The Man who Never was

The Middle Ages: A Graphic History by Eleanor Janega My rating: 3 of 5 stars Going blind into the book, I had no idea or expectations towards 'The Middle Ages' by Eleanor Janega. For the first third of the book, we got a clear, concise, easy to understand, cliff notes version of the medieval world, following the split of the Roman Empire into West & East. I call it a cliff notes version, because a lot of events are summarized, and we get synopsis breezing through some key events which characterized the times. Most of the book deals with what is essentially the histories of Europe, as well as some supplementary stuff that happened when they interacted with Asia & Africa. Despite not being of said cultural background, having had some exposure to the subject, through similar academic works, many of the things described in the works were familiar to me (Although, full disclosure, the only reasons I even know the distinction between various cultu...

They Called Us Enemy by George Takei My rating: 5 of 5 stars Rating 5 out 5 | Grade: A+; A moving cautionary tale What is it about? They called us Enemy is a biographical account of the childhood and life of Hollywood actor George Takei (Star Trek fame). In it, he recounts the time when he was just four years old. It was the time when Japan had attacked Pearl Harbour, and in retaliation the US declared war on Imperial Japan. As an immediate consequence of this decision, a large number of Japanese, over 100000 people were uprooted from their homes across the nation, and taken to forced incarceration facilities, with limited facilities. Men, women, children, elders, who’d committed no formal crime, but the crime of being Japanese, the same ethnicity as the enemy. Series of Events The account starts when George is 4 years old. His younger brother Henry had just been born, and the USA, in retaliation to Pearl Harbour had declared war on the Japanes...

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...

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...

Zombies Vs. Robots by Chris Ryall My rating: 4 of 5 stars Rating 4 out of 5 |B+; Life? Don't talk to me about life. Premise: Humans discovered a technology which made time displacement possible. But, in an inverse case to the Terminator, organic matter gets annihilated during the trip. So, they created robots of various classes, to travel as proxies and collect necessary scientific information. Something went wrong, it was postulated that one of the robots might’ve accidentally brought back a virus, either from the past or future. But this resulted in the spread of a zombie virus in the human world. A portion of the human population succumbed to the virus. Another portion got turned into the undead, and preyed on those who remained uninfected. Perhaps in a bid to augment their fast dwindling fighting force, the humans commissioned various military class robots, to serve as a bulwark against the spread of the Zombies. This proved to be a stop ...

Uber, Volume 3 by Kieron Gillen My rating: 3 of 5 stars Rating 3 out of 5| Grade C-; Interlude Mature content warning. Graphic Violence & Nudity The book Uber, Volume 2 , ended at a highpoint for the Nazis, who, thanks to the solo assault of Battleship Sieglinde, managed to destroy the heartland of London, as well as assassinate Winston Churchill. This action, while holding little value strategically, nevertheless send eaves across the lines, earning a highly anticipated Symbolic victory for the Germans. And we all know how much the Nazis put emphasis on looks. The Allies, reeling from this humiliating defeat, not to mention the loss of one of the pillars of democracy, throw their entire naval might to try and annihilate the weakened retreating Sieglinde. Only to be thwarted by the sudden arrival of the newly introduced Blitzmensch who can serve as one man long distance artillery units, shooting devastating halo energy from afar, and destroying a good part of the British hom...