This is one of the best comic book covers of the year! Unfortunately, that’s where the praise ends.  I am so sad to write this review.  What was once at the top of my pull list has fallen both hard and fast.  With only one more issue to his third story arc, Gath Ennis’ The Tankies isn’t a good read.

The first two arcs were phenomenal.  They stood out from the plethora of WWII tales because of their unique characters.  These were character driven stories placed in original situations written by the master of war stories himself, Ennis.  The Tankies fails on both levels.  There are too many pages wasted on dialogue without advancing the plot or enriching the characters.  The conversations are rambling and appear rushing in their writing.  It’s as if Ennis liked the idea of a story about British Tankies, but couldn’t think of compelling characters and a griping plot.

Carlos Ezquerra’s art is the bright point of this read.  However, it’s not enough to save an overall boring issue.  This series has been so good that a poor story arc is forgivable.  Garth Ennis lost this battle, but he’s got formidable ammo for future skirmishes.

2 out 5