WAR IS HELL: THE FIRST FLIGHT OF THE PHANTOM EAGLE(2008).
© Marvel/MAX

Mania Grade: A
Issue: 1
Authors: Garth Ennis, Howard Chaykin, Brian Reber
Publisher: Marvel/MAX
Price: $3.99

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WAR IS HELL #1

Lieutenant Karl Kaufmann flies a Spad and dresses strangely, with a flamboyant scarf that trails behind him in the air. He appears to be an American, but he reports into the Royal Flying Corps’s Eighty-Eight American Squadron with a set of questionable orders. Captain Proctor—a Yankee himself—dreads working with the eccentric character, but Major Peter Roxburgh-Jones orders his friend to oversee the new squadron of American pilots. With no Army Air Corps yet, the Brits’ allies from across the pond need to train future pilots. Lt. Kaufmann just wants to shoot Germans out of the sky, and has no taste for paperwork or formalities. But, it appears his distaste extends to carrying forged orders into the alcoholic adjutant Capt. Clark’s office and reporting for duty. Capt. Clarke meets an unfortunate end in the Spad’s propeller trying to stop the mysterious pilot from taking to the skies. His gory demise allows Kaufmann to fly with Capt. Proctor’s first batch of American pilots on what should be a quick tour of the surrounding skies. But, Kaufmann quickly learns that War is Hell, and that all glory is fleeting.

Garth Ennis writes his military and western adventures with a reverent tone absent in many of his superhero comics. In recasting an old 1973 Marvel title of the same name, Ennis mixes his pulp sensibilities with his talent for military accuracy and strong characterization. Presumably, the Phantom Eagle in question is Lt. Kaufmann’s Spad, and this first issue hinges on his origins and identity more than aerial thrills. The character harbors an insatiable desire to take to the sky and shoot down Germans, but his motivations remain tantalizingly hidden. Ennis takes advantage of the serialized format by leaving the reader with the right amount of information—enough to sell the second issue like no advertisement could, but without giving up the mystery. Instead of frustration, the reader can’t help but relish the wait between issues. One can only hope that Lt. Kaufmann’s identity and motivation prove as fascinating as the buildup.

Howard Chaykin’s pencil-work proves less pixilated and angular than usual. His recent work has paled in comparison to his groundbreaking earlier art, but this issue plays on his strengths. The sharp, chiseled facial close-ups remind the reader of the grueling enterprise that is war. Chaykin uses characters’ expressions to fantastic effect in this issue, as Ennis dwells on the friendships that keep his pilots moving in the worst of times. Though his heavy use of digital backgrounds and detail occasionally distracts from the action in the foreground, it hardly ruins the experience.

War is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle opens with a compelling cliffhanger mystery in a genre that brings out Garth Ennis’s best qualities as a writer. Chaykin illustrates the story to good effect, collaborating with the writer to emphasize the most human conflicts that lurk within any war. Though many readers eschew Ennis for his sometimes juvenile sense of humor, endless mocking of superheroes, and general mean-spiritedness, none of those qualities are in evidence here. He writes about the military with a sympathetic voice and a penchant for accuracy rarely seen elsewhere. Pick this one up.

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