DRAWN & QUARTERED
‘Storming’ is a dull dud of a war tale
The "altered-history of 1946" story line is a staple these days for Monday-morning generals, but the wild tales generally take place in Europe and revolve around some piece of wonder-weaponry cobbled together by desperate Nazis. Whenever the setting is across the world, during a fictionalized telling -- rather than retelling -- of the invasion of Japan, well, the stories tend to be rather grim and dull.
So far, no one's beat Alfred Coppel's masterful novel "The Burning Mountain" in this regard. Latest out of the gate is WildStorm Comics' "Storming Paradise," a six-parter from DC's "adult" imprint.
Based on the first issue, written by Chuck Dixon and drawn by Butch Guice, we're in for a dull ride through familiar, bleak landscapes. In this alternate scenario, the A-bomb is a dud, and so President Truman goes forward with Operation Olympic. The troops in Europe are routed to the Pacific -- they're none too happy about that -- and the Japanese glumly set about digging what barricades they can on the beaches of Kyushu.
There are no real characters, save for cameos by generals and a mysterious actor who seems to be John Wayne, and Guice's art is both sketchy and wildly inaccurate in regard to the machinery of war.
There is clearly a dull slog ahead. Call me 4-F, but I'm gonna Section-8 this title. Both Dixon and Guice need to bone up on some Joe Kubert.