The Aftershock Advisor: OUT OF THE BLUE, reviewed by Matt Lowder

Guest review by Run The Comics 5K's Matt Lowder . . . . .

OUT OF THE BLUE (Aftershock, 2020, complete series hardcover edition) Writer: Garth Ennis. Artist: Keith Burns. Colorist: Jason Wordie. Letterer: Rob Steen. Matt's Rating: 4.5 stars of of a possible 5 stars.

OUT OF THE BLUE is a story written with a lot of passion and respect for the source material. A partnership for this book was made with an artist, Stuart Steele, who has spent 50+ years as an aviation illustrator. 

The plot: It is 1945 and the 2nd World War is almost over. There are still, of course, lingering German boats and planes that need to be dealt with. Our protagonist is a Royal Air Force pilot named Jamie Mckenzie who is assigned to strike down some ships along the enemy coast. Upon arrival, he gets into trouble immediately, none of which is his fault, and his frustrated, spiteful commanding officer, Broome, makes his life hell for weeks. This begins the story which is one of psychological contention and how war breaks down the spirit of man, specifically between the two men, pilot Jamie, and commanding officer Broome.

A few of the strong elements of this book are the quality mechanical anatomy of the ships and the airplanes, the strong sense of camaraderie and brotherhood as written masterfully by Garth Ennis in scenes which other writers should envy, and authentic dialogue and vocabulary befitting of both the time period and the theatre of aerial combat comms chatter.

If you are not a fan of war story generally, this will probably not change your mind. However, much to my surprise, a lot of this book after Issue #3 was focused on a romantic triangle of sorts where commanding officer Broome inserts himself at dances on base and off-base house visits with Jamie's wife, which is super-manipulative and not cool of the character. It's done extremely well.

The characters and the themes are the strongest thing here, not really the plot. Which actually isn't that much of a problem for me when it comes to "out of the blue." Because of this conscious creative decision, we get to spend a lot of time to talk about politics, war, loss, race as it pertains to British colonization of India and parts of Africa, anger, and anxiety among these characters. We listen to really private conversations and sad moments over cigars, or beers, or piano song-a-longs in bars that made me feel like a curious fly on the wall. Garth Ennis captured something here. Anecdotes and humorous though dark stories told by supporting characters with scarred faces feels earned and respectful in the story.

I cannot explain enough how impressed I was with the dog fights and the airplanes. These are not easy things to draw to begin with, and they are done so in an interesting way with kinetic perspectives and exactitude.

My two main gripes with book: the illustrations of the single female character in the entire book, which is Jamie's wife. Her face looks very odd and is always lacking a nose line. Also, the ending. I appreciate the occasional obtuse or "left for interpretation" non-endings of movies and books sometimes, but this needed a couple more scenes, or a seventh issue. We're left with our characters in middle of something. Not all of the conflicts are resolved, and I would have loved to have seen what was next for Jamie and his wife.

Again, for a war story that seemed to focus much more on how war and trauma affects people's friendships and marriages and romances, I thought this did very well. It was not the story or focus I was expecting. But I loved it.