Well, this is embarrassing. I began posting reviews of Len Levinson’s (writing as Gordon Davis) magnificent WWII series The Sergeant in chronological order after starting out of sequence with my first couple reviews back on The Two-Fisted Blog…and somehow, I skipped right over this book despite posting an Amazon review back on May 9 of 2017. So here it is, finally:
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Master Sergeant Mahoney and Corporal Cranepool have just returned from their attachment to a French unit liberating Paris. It was supposed to be cushy duty, but only the end of it was cushy–in the arms of some French floozies in a fancy hotel.
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The Sergeant and his sidekick are back just in time to meet Charlie Company’s new C.O. Captain Anderson is a young, inexperienced officer, but one of the good ones (a rare combo, in my day). They’re also just in time for one of Patton’s “recon in force” missions, to push across the Moselle and keep the pressure on the Germans.
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This installment in the series could launch a character study on the sort of men who populate the officer corps of an army. Whether a commander wants to make a name for himself, or simply doesn’t want a sub-par evaluation, it is their troops who are used like cannon fodder to enhance or maintain their egos.
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Mahoney himself has some moments in this book in which hedemonstrates more humanity than is normal for him. (Also, in this one we are introduced to PFC Butsko. I can’t help but notice the similarities between him and the platoon sergeant of The RatBastards–also named Butsko.)
I’m not sure when I’ll complete reviews for the final three books in the series…but I plan to. Meanwhile, you can read the remaining reviews of this series so far here and here.
It’s finally here, and the worst thing I can say about it is that it took so long to be released. I can’t remember the last time I experienced this kind of anticipation for the next episode of anything. Comic books haven’t inspired much but anger, boredom, and nausea for many years…until Alt★Hero came along.
As much as I’ve enjoyed all the Alt★Hero releases, the first Q comic was my favorite. It ended on a high point (of a dramatic, not emotional, quality) and I did wonder if the next one could live up to the promise established by the artwork, plotting, and action.
Not to worry. The art seems like a slight step down from last time, but the writing is still very strong.
As the title implies, Roland Dane was supposed to die alongside the target of the deep state hit in South America right before Q made contact with him. Q temporarily convinced the Cabal that their “two-fer” successfully took out Agent Dane, then Q gave Dane a new life and new identity, as well as a new mission.
That mission involves getting some background on the replacement for the assassinated Secretary of State, and it isn’t long before Dane is feeling the heat from the kill-crazy Cabal.
So far as I know, real-life Q enthusiasts/allies/researchers/autists work almost entirely online, at sites like 8Chan (which, by sheer coincidence, of course, was shut down due to pressure from powerful and shadowy entities unbothered by Internet forums populated by people actually guilty of what they accuse 8Chan denizens). In this story, though, the anons are more deeply invested, and physically involved in Q’s clandestine operations–in a support capacity, at least.
Some of the technical details (particularly with regard to military minutiae) are still being flubbed–which is par for the course in just about all entertainment these days. Not since Marvel’s The Nam back in the ’80s have I seen consistent effort at technical accuracy in a comic book.
Exposition was handled quickly and deftly in the first issue, yet it feels like the main plot is still being set up. Action junkies will be delighted with how the narrative is being weaved, though the individual issues certainly seem to fly by quickly. I’m still as intrigued as a reader can be, but I hope I don’t have to wait this long again for #3.
False Flag is “an action-packed, enjoyable and terrifying read.” – R.A. Mathis (author of Ghosts of Babylon and the Homeland series).
A terrorist group came into possession of a tactical nuke. Uncle Sam covertly put together a squad of mercs and SpecOps veterans to swipe the WMD before it could be used. The team of military contractors led by former SEAL Rocco Cavarra, who prefixed their radio call signs with the term “has-been,” had to fight their way through war-torn Sudan to reach the terrorist camp where the bomb was stashed. This all happened in Hell and Gone, the first book in the Retreads series.
Ten years later, the survivors of the Sudan mission helped their SF buddy Tommy Scarred Wolf execute a hostage rescue in South Asia. The Retreads shot it out with human traffickers, pirates, and a secret team of black ops assassins. This took place in the pages of Tier Zero–the second and most action-packed Retreads novel so far.
While the Retreads were fighting overseas over the years (officially and unofficially), bad stuff has been happening on the home front in their own country. Now the USA is speeding over a cliff into economic collapse, nuclear terrorism, and civil war, and the Retreads are caught up in the middle of it in False Flag: the third novel.
