Review by Brian GrindrodThe Dirty Dozen are about to get their position usurped as the most efficient fighting division. Adventures In The Rifle Brigade marks the debut of a new British Commando Unit that has all the wits and charm of the Monty Python team. Written by Garth Ennis, who has turned murder and gore on titles such as Punisher and Preacher into a side splitting laugh fest, this book is recommended to all who enjoy their humor a bit wacky.
The six members of this ragtag crew are paratrooped in Berlin during 1944 on an ultra top-secret mission. The things that these fiendish and cunning misfits pull against goose-stepping Nazis would make Mel Brooks and John Hughes so proud. Their hilarious hijinks come to a halt when they are captured by Gestapo torturers who plan to bring them in to be interrogated by big-breasted SS dominatrices.
Garth Ennis does a great job of capturing the absurdities and gags of a Peter Sellers Pink Panther type movie and blending it with the thematic slant of war films like Saving Private Ryan. The off the wall British stereotypes attributed to these characters, who loyally serve England and its King, brought on a few chuckles right from the very first pages. Their idiotic personas have all the elegance of a homicidal John Cleese and a funny Charles Bronson.
Carlos Ezquerra's caricature art style is perfect to deliver Ennis' outrageous story. The characters' anatomies and facial expressions are exaggerated and give this book the proper tone. From ski ramp like noses to insane empty smiles, Ezquerra captures all the quirks and silliness of this lovable bunch.
If you get a laugh out of people getting killed by eight foot tall creatures who have acid for blood (and are generally unpleasant) and believe that A Fish Called Wanda is a great comedy film, get this book and be prepared for zaniness at its best.
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