Writer/Artist: Graham Pearce Publisher: Pier-C Comics
The Mike Battle Series are a series of comics about a fictitious parody of the "All-American" hero. The series looks at Hollywood interpretations of world events and parodies those movies and the genre itself. It is essentially a comic for people that watch a Hollywood WWII or WWI movie and wonder where the rest of the Allies are. It is a comic for those who notice Hollywood's rewrite of history and the way many American movies generally don't let the truth of events get in the way of a good story.
The one I looked at was a freebie, depicting the role Sgt MIke Battle had in the overthrowing of Saddam Hussein. It is a satirical look at the Iraq War, which asks the question, how will Hollywood depict the events of the Iraq War in 20 years time?
It tells the story of the fearsome struggle between Sgt Mike Battle and Saddam in his ultimate weapon of mass destruction - the Saddamatron (a giant transforming killer robot that Saddam has acquired)!
It is a total send up and not the most subtle one I've seen either, so it should not be taken too seriously. It is witty, absorbing and at times surreal with several genuinely amusing moments.
I particularly liked the touching farewell scene between Saddam and Osama Bin Laden where Saddam asks that Bin Laden look after their bald monkey love child, Robert.
The artwork style is quite cartoony and not particularly sophisticated, but does the job well and some of caricatures of Saddam, Bush etc are very good. It's not the best art in the world, but I've seen far worse and you can tell what is happening in the comic so it works in that sense.
Overall it is a fun comic looking at serious events. I think it and other Sgt Mike Battle comics are worth looking at, particularly if you have any kind of an interest in world events and politics. To find out more go to www.sgtmikebattle.com and have a look.
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