Broken Frontier

Post mission review of the Lost Squad’s tour of duty to commence immediately.  All personnel please assemble for debriefing after the jump…

Objective: Provide an overview/review of the Lost Squad, consisting of the following;
 01 – “Deus Ex Machina”
 02-06 – “Operation: Crystal Ball”

Primary Personnel: Major Smithenry, reassigned from the British SAS, bringing with him   more military and mystic experience than even his men suspect
- Captain Boudreau, a former priest who left the church following a failed exorcism
- Sergeant Lymangood, a tough as nails military man, with a tragic past and the ability to commune with the dead
- Corporal Berg, demolitions expert and a former chemistry professor
- The Kansas Kid, a sniper with the ability to read minds
- “The Chicago Boys” – Chance, Tinker and Evers, 3 rough-and-tumble soldiers
- Jose “Bazooka” Morales – an ex-con that thinks he’s an Aztec warrior

Additional Personnel: Chris Kirby, writer, currently of Lost Squad, formerly of Digital  Webbing Presents, Freakshow and Bride of Freakshow
- Alan Robinson, artist/cartoonist, currently of Lost Squad.

Mission Review: As “genre” books (as in “not superhero”) continue to make a comeback, Lost Squad fits nicely into a niche that has yet to be filled for the modern era.  Described as borrowing elements from Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos and Hellboy, the simplest comparison may be as Weird War Tales for the 21st century. 

Set during the darkest days of World War II, the Lost Squad is a special division of soldiers deployed to the European arena.  In addition to their military training, the squad is equipped to meet the mystical threat posed by Hitler’s occult Nazi battalions.  As a comic book mini-series, Lost Squad has a bit of an odd structure, with the first issue being a stand-alone tale, while #2-6 forms another arc.

In and of itself, “Deus Ex Machina” serves as a great lead in to the world of Lost Squad.  Readers join the Squad already on their mission, being introduced to the members over the course of the operation.  As they attempt to derail a Nazi convoy, each member of the Squad is given an opportunity to shine, not only highlighting their abilities and talents but also their personalities. 

Given the size of the cast, it’s no surprise that there isn’t a lot of opportunity to delve into great detail of the characters, but they fit within the war genre conventions comfortably enough that there’s still room for action.  The hijacking of the Nazi convoy and subsequent pursuit by the motorcycle corps recalls the tension from a similar scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, imbuing a sense of motion and urgency that can be tricky to pull off in a static medium.  As the recovery of the Nazi bounty (the Second Seal of Revelations) quickly deteriorates, Kirby offers a tense complication followed by a clever twist to end the story.

I’ll admit that artist Alan Robinson seems like a bit of an odd choice for this book, with a stylized cartoonish look that doesn’t immediately lend itself to either war or occult genres.  He does however prove to be incredibly adept as a storyteller, pulling readers into the frantic chaos of the mission.  The sparse backgrounds were an element that troubled me on a second read through, although the grainy detail Robinson provides his characters and foreground easily draws the eye away from this white space.  Robinson also makes great use of shadow, especially in the later half of the issue, a talent he develops nicely over the course of the series. 

As enthused as I was about the Lost Squad debut, the 5-parter “Operation: Crystal Ball” had its share of challenges.  The biggest difficulty, which will be rendered moot by the TPB collection, was the long delay between issues.  Stretching over 5 issues (from November 2005 to May 2007), it was difficult for this arc to maintain any sense of momentum.   Typically, each issue didn’t end so much on an actual cliffhanger, but rather on a dramatic pause or moment of calm before the next phase of combat.  As such, each new issue suffered from a momentary “what were we doing here again?” pause before you could get back into the story. 

Another example is that a key element in the conclusion builds out of a plot point mentioned 20 months earlier, in the first issue.  Finally, as appealing a Robinson’s art is, at times it was difficult to distinguish the military garbed figures drawn in black and white.  The gorgeous series covers lead me to ponder if a switch to color might not help tidy up some of the more confusing moments and bring out new strengths in Robinson’s work.

I’d emphasize again, many of these challenges were comparatively minor, but were augmented by the fact the series couldn’t stay fresh in the reader’s mind.  The later half of the series smoothed out some of these misses, thanks to making better use of the interior cover page for character overviews and story recaps. 

Moving beyond that, the second, longer arc of Lost Squad showed that there is definitely room for the characters and property to continue and grow.  There are some nice character development moments for some of the key characters, along with some intriguing teases at backstories yet to revealed (that’s in addition to many of the lower ranking members who don’t even get the opportunity to step into the spotlight).  The overall concept is high on adrenaline and has a frantic energy that is magical in it’s own right. 

Despite some logistical and practical challenges along the road, Lost Squad provides a fun diversion, pairing two seemingly disparate genres into an action-packed and unique title.  With a follow-up already in the works (as well as a having been optioned as a motion picture),  Lost Squad is a rookie title that won’t stay lost for long.

The Lost Squad TPB will go on sale this summer.