The Man who Never was

The Left Hand of the Führer by Richard D. Nolane My rating: 3 of 5 stars Rating 3 out of 5 |Grade: C+; Ride of the Valkyries, Conspiracy Disclaimer: I know that the Nazi Superweapons never worked, never had a chance of working, and even if they did, the dire fuel situation of the Germans meant that they wouldn't have made much of a difference in the war. But this is after all a pulpy fictional story. So, let's just enjoy it, and keep logic away for the duration The Wunderwaffen of the Nazi regime have, with their superior technological prowess, managed to thwart the spearpoint of the allied offensive. Which has given Germany a much-needed respite from the relentless assault upon them. So naturally, the interlude is a time when the Nazi high command starts conniving and scheming behind the scenes for power. Himmler, Goebbles, Goering, Heydrich and the rest are all running their own schemes to position themselves as Hitler’s successor. Alt...

The Reich's Damned by Richard D. Nolane My rating: 3 of 5 stars Rating 3 out of 5 | Grade: C; Just because it looks weird, doesn't mean it can't fly Things are turning for the better for the Nazi regimes. The acts of saboteurs and spies can produce only mixed results at best. While psychics selected by the Nazi occult branch under Himmler are giving the Germans even more of an edge. It’s still a mystery why certain people are seeing Hitler’s face when exposed to dangerous situations. And how this is helping them improve their survivability and mission success. So far, the story is taking an approach where they mix the plot with introducing new pieces of German Wunder-waffen. Which in real life were German 'super weapons', which were conceptualized but never came to fruition. Some were even in prototype phase. We don't know whether they'd have actually worked. Or if they did, putting them into service would've changed G...

At the Gates of Hell by Richard D. Nolane My rating: 3 of 5 stars Rating 3 out of 5 | Grade: C+; This man almost died; you wouldn't believe what happened to him after As hoped, Chapter 2 of Richard D. Nolane seems to have rectified the jarring shortcomings of the opening issue. I’m glad to find that the dialogue, which was a major sore point of the first chapter, is markedly better this time. It’s cohesive, reads like a proper dialogue and maintains the pace of the story quite well. On the other hand, it seems that our protagonist, the devil’s pilot, is developing some manner of precog predictive ability following his near-death experience. Which allows him to get out of unexpected jams and stay ahead of his opponents. Though already piloting a jet, that’d mean he’s 2-3 steps ahead at this point. In typical Nazi fashion, the biggest threat to their regime are not the allies, but their own politics, a neurotic dictator and personal interests u...

The Devil's Pilot by Richard D. Nolane My rating: 3 of 5 stars Rating 3 out of 5 | Grade: B; WWII dogfights with Nazi Jets Here we are back again, indulging in the junk food of Alternate history fiction; what if the Nazis won the war. Only this time around they didn't. As what happened in the real world, WWII happened, and the allies defeated Imperial Japan by dropping the nukes on Hiroshima & Nagasaki. Everything is quiet on the eastern front. Only, the western front is still very much a contested battlefield. Downright catastrophic weather conditions saw the Landings at Normandy, as well as D-day, turn into a devastating failure. Much like the Persian fleet on the Greek shores, the allied naval offensive was blunted, and the Axis powers got a brief respite, allowing them to stay in the war late into 1946. The coinciding launch of the Lippisch .13a , the German ramjet prototype, swung the scale more in favor of the Germans, especially wh...

Iron Squad #1: Red Commando 1/2 by Jean-Luc Sala My rating: 4 of 5 stars Rating 4 out of 5 | Grade: B; Command & Conquer, mecha edition Disclaimer: I fully acknowledge that the period of the World wars is one of the darkest parts of human history. One which causes death, destruction & suffering on a continental scale. One which put into the collective consciousness, horrors pertaining to humanity, depths to which we never thought men could stoop to. Suffering and testament to human will, in Ethnic genocide & concentration camp (Something which is still being carried out by the ahem, ‘world’s next superpower’). It’s something which has shaped Geopolitical events for almost 80 years since. Not something to be made light of. Having said that, fictional stories where the Axis win the war, and establish a new world order, are a dime a dozen. It might be because, like me, there is a dedicated niche following of readers who guzzle it all up, li...

Operation Rebalance by Jean-Luc Sala My rating: 2 of 5 stars Rating 2 out of 5 | Grade: D+ ; It all goes downhill pretty fast The concluding volume of Iron Squad, by Jean-Luc Sala, seems the most rushed and least interesting of the whole 6 Issue series. One which doesn't live up to the promise set in Vol.1 , either in terms of story, or artwork. The plot of this volume, where a bunch of OSS agents try and infiltrate the Nazi science facility that produces Neptunium, the super fuel that allows them to power their advanced armor, is lack luster, in terms of action & stakes. Which is a shame, as some of the characters had a halfway decent backstory to explore. Plus, some of the interesting characters from Vol. 1, the Russian campaigns had also made a comeback. The way in which these characters behave is completely random, and basically they do whatever it takes to make the plot 'edgy'. Unnecessary friendly fire, misunderstandings, sh...

Iron Squad Vol. 2: Pacific Invasion by Jean-Luc Sala My rating: 3 of 5 stars Rating 3 out of 5 | Grade : C; War of the World; 日本 edition The second volume of Jean-Luc Sala's Iron Squad, leaves much to be desired. This volume which focuses on the fictional invasion of the US by a 'mecha'nized Imperial Japan, sees a ragtag group of recruits, who highjack a command mecha of the Japanese to try and mount an almost suicidal mission to help the Allies. For one, the artwork of the story, which was the highlight of Volume 1, appear to be significantly watered down, and lacks the depth, richness & intensity as the original. There are a few panels which show promise, and I do appreciate the visuals of the Mechanized walkers treading the beaches in a mechapunk remake of the Invasion of Normandy. But it does fall short. Second, the characters, which do appear as interesting in the onset, don't really do anything to me, even as they ar...

A True Story by Lucian of Samosata My rating: 3 of 5 stars Rating 3 out of 5 | Grade C+; Tales as tall of a titan, they be It is said that 'A true story' by Lucian of Samosata, is, arguably, the first science fiction story ever written. Arguably because, as is mentioned in the footnotes, several works which Lucian references in his story, are lost, either to the sands of time or the fires of Alexandria. Second, even though it is lauded as an ancient science fiction story, it is more of a satirical fantastical narrative. The closest it comes to sci-fi, is when the crew of Lucian's ship, ride some gnarly currents and end up reaching the kingdoms of the moon. And this being, way, way, before Gravity was a known thing, of course the space surrounding the moon is made of air, and has Greeks in it forming a kingdom. And of course they're at war with the neighboring Sun Kingdom, which as far as the people of that time were concerned, was com...

Animal Farm: The Graphic Novel by Odyr My rating: 4 of 5 stars “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm Whenever anyone starts talking about some of the most relevant & enduring works of the 20th century, one would be remiss if not mentioning the works of George Orwell such as 1984 & Animal farm. And for good reason. If learning history teaches us not to repeat our past mistakes, then Orwell is the man who has distilled tomes upon tomes worth of philosophical, ideological & political thoughts into a manner which is easily digestible to the laymen, without needing to delve into the manifestos which govern those political ideologies. One need not read a hundred or so political treatises by historians or analysts regarding the rise & fall of communism in its flagship enterprise of the Soviet Union. (Although it’ll do you good, if you were to expend the time & effort to do so...