Radiant Comics

I’m back from the comic shop this week and I got no new comics. But I did get a hard cover collection:

And now for a review of something I’ve read recently.

Here is yet another 1970’s Jack Kirby comic that I had never read before. I’m really glad these are being collected and reprinted. Even if they are only being printed on newsprint.

“The Losers” are a group of four American soldiers in World War Two. They are called the Losers because their missions are always getting fouled up. They get the job done in the end but it seem to always be done the hard way.

I can’t sing the praises of Kirby’s 1970’s work enough and this is no exception. I didn’t know what to expect from a Kirby war book and what I got was different from most other war books I’ve read.

It’s non stop action from cover to cover but there is always a sense of dread. The enemy, both Japanese and German, are always shown as formidable and usually outnumber our four heroes as they struggle for survival. The Losers are also not immune to injury as they can get shot up pretty badly in any given issue which helps heighten the feeling of constant danger.

The odds are stacked against them, their missions go wrong, and even the guys on their own side think they’re bad luck but The Losers never stop fighting. Usually they only have a small part to play in some larger battle but they eventually get their part done.

The enemy characters seem even more fleshed out than the Losers. Sometimes we get to spend a couple of pages with the enemy and get to know them slightly but the Losers are almost always on a mission or running for their lives. There is little time to get to know them. But still you empathize with them. They are you and me.

So once again Kirby hits one out of the park. The man could just make good comics. The Losers is no exception.