young, apolitical Protestant man caught up by fate in the violence of the Irish 'Troubles'. It spawned a sequel, For a Few Troubles More, a broad Belfast-based comedy featuring two supporting characters from Troubled Souls, Dougie and Ivor, who would later get their own American comics series, Dicks, from Caliber in 1997, and several follow-ups from Avatar.
Another series for Crisis was True Faith, a religious satire inspired by his schooldays, this time drawn by Warren Pleece. Ennis shortly after began to write for Crisis' parent publication, 2000 AD. He quickly graduated on to the title's flagship character, Judge Dredd, taking over from original creator John Wagner for a period of several years.
Ennis' first work on an American comic came in 1991 when he took over DC Comics's horror title Hellblazer, which he wrote until 1994, and for which he currently holds the title for most issues written. Steve Dillon became the regular artist during the second half of Ennis's run.
Ennis' landmark work to date is the 66-issue epic Preacher, which he co-created with artist Steve Dillon. Running from 1995 to 2000, it was a tale of a preacher with supernatural powers, searching (literally) for God who has abandoned his creation.
While Preacher was running, Ennis began a series set in the DC universe called Hitman. Despite being lower profile than Preacher, Hitman ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to humour to an examination of male friendship under fire.
Other comic projects Ennis wrote during this time period include Goddess, Bloody Mary, Unknown Soldier, and Pride & Joy, all for DC/Vertigo, as well as origin stories for The Darkness for Image Comics and Shadowman for Valiant Comics.
After the end of Hitman, Ennis was lured to Marvel Comics with the promise from Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada that he could write The Punisher as long as he cared to. Instead of largely comical tone of these issues, he decided to make a much more serious series, re-launched under Marvel's MAX imprint.
In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic Helter Skelter for Judge Dredd.
Other comics Ennis has written include War Story (with various artists) for DC; The Pro for Image Comics; The Authority for Wildstorm; Just a Pilgrim for Black Bull Press, and 303, Chronicles of Wormwood (a six issue mini-series about the Antichrist), and a western comic book, Streets of Glory for Avatar Press.
In 2008 Ennis ended his five-year run on Punisher MAX to debut a new Marvel title, War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle.
In June 2008, at Wizard World, Philadelphia, Ennis announced several new projects, including a metaseries of war comics called Battlefields from Dynamite made up of mini-series including Night Witches, Dear Billy and Tankies, another Chronicles of Wormwood mini-series and Crossed both at Avatar, a six-issue miniseries about Butcher (from The Boys) and a Punisher project reuniting him with artist Steve Dillon (subsequently specified to be a weekly mini-series entitled Punisher: War Zone, to be released concurrently with the film of the same name).
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Ennis
Another series for Crisis was True Faith, a religious satire inspired by his schooldays, this time drawn by Warren Pleece. Ennis shortly after began to write for Crisis' parent publication, 2000 AD. He quickly graduated on to the title's flagship character, Judge Dredd, taking over from original creator John Wagner for a period of several years.
Ennis' first work on an American comic came in 1991 when he took over DC Comics's horror title Hellblazer, which he wrote until 1994, and for which he currently holds the title for most issues written. Steve Dillon became the regular artist during the second half of Ennis's run.
Ennis' landmark work to date is the 66-issue epic Preacher, which he co-created with artist Steve Dillon. Running from 1995 to 2000, it was a tale of a preacher with supernatural powers, searching (literally) for God who has abandoned his creation.
While Preacher was running, Ennis began a series set in the DC universe called Hitman. Despite being lower profile than Preacher, Hitman ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to humour to an examination of male friendship under fire.
Other comic projects Ennis wrote during this time period include Goddess, Bloody Mary, Unknown Soldier, and Pride & Joy, all for DC/Vertigo, as well as origin stories for The Darkness for Image Comics and Shadowman for Valiant Comics.
After the end of Hitman, Ennis was lured to Marvel Comics with the promise from Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada that he could write The Punisher as long as he cared to. Instead of largely comical tone of these issues, he decided to make a much more serious series, re-launched under Marvel's MAX imprint.
In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic Helter Skelter for Judge Dredd.