Amazon reviewers have called False Flag “a runaway action thriller,” “a thinkers book,” and “an awe-inspiring ride.” More than a few have used the phrase: “ripped from the headlines,” but there are trace amounts of what would never make the headlines. Certain subplots would be dismissed as “conspiracy theory” in some circles, but in the wake of Jeffrey Epstein’s death, those circles are shrinking.
Both Hell and Gone and Tier Zero are available in audio book format as well as paperback and e-book. There are plans for a False Flag audio book as well. Now is a great time to pick up one of these great reads. They’re unlike anything else being published today; and they’re distinct from the action-adventure of yesteryear, too.
You don’t need to be a QAnon follower, or necessarily even believe in Q, to enjoy this comic. You don’t have to believe a man can fly to enjoy Superman stories either (although these days you probably do need to be a drooling commie NPC).
Chuck Dixon is in fine form here, mixing together compelling plot elements to weave a story that will be exciting and fascinating, judging by this first issue. Alt★Hero has struggled a bit with some of the artwork so far but I can assure you the visuals in this issue are superb.
The protagonist is a Treasury Agent. We are introduced to him as he and a team of other door-kickers are raiding a supposed counterfeiting operation. Through efficient storytelling, we learn that there is a mysterious cover-up underway, which this raid serves, and there is at least one compromised agent on the team.
Not everything sits well with Agent Dane. Something stinks about that op and how one of the suspects was snuffed. Is his heresy the very reason Dane is assigned bodyguard duty for a VIP visiting Peru? I can’t wait to find out.
For those who wonder, as they read, what this story has to do with Q…don’t worry. The dots will be connected by the time you’re done.
I do have a couple technical gripes: An M2 Browning .50, by itself, is not a “Ma Deuce.” But it will not only Swiss-cheese a pickup truck, its slugs will mangle the people inside the vehicle on their way through it. That Dane needed an M4 to take out the unscathed leftovers from an entire belt of .50 is kind of ridiculous. But Dixon apparently knows some veterans, so hopefully they will set him straight for the future.
Based on my reading of the first issue, I can’t recommend this series highly enough.
Despite the cheesey dialog of the original Predator in 1987, you just have to love the politically incorrect, unapologetic “guy flick” vibe to it. What makes this latest sequel interesting is that:
Shane Black, who acted in the original (telling all the lewd jokes), directed this one.
This is not a reboot of the franchise, but an attempt to tell a new story that meshes with the continuity already established.
For the first “act” of the film, it looked like Shane Black had really put together something special. Before I go further, though, check out the trailer:
After a half hour or so, the plot starts to get messy. It has the feel of a script that was slashed and rewritten several times, with the final draft lacking in cohesion (especially noticeable in some dialog providing the back story for a couple characters). It also seems like the plots of four different movies were cobbled together–and none of them very original. It’s choppy.
Black just couldn’t resist injecting typical Hollywood messaging, either. The reason the Predators are so interested in Earth is because the human race is heading toward extinction via the Global Warming Boogeyman. But he didn’t foist the obligatory Rambo-With-Tits trope on us until toward the end, and the obligatory LGBT pandering was reduced to some disjointed dialog…at least I think that’s what the dialog was about. Who knows?
The movie had potential, but it turned out to be fairly mediocre.
We are back stateside, and the nationalist superteam has decided they need to win hearts and minds by fighting crime. Hammer and Rebel are teamed up on patrol to keep the streets safe.
But a couple of super-powered folks arrive from Europe to track them down and either kill or capture them. Their job is made easier when Hammer and Rebel, looking for criminals, are accosted by a cop instead. The vampire chick is surprised at how easy it is to take them out. Frankly, I am too…as well as disappointed.
But the tension continues to build, and the artwork has improved again. There’s an interesting story arc taking shape–and building (I hope) towards an epic showdown between the European and American superteams.
In Issue #1, Chuck Dixon introduced us to the city of Avalon, via two of the heroes working to keep it safe: Fazer and King Ace.
The moral dillema introduced in the first issue was not spread out…as I first suspected it would be…a la Iron Man’s battle with alcoholism back in the day. It was wrapped up pretty quick.
I think I might know where this is going: Fazer is going to become a supervillain with a grudge against King Ace. He knows King Ace’s identity, as well as his weaknesses…could prove to be a formidable adversary.
