Broken Frontier

After the battle with Colonel Assan’s men, Team Orphan is in a dangerous position and their leader is starting to behave strangely, almost as if he had seen a ghost…

Children of the Grave has been a good example of what can happen when creative people put their minds together and create a comic. This comic has been a chilling and exciting mix of horror and military action. The previous two issues have shown that the creator’s strengths can not be easily pinned down. Issue one succeeded in developing a highly tense and creepy atmosphere while issue two blistered with military action and violent excitement. Issue three adopts a more sedate and thoughtful tone that works well within the overall story arc but makes for a slightly less satisfying read as a single issue.

Team Orphan re-groups after their battle and is unable to sleep because of their nightmares. Similarly, Colonel Assan is also unable to sleep; plagued by the memories of his family killed long ago by the people he now wages genocide against. The members of Team Orphan begin to tell stories about their dark and violent pasts. They are memories filled with loss and grief and regret. As the bond between these soldiers is forged by their stories it is also shaken by the increasingly irrational decisions of their leader.

Waltz’s strength has been in his plotting and the development of atmosphere. His characters have not been as well formed, however, too often relying on clichés. This issue attempts to develop the characters of Team Orphan as well as Colonel Assan by delving back into the pasts of the characters and the tragedies that have lead them to lives of killing and destruction. While the characterisation is not outstanding, Waltz does succeed in communicating a dark and complex theme of the perpetuality of violence. Violence and regret has formed all of these men on both sides and now leads them against each other.

The artwork of Casey Maloney, which was so formative of my high opinions of earlier issues, is not as prevalent in this character driven story. Nevertheless, he gets some time to exhibit his skills in a spooky zombie attack and the nightmare images of the various characters’ pasts. His clean and crisp artwork depicts military technology very well and he revels in odd angles and skewed perspectives. He does not overdo this technique however, allowing it to have a powerful impact on the reader.

Children of the Grave continues to impress, although those not already reading would be advised to pick up the first two issues.

-Matthew Clark