Other comics Ennis has written include War Story (with various artists) for DC; The Pro for Image Comics; The Authority for Wildstorm; Just a Pilgrim for Black Bull Press, and 303, Chronicles of Wormwood (a six issue mini-series about the Antichrist), and a western comic book, Streets of Glory for Avatar Press.
In 2008 Ennis ended his five-year run on Punisher MAX to debut a new Marvel title, War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle.
In June 2008, at Wizard World, Philadelphia, Ennis announced several new projects, including a metaseries of war comics called Battlefields from Dynamite made up of mini-series including Night Witches, Dear Billy and Tankies, another Chronicles of Wormwood mini-series and Crossed both at Avatar, a six-issue miniseries about Butcher (from The Boys) and a Punisher project reuniting him with artist Steve Dillon (subsequently specified to be a weekly mini-series entitled Punisher: War Zone, to be released concurrently with the film of the same name).
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Ennis
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 8, 2021
The Tankies collects three related tales previously published as part of Ennis's Battlefields series. All three feature tank commander Sgt. Stiles as he fights for the British in World War II and Korea. All three are fantastic, realistic and bloody. There's also a 15 page afterword at the end where Ennis explains how most of the things in the book came from real accounts from veterans. It also goes into how inferior the British and American tanks were compared to the Germans. Carlos Ezquerra's gritty and graphic artwork work really well in these stories.
The Tankies
A little snippet into the British's foray into Normandy and France. It follows a green tank outfit as the Brits get their arses kicked. Definitely displays the horrific side of war. This book is very graphic. Some of the accented dialog is hard to pick up. I found it's easier to understand if you speak it out loud so you can hear it too. Once I started with that I didn't have any issues. Of course, you probably want to do that when you're alone so you don't look like a child learning to read.
Firefly and His Majesty
Sgt. Stiles returns for a story set in Germany towards the end of the war. It's a great tale of cat and mouse as Stiles goes after a King Tiger German tank. The King Tigers had twice the armor and firepower but nowhere near the mobility and speed as the Shermans the Brits used. Tank battles in stories are a hard thing to get right but I think Ennis and Ezquerra nailed it. They do a great job of going through the strategies involved.
The Green Fields Beyond
Sgt Stiles is back, this time in the Korean War. He's on a hill holding the line. Through circumstances, he winds up out of his tank and with the infantry holding a hill as thousands of Chinese descend on it. When he finally gets his tank back it's a completely different kind of tank battle, as infantry is thrown up against the tanks trying to overwhelm them by sheer numbers and sticky bombs. It's gritty stuff. I think this was my favorite story of the "Tankies" yet. We see everything through the eyes of a green recruit and you feel really immersed in the fighting throughout the story, as if you are actually there.
The Tankies
A little snippet into the British's foray into Normandy and France. It follows a green tank outfit as the Brits get their arses kicked. Definitely displays the horrific side of war. This book is very graphic. Some of the accented dialog is hard to pick up. I found it's easier to understand if you speak it out loud so you can hear it too. Once I started with that I didn't have any issues. Of course, you probably want to do that when you're alone so you don't look like a child learning to read.
Firefly and His Majesty
Sgt. Stiles returns for a story set in Germany towards the end of the war. It's a great tale of cat and mouse as Stiles goes after a King Tiger German tank. The King Tigers had twice the armor and firepower but nowhere near the mobility and speed as the Shermans the Brits used. Tank battles in stories are a hard thing to get right but I think Ennis and Ezquerra nailed it. They do a great job of going through the strategies involved.
The Green Fields Beyond
Sgt Stiles is back, this time in the Korean War. He's on a hill holding the line. Through circumstances, he winds up out of his tank and with the infantry holding a hill as thousands of Chinese descend on it. When he finally gets his tank back it's a completely different kind of tank battle, as infantry is thrown up against the tanks trying to overwhelm them by sheer numbers and sticky bombs. It's gritty stuff. I think this was my favorite story of the "Tankies" yet. We see everything through the eyes of a green recruit and you feel really immersed in the fighting throughout the story, as if you are actually there.
February 9, 2025
Great!