I can’t completely blame Fazer for holding a grudge, either. Having him thrown in the can for not donating the ill-gotten drug money to some random charity was excessively Boy Scout IMO. In any event, Chuck Dixon has effortlessly sucked me into the Avalon he is building. And there’s a good chance he may prove my theory wrong, too.
I didn’t like a lot of the art–not ready for Prime Time. But the story makes up for it, and there’s a general trend of improvement across the Arkhaven titles, so I’m sure the art will improve with it.
Meanwhile, Arkhaven is working on their first of a five-part series based on the Q phenomenon. Fun times…in some respects.
Captain Europa meets with his E.U. overlords to observe a Paris riot-in-the-making between French nationalists and Antifa. The Captain’s team is scattered around, but the U.N. has their own superteam held in reserve just in case the police can’t handle it.
There’s no confusion about which side Captain Europa wants to prevail; but unlike real-life situations in places like Berkeley, the police actually try to restrain both sides. It turns out, though, the cops can’t handle it.
To make matters a whole lot more interesting, there are some super-powered folks on the nationalist side.
I’ve still got some nits to pick about the art. Sometimes it’s hard to tell exactly what I’m seeing–especially in the details of the big splash panels. It’s too bad, because from what I could make out, it looks like those details would have been quite interesting if discernible.
I’m still really fuzzy on who has what powers, which works to the writers’ favor, I guess. Two super-strong dudes duked it out at one point, and one seemed to have the other outclassed by an order of magnitude. …Or maybe not? The outclassed guy, after playing punching bag for most of the fight, ended it (?) with a comic book haymaker–and I’m not sure how. Because he got really, really, reallymad, I suppose. This is far from the first time that a comic book hero surpassed the limits of their own defined abilities, so it’s not that big a deal. I’d just like to know more about those abilities, that’s all.
This is turning out to be a humdinger of a series. I haven’t been this engaged by a comic storyline for a couple decades. When all these are combined into a print graphic novel, I will probably buy a copy for my son.
Arkhaven is turning up the heat, and steering us toward a big showdown. They’re also still improving on all fronts in Alt Hero 3. The Rebel character is growing on me, too, though the sperg in me wants to inform her that foreigners are not Yankees. In fact, foreigners refer to all Americans, North and South, as Yankees.
Anyway…the SPC is aware there’s a rogue team of superheroes out there–nothing less could have liberated Rebel from their holding tank. So they do what the Federal government has done before: go after the family when their target proves too elusive. They set a trap for the rogues.
But the true heroes are a little too streetwise to fall for it. I won’t give any more away. Suffice it to say, I’m looking forward to the next issue (and 26 ad-free pages just don’t seem like nearly enough for each comic. Sigh.)
Red-Blooded American Men Examine Pop-Culture and the World
It was supposed to be cushy duty, but only the end of it was cushy–in the arms of some French floozies in a fancy hotel.
across the Moselle and keep the pressure on the Germans.
demonstrates more humanity than is normal for him. (Also, in this one we are introduced to PFC Butsko. I can’t help but notice the similarities between him and the platoon sergeant of The RatBastards–also named Butsko.)
It was supposed to be cushy duty, but only the end of it was cushy–in the arms of some French floozies in a fancy hotel.
across the Moselle and keep the pressure on the Germans.
demonstrates more humanity than is normal for him. (Also, in this one we are introduced to PFC Butsko. I can’t help but notice the similarities between him and the platoon sergeant of The RatBastards–also named Butsko.)
Ten years later, the survivors of the Sudan mission helped their SF buddy Tommy Scarred Wolf execute a hostage rescue in South Asia. The Retreads shot it out with human traffickers, pirates, and a secret team of black ops assassins. This took place in the pages of 
But a couple of super-powered folks arrive from Europe to track them down and either kill or capture them. Their job is made easier when Hammer and Rebel, looking for criminals, are accosted by a cop instead. The vampire chick is surprised at how easy it is to take them out. Frankly, I am too…as well as disappointed.
I think I might know where this is going: Fazer is going to become a supervillain with a grudge against King Ace. He knows King Ace’s identity, as well as his weaknesses…could prove to be a formidable adversary.
I’ve still got some nits to pick about the art. Sometimes it’s hard to tell exactly what I’m seeing–especially in the details of the big splash panels. It’s too bad, because from what I could make out, it looks like those details would have been quite interesting if discernible.
Anyway…the SPC is aware there’s a rogue team of superheroes out there–nothing less could have liberated Rebel from their holding tank. So they do what the Federal government has done before: go after the family when their target proves too elusive. They set a trap for the rogues.