One of the most fondly remembered characters from the Treasury of British Comics returns in a tensely told and lushly rendered tale of honour, duty, loyalty and sacrifice by Garth Ennis and Colin Wilson...
Review by Luke Williams
Wing Commander Robert Hereward “Battler” Britton is one of many British World War Two heroes that appeared in boy’s “Picture Weeklies” around the middle of the last century. Though known primarily as an air ace, Battler also fought on land and sea. He has had a storied career, appearing in many UK publications, beginning in The Sun (the comic, not the newspaper), onto Lion, Valiant, and in IPC’s digest-sized publications such as Battle Picture Library, War Picture Library and Air Ace. He is a character with a long history, but he hadn’t seen much activity until the DC / Wildstorm called him up again for this five part mini-series, now collected once more by Rebellion.
If you’ve read my review of Albion, this and the other IPC / Fleetway reboots were a curious project for DC/Wildstorm to undertake in the mid Noughties. Characters and properties that meant little in the American market, and were not familiar to younger British readers unless they had inherited comic collections of older family members had been scooped up by DC with a view to rebooting and relaunching them. Sadly, this led to three series and little else, but Rebellion are reprinting collections of all three series: the aforementioned Albion first, then Battler, then the Dave Gibbons written, John Higgins drawn revitalisation of Thunderbolt Jaxon, out in December.
It’s North Africa 1942, Battler has been tasked with leading an Anglo-American unit of fliers on a secret mission behind German lines. If the tension of operating behind enemy lines wasn’t enough, there is more between the transatlantic allies. A series of incidents lead to resentment, bad feeling and the inevitable infighting, distracting them from completing the task at hand. It’s down to Battler to pour oil on troubled waters and make sure they get the job done.
As a character, Battler has little or no connection to US comics. However, the editorial team commissioned Garth Ennis, known for his one man revitalisation of war comics to write the series, off the back of his (fairly) recent War Stories series for DC/Vertigo, which will have given the series an attention boost stateside. The culture clash plot has been seen before, and the style of dialogue, camaraderie and bonhomie between the characters and mix of humour and tragedy will all be familiar to regular readers of Ennis’ work.
Yes, it’s been seen before, it’s perhaps a tad jingoistic (that title is particularly painful), but it’s rollicking good fun, and well executed. For art, editorial had the brainwave of employing one of the unsung heroes of British comics, New Zealander Colin Wilson. It was during this period that Wilson had been working for 2000AD again, and had recently completed the acclaimed Wildstorm Universe thriller, Point Blank. His finely detailed, highly technical European-styled art suits a war story, where accuracy on the hardware can make or break a strip. I’s a shame we don’t see more of his work in the UK. (Dedicated fans of his work may like to check out Nevada – Intégrale, his recent western work, out in French in August from Delcourt).
Wrapping up a quality package are the beautiful covers by the much-missed Garry Leach, accompanied by an introduction from artist Keith Burns and the conclusion of Garth Ennis original introduction to series published in 2006.
Battler Britton doesn’t break any new ground, and it’s a Garth Ennis war comic, so you know what you are going to get. But you can be confident that you will be entertained, assuming Ennis war comics are your bag, with the bonus of glorious strip art of Colin Wilson and Garry Leach’s magnificent painted covers.
Battler Britton: Bloody Good Show: Volume 1
By Garth Ennis and Colin Wilson
Introduction by Keith Burns
Out: 30th July 2026
Hardcover | ISBN: 978-1837867608
• Pre-order from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)
• Battler Britton: Bloody Good Show Webshop Exclusive Hardcover
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
Brought up on a diet of Commando, British Boys Annuals and Asterix, Lucas Williams’s day job limits his reading time. Luckily for everyone else this also restricts his writing time.
Categories: British Comics, British Comics - Collections, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, Features, Reviews
In Review: The Complete 2000AD Volume One by Alan Moore 
In Review: Brickman #2 by Lew Stringer 
In Review: Return to Skull Island 
In Review: Johnny Red “A Couple of Heroes”
Leave a Reply