September 13, 2021
Garth Ennis just doesn't stop writing good 20th century military comics, does he? This is the third or fourth collection of these I've read and they all do a good job of capturing the technological, the tactical, and above all the human side of war. This volume has stories set in WW2 and Korea around a British tank and its crew and one thing it hammers home is just how confusing, frustrating, boring, and suddenly violent combat is. Looking at the strategic level at Normandy and the push to Berlin, it looks so clean and inevitable, but this volume makes clear how confused and disorganized things were on the ground and how hard it was, even at the unit level, to understand what was going on (even with your unit!). The impacts of technology (and the dismal British tanks) were also really interesting to read about. And, Ennis being Ennis, he brought in some memorable, flawed, but sympathetic characters to help drive the stories and themes. Really well done.
**thanks to the author publisher and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
**thanks to the author publisher and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
May 5, 2024
Enjoyed this book by Garth Ennis. Interesting look at historical events. Definitely different, but definitely great. Never disappoints. #TheTankies #NetGalley
July 9, 2024
A sympathetic look at the travails of the crews of the Royal Tank Regiment - fighting with largely inferior equipment against a skilled and determined foe.
April 6, 2021
The Tankies is another collection of war tales from writer Garth Ennis and late artist Carlos Ezquerra. In this collection we follow Sergeant Stiles and his tank crew through two periods of WWII (one immediately following D-Day, the second later in the same war in German), while the final section shows us an older Stiles in Korea. The first two sections are everything you'd expect from Ennis: a combination of the romping adventure style from a traditional "Boy's Own" but with an added layer of acknowledgement of the general horror of war, plus some winking to the camera.
I came into this as a pre-existing fan of Ennis' military-themed books, and the first two sections lived up to my expectations in every way. I was somewhat less taken with the Korean War section, but only because while I could see where he was going, I wasn't 100% sold on the tone. Still, if you're a fan of Ennis' war tales (Battlefields, War Stories, or any of his takes on war-inspired subplots in superhero books), this will be an obvious one to pick up.
I read an advance electronic version via NetGalley, but Ezquerra's art definitely deserves to be seen on the page and not just on the screen. As always, his battle scenes are fantastically rendered.
I came into this as a pre-existing fan of Ennis' military-themed books, and the first two sections lived up to my expectations in every way. I was somewhat less taken with the Korean War section, but only because while I could see where he was going, I wasn't 100% sold on the tone. Still, if you're a fan of Ennis' war tales (Battlefields, War Stories, or any of his takes on war-inspired subplots in superhero books), this will be an obvious one to pick up.
I read an advance electronic version via NetGalley, but Ezquerra's art definitely deserves to be seen on the page and not just on the screen. As always, his battle scenes are fantastically rendered.
August 8, 2022
Well drawn and gritty. Some dialects are quite hard to understand as a non-native english reader.
March 29, 2021
'The Tankies' by Garth Ennis with art by the late Carlos Ezquerra is a collection of three sets of linked graphic novels from the Battlefields series all about an irascible tank commander named Stiles.
The first story takes place after D-Day as British tanks struggled to keep up with troops and stay intact fighting the superior Tigers. Stiles finds himself in charge of a Churchill and trying to catch up with the other units while being stalked by a Tiger.
In the second story, later in the war and now in Germany, Stiles finds himself crewing a Firefly tank and hunting the larger King Tiger.
The third story finds an aging Stiles in Korea in the hills of the Imjin River, fighting the fears of the past when the younger brother of a former tank crewmate shows up and wants to fight alongside him.
The book ends with a great essay by Garth Ennis about tankies and the influences for these stories. The stories are gritty and often pretty bloody, but I couldn't stop turning pages. Carlos Ezquerra's art is great and there is a nice section of his rough art at the back of the book.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Dead Reckoning and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
The first story takes place after D-Day as British tanks struggled to keep up with troops and stay intact fighting the superior Tigers. Stiles finds himself in charge of a Churchill and trying to catch up with the other units while being stalked by a Tiger.
In the second story, later in the war and now in Germany, Stiles finds himself crewing a Firefly tank and hunting the larger King Tiger.
The third story finds an aging Stiles in Korea in the hills of the Imjin River, fighting the fears of the past when the younger brother of a former tank crewmate shows up and wants to fight alongside him.
