Sniper Elite : Resistance 1-3

A much vaunted entry into to war comics for Rebellion, doubling down with the resurrection of the “Battle” “brand”. Is this the start of a run of war comics and the return of some classic characters from the home of the Galaxy’s Greatest? Luke crosses fingers and toes and checks out the series, now collected as a trade paperback.

By Keith Richardson, Patrick Goddard, Quinton Winter

& Jim Campbell

Review by Luke Williams

For those of you living on Mars for the past 10 years, “Sniper Elite” is one of them there computer game things. In the series, you star as Karl Fairburne a crack WW2 sniper sent on a series of top secret missions in the battle to see off Fritz.  Having only played “Sniper Elite 3”, I’m not an expert, but I am geek with catholic tastes and like my computer games, though my tastes veer more to out and out old school style blasters (“Tempest 4000, Nex Machina” at the moment, seeing as you asked so nicely) which suit my attention span. Cut scenes and “plot” are a poor substitute for uninterrupted destruction. But I can verify that the third installment is a rather good game. Having already produced “Sniper Elite” comics as part of the packaging for the physically released editions release of the games, they’ve gone the whole hog this time.

This seems like an easy win for Rebellion, as it has dual appeal gamers and comic readers, and with the “Battle” tag and special guest stars appeal to comic readers of a certain age. I’m definitely in that demographic group.

As the intro says, it’s been pushed quite heavily by Rebellion which seems to have done the trick , judging by the difficulty I had in getting certain issues. I dithered about ordering it, as I have thing about licensed  / tie in comics, which is an argument for an article all on its own.

I tried to pick it up at my local comic shop, but to no avail. It’s been a bugger to find. All my copies have been sourced via mail order for Cliff’s sake. By the time I actually got the complete run I could have bought the trade paperback. Whinge, whinge complain, complain, yadda yadda.

Was it worth the hunting around? Welllllllllllllllll.

For his debut comic series, Fairburne has been sent into occupied France to aid the resistance in capturing a secret anti aircraft weapon.Parachuting  by Lysander spy plane (I am a multi faceted geek ) into occupied territory, Karl rendezvous with his contacts , only to be betrayed and captured by the Nazis and forced to play a game of cat and mouse by a childhood nemesis.

Don’t expect Garth Ennis level of verisimilitude here, but this is a bit of  laugh,so long as you accept the occasionally ropey dialogue, the unlikely plot development and a baddie that just needs a moustache to twirl to complete his nefariousness.

Do buy it expecting to see classic British war characters popping up there to rescue Mr. Fairburne, loads of action and gorgeous art from the unsung hero of British comics, Patrick Goddard.

Patrick Goddard is brilliant. A super realistic, but fluid style, with dynamic and eye catching page layouts.

Overall, this is fun, but not essential. But if it leads to the resurrection of more “Battle”  characters being published, then I’m all for it .