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ADVENTURES IN THE RIFLE BRIGADE: OPERATION BOLLOCK #3
"Spit or Swallow"
Recommended (8/10)
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DC Comics/Vertigo imprint
Writer: Garth Ennis
Artist: Carlos Ezquerra
Colors: Kevin Somers & Jamison
Letters: Clem Robins
Editors: Will Dennis
Price: $2.50 US/$4.25 CAN |
After two lackluster issues, I was prepared to be let down by this final issue as well, and whether it was lowered expectations, vast improvement or a combination of both, I was instead pleasantly surprised. The finale of Operation Bollock is full of actual new jokes, although
they are true to the bawdy tone of the rest of the series. Ennis provides some
amusing imagery that Ezquerra is very capable of delivering on, and the book is
disturbing and profoundly funny, just in time to rescue the series from
mediocrity.
Let's be honest, this issue really doesn't move the level of the series up any in terms of intelligence. It's a paean to jokes about sex and violence, with some very obvious references to Raiders of the Lost Ark and British war comics
thrown in for good measure. However, all I ask is that it be funny, and on that
score, this issue improves a great deal. Gerta Gasch's put-upon stories of her
time in the harem are hilarious, and the reaction of the Rifle Brigade to her
tongue hockey with the traitor is quite amusing as well.
One of the few moments that has made me laugh previously was the image of Hitler's lost bollock, rising behind an army of destruction. Ezquerra tops that image this issue, first with the shot of the bollock blocking out the sun and then with the almost inevitable results of Doubtful receiving a bit of a mouthful as well. The rest of the humor for me comes from a dead-on parody of Indiana Jones, with a hilarious over-reaction to a pet in the cockpit and a wonderful ending sequence that brings to mind a certain scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
This issue brings back the
sense of rhythm that I've been missing from Ennis and Ezquerra, as they go
easily from a captive squad to an ever-escalating series of complications and
rescues. Nobody escapes without being mocked, with Ennis even slyly mocking his
own "camaraderie of war" with Flaschmann.
Previous chapters of Operation Bollock resonated with me about as much as
Benny Hill. Thankfully, the final chapter works for me on the same level as
Monty Python instead.
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