The book ends with a great essay by Garth Ennis about tankies and the influences for these stories. The stories are gritty and often pretty bloody, but I couldn't stop turning pages. Carlos Ezquerra's art is great and there is a nice section of his rough art at the back of the book.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Dead Reckoning and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
June 23, 2022
File this one as another chapter in my series of absolutely brutal and wrenching books that I've read and been glad to have done so. Ennis remains...Ennis, with all that entails, almost entirely in the positive sense. Ezquerra's art is equally graphic and unflinching. Fantastic, horrible stuff.
February 9, 2021
NOTE: I received a free preliminary, and likely unedited copy of this book from Netgalley for the purposes of providing an honest, unbiased review of the material. Thank you to all involved.
I’ve been a fan of Garth Ennis for a while, and while I definitely enjoy his classics such as Preacher or The Boys, I have grown very fond of his lesser-known military-themed books ever since I did a promotion a while back and inquired a whole slew of Battlefields books. When I saw that this volume was available, I jumped at the chance to check it out. I think the one thing I appreciate the most about these books is that, while definitely casting The Allies as heroes in most books, he doesn’t pull punches. Bad things happen in war, and its important to show that – for far too long we’ve been fed a steady stream of overly-patriotic Captain America vs Hitler stories, completely undermining the fact that war is horror-incarnate. Ennis excels at showing the human side of war, and the toll it takes.
"After D-Day the largely untried Allied armies meet their seasoned German counterparts on the killing grounds of Bocage country. As Panzers and SS units turn the French hedgerows into a slaughterhouse, a lone British tank crew struggles to rejoin their squadron. Their only hope lies in their commander, Corporal Stiles—but does even this wily old trooper stand a chance against the infamous Tiger? Newly promoted but just as angry, Sergeant Stiles enters the battle for Germany in command of a Sherman Firefly—capable of taking out any tank thus far encountered. Unfortunately, the enemy have a new tank of their own, the mighty “King Tiger,” with twice the firepower of the original. As Stiles and his men join the Allied advance into the Nazi homeland, they find worse horrors than Tigers lurking in the German twilight." Book description.
This volume is comprised of nine comics, grouped into three separate story-arcs in the life of Sergeant Stiles, a tough as nails tank commander from Newcastle that has seen it all in the world of mechanized combat and is one of the few who has lived to tell the tale. Usually lamenting on the poor state of British tank engineering in the face of ever increasing mechanical brutality from Germany, Stiles is well respected despite his Geordie accent being a focal point of mocking. One little tidbit I enjoyed was that we learn Stiles is Pagan when they were forced to shell a German church, makes me like him even more.
The third section takes place during the Korean War, which I am glad to see. My Grandfather served in that war, and I always think it gets largely ignored by just about everyone, so seeing it here was awesome. It was crazy to see the shift in battlefield tactics. German tank commanders in parts one and two almost seem aristocratic and machine-like vs the relentless hordes of Chinese soldiers they come across in Korea. Men climbing on the tanks, trying to drop bombs in the engines, doing suicidal attacks. Sheer insanity I can imagine.
Carlos Ezquerra (1947–2018) was the artist for this series, and I have seen him do the pencils for much of Ennis’s war books – he’s great at the technical side of historical aircrafts, tanks, guns etc, as well as depicting humans and the actions of war. When I saw that the book was dedicated to him, I was sad as he was always a n artist I looked forward to seeing in this genre. Best known as one of the original creators of Judge Dredd, Ezquerra will be VERY missed.
This was a great book, and any fan of war comics, history, or honestly anyone into comics at all should check out. Stiles is a great character, and I’d love to see him pop up again, although I’d imagine this will be all as it ends in a decent spot. I loved the afterward, which is a lengthy essay detailing where some of the ideas for the book came from, you can tell Ennis is interested in teaching history here, and as a history buff, I loved it.
I’ve been a fan of Garth Ennis for a while, and while I definitely enjoy his classics such as Preacher or The Boys, I have grown very fond of his lesser-known military-themed books ever since I did a promotion a while back and inquired a whole slew of Battlefields books. When I saw that this volume was available, I jumped at the chance to check it out. I think the one thing I appreciate the most about these books is that, while definitely casting The Allies as heroes in most books, he doesn’t pull punches. Bad things happen in war, and its important to show that – for far too long we’ve been fed a steady stream of overly-patriotic Captain America vs Hitler stories, completely undermining the fact that war is horror-incarnate. Ennis excels at showing the human side of war, and the toll it takes.
"After D-Day the largely untried Allied armies meet their seasoned German counterparts on the killing grounds of Bocage country. As Panzers and SS units turn the French hedgerows into a slaughterhouse, a lone British tank crew struggles to rejoin their squadron. Their only hope lies in their commander, Corporal Stiles—but does even this wily old trooper stand a chance against the infamous Tiger? Newly promoted but just as angry, Sergeant Stiles enters the battle for Germany in command of a Sherman Firefly—capable of taking out any tank thus far encountered. Unfortunately, the enemy have a new tank of their own, the mighty “King Tiger,” with twice the firepower of the original. As Stiles and his men join the Allied advance into the Nazi homeland, they find worse horrors than Tigers lurking in the German twilight." Book description.
This volume is comprised of nine comics, grouped into three separate story-arcs in the life of Sergeant Stiles, a tough as nails tank commander from Newcastle that has seen it all in the world of mechanized combat and is one of the few who has lived to tell the tale. Usually lamenting on the poor state of British tank engineering in the face of ever increasing mechanical brutality from Germany, Stiles is well respected despite his Geordie accent being a focal point of mocking. One little tidbit I enjoyed was that we learn Stiles is Pagan when they were forced to shell a German church, makes me like him even more.
The third section takes place during the Korean War, which I am glad to see. My Grandfather served in that war, and I always think it gets largely ignored by just about everyone, so seeing it here was awesome. It was crazy to see the shift in battlefield tactics. German tank commanders in parts one and two almost seem aristocratic and machine-like vs the relentless hordes of Chinese soldiers they come across in Korea. Men climbing on the tanks, trying to drop bombs in the engines, doing suicidal attacks. Sheer insanity I can imagine.
Carlos Ezquerra (1947–2018) was the artist for this series, and I have seen him do the pencils for much of Ennis’s war books – he’s great at the technical side of historical aircrafts, tanks, guns etc, as well as depicting humans and the actions of war. When I saw that the book was dedicated to him, I was sad as he was always a n artist I looked forward to seeing in this genre. Best known as one of the original creators of Judge Dredd, Ezquerra will be VERY missed.
This was a great book, and any fan of war comics, history, or honestly anyone into comics at all should check out. Stiles is a great character, and I’d love to see him pop up again, although I’d imagine this will be all as it ends in a decent spot. I loved the afterward, which is a lengthy essay detailing where some of the ideas for the book came from, you can tell Ennis is interested in teaching history here, and as a history buff, I loved it.
May 2, 2021
"The Tankies" is a set of three linked comics from Dead Reckoning Press about a crew of the Royal Tank Regiment (whose motto “From Mud, Through Blood, to the Green Fields Beyond.” gets regular play in the comic); in the first comic a British tank crew led by corporal Stiles in a Churchill tank fight their way out of Normandy on D-day, outgunned by German Tigers (who they outnumber many times over, but who are not going to give the Brits an easy victory). There is a great cast of characters, including a bird watching colonel, a priest who recovers bodies from destroyed tanks and will not let the tankies help him because he knows how terrible and demoralizing the sight of a tank crew roasted alive inside their tank can be, and corporal Stiles himself, the archetypical "old hand" who knows a trick or two and will not be beaten.
The same crew (now in a Sherman Firefly) star in the second comic in February 1945 as the allies roll across Germany but continue to face more resistance than the circumstances would suggest. This one is a classic one-on-one tank duel as the British crew hunt a King Tiger led by a fanatical SS officer who is still shooting his own men if they refuse to fight on; but the biggest emotional impact comes when German civilians get caught in the middle and a child loses his mother to the British crew while collecting firewood.
The final comic has Stiles (now a Sergeant) commanding a Centurion (at last a tank better than the competition) in Korea as the Chinese attack in the battle of the Imjin river. There is no tank versus tank combat here, just masses of Chinese infantry swarming over the tanks trying to destroy them with primitive pole charges and sticky bombs while the tank crews hunker inside and "de-louse" neighboring tanks with their machine guns.
The comics are fabulously drawn and very well written. And there is an excellent afterword that gives more background about the battles where these comics are set and discusses how and why the Germans fought so hard so late in the war. It also describes the real life events that inspired some of the more unbelievable or strange things described in the comics (the colonel taking a walk in the open under fire, the priest who recovers bodies, the shell down the barrel, the swarming Chinese infantry being "de-loused" off tanks and suchlike). I had not read "war comics" since my teen years, but am thoroughly enjoying the ones I have seen from Dead Reckoning in the last few years. This set by Carlos Ezquerra (a late-great titan of the comics industry) and Garth Ennis captures the horrors of tank warfare in a way that mere prose rarely can. If you are interested in tanks, world war two or just a good war comic, this is well worth a look.
The same crew (now in a Sherman Firefly) star in the second comic in February 1945 as the allies roll across Germany but continue to face more resistance than the circumstances would suggest. This one is a classic one-on-one tank duel as the British crew hunt a King Tiger led by a fanatical SS officer who is still shooting his own men if they refuse to fight on; but the biggest emotional impact comes when German civilians get caught in the middle and a child loses his mother to the British crew while collecting firewood.
The final comic has Stiles (now a Sergeant) commanding a Centurion (at last a tank better than the competition) in Korea as the Chinese attack in the battle of the Imjin river. There is no tank versus tank combat here, just masses of Chinese infantry swarming over the tanks trying to destroy them with primitive pole charges and sticky bombs while the tank crews hunker inside and "de-louse" neighboring tanks with their machine guns.
The comics are fabulously drawn and very well written. And there is an excellent afterword that gives more background about the battles where these comics are set and discusses how and why the Germans fought so hard so late in the war. It also describes the real life events that inspired some of the more unbelievable or strange things described in the comics (the colonel taking a walk in the open under fire, the priest who recovers bodies, the shell down the barrel, the swarming Chinese infantry being "de-loused" off tanks and suchlike). I had not read "war comics" since my teen years, but am thoroughly enjoying the ones I have seen from Dead Reckoning in the last few years. This set by Carlos Ezquerra (a late-great titan of the comics industry) and Garth Ennis captures the horrors of tank warfare in a way that mere prose rarely can. If you are interested in tanks, world war two or just a good war comic, this is well worth a look.
March 28, 2021
I am not usually a fan of the comic book war genre, however, this book is superb! A picture really does paint a thousand words.
The book covers horrendous battle experiences shown through the eyes of Corporal Stiles, a Geordie tankie, covering campaigns from Normandy through to the post-WW2 Korean conflict.
The drawings are perfectly drawn with a highly knowledgeable perspective of both the mechanics of warfare, actual events, and the conflicting emotions of the participants. The battle scenes are very graphic and portray the everyday horrors experienced by a typical tank crew from any nationality.. I particularly enjoyed the relationships between the various protagonists, as well as the Waffen SS troops.
From a military history perspective, my only small observations on the drawings were that British tank crews did not wear DPM (Disruptive Pattern Material) uniforms during WW2 (only the paras and commandos wore a form of camouflage). Also, my favourite tank, the Sherman Firefly, normally had its extra-long barrel camouflaged to prevent it from becoming a key target for the German gunners. However, neither of these minor nerdish comments detracted from the overall accuracy and enjoyment of the book,
I would also like to thank the author for the excellent descriptive narrative at the back of the book.
In hindsight, it is extremely sad that the British Army was supplied with such poorly designed tanks throughout most of WW2.
Thanks to the team who produced such a moving and thoughtful book.
The book covers horrendous battle experiences shown through the eyes of Corporal Stiles, a Geordie tankie, covering campaigns from Normandy through to the post-WW2 Korean conflict.
The drawings are perfectly drawn with a highly knowledgeable perspective of both the mechanics of warfare, actual events, and the conflicting emotions of the participants. The battle scenes are very graphic and portray the everyday horrors experienced by a typical tank crew from any nationality.. I particularly enjoyed the relationships between the various protagonists, as well as the Waffen SS troops.
From a military history perspective, my only small observations on the drawings were that British tank crews did not wear DPM (Disruptive Pattern Material) uniforms during WW2 (only the paras and commandos wore a form of camouflage). Also, my favourite tank, the Sherman Firefly, normally had its extra-long barrel camouflaged to prevent it from becoming a key target for the German gunners. However, neither of these minor nerdish comments detracted from the overall accuracy and enjoyment of the book,
I would also like to thank the author for the excellent descriptive narrative at the back of the book.
In hindsight, it is extremely sad that the British Army was supplied with such poorly designed tanks throughout most of WW2.
Thanks to the team who produced such a moving and thoughtful book.
December 8, 2021
Garth Ennisin käsikirjoittamat sotasarjakuvat ovat olleet laadukkaita, eikä "The Tankies" (Dead Reckoning, 2021) muodosta tässä suhteessa poikkeusta, etenkin kun hänellä on kuvittajanaan edesmenneen Carlos Exquerran kaltainen kaveri. Sarjakuvassa seurataan brittiläisten tankkimiehistöjen vaiheita toisen maailmansodan loppuhetkinä ja Korean sodassa.
Sodankäyntiä kuvataan raakana ja raadollisena touhuna, jossa telaketjuista siivotaan sisälmyksiä, vankeja teloitetaan kostoksi ja herkkä liipasinsormi saattaa aiheuttaa viattomien siviilien kuoleman. Neljäs tähti tästä karusta realismista.
"The Tankiesin" kolme episodia ovat ilmestyneet aikaisemmin Battlefields -sarjassa vuosina 2009-2013.
Sodankäyntiä kuvataan raakana ja raadollisena touhuna, jossa telaketjuista siivotaan sisälmyksiä, vankeja teloitetaan kostoksi ja herkkä liipasinsormi saattaa aiheuttaa viattomien siviilien kuoleman. Neljäs tähti tästä karusta realismista.
"The Tankiesin" kolme episodia ovat ilmestyneet aikaisemmin Battlefields -sarjassa vuosina 2009-2013.
November 6, 2022
Garth Ennis writing war stories is an excellent idea.
I'm not a huge fan of eye dialect, which is used in this book throughout.
What's eye dialect?
It's when words are spelled differently so that, if you read them out loud, you'd be talking sort of like the person speaking. Like typing "fookin" when your character would pronounce "fucking" that way.
It's why I've never read Irvine Welsh. I can't hang with it. It's just...irritating to me.
I think because it constantly reminds me that I'm reading a story. Instead of floating on my back in the sea, I'm swimming laps in a pool, know what I mean?
I'm not a huge fan of eye dialect, which is used in this book throughout.
What's eye dialect?
It's when words are spelled differently so that, if you read them out loud, you'd be talking sort of like the person speaking. Like typing "fookin" when your character would pronounce "fucking" that way.
It's why I've never read Irvine Welsh. I can't hang with it. It's just...irritating to me.
I think because it constantly reminds me that I'm reading a story. Instead of floating on my back in the sea, I'm swimming laps in a pool, know what I mean?
May 5, 2021
I received this book for free from NetGalley to review it.
The rapid shifting of perspectives didn't work for me, mainly because there were many characters that barely looked any different from one another. The illustrations were great otherwise.
The rapid shifting of perspectives didn't work for me, mainly because there were many characters that barely looked any different from one another. The illustrations were great otherwise.
January 9, 2022
Good read and from reading the notes after, quite historically accurate.
November 27, 2023
Pretty sure I read at least one of these before, as a separate Battlefields story, but this volume collects all three of Ennis' stories about British tank crews under the command of "Geordie" Corporal (later, Sergeant) Stiles, he of the mangled English. Two are set in WWII, while the third is from the Korean War, and all three feature gritty art by Carlos Ezquerra that sets the tone perfectly. Ennis has striven for realism here and there's a 12 page essay at the back where he sums up the research that went into these stories, along with sketches and page mock-ups from Ezquerra.
March 18, 2025
There’s a lot of accented dialogue that’s difficult to understand, but it doesn’t get in the way of how engrossing and realistic the story is.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews