Category Archives: SPYCRAFT & WARFARE

A couple of vintage spy novels

Posted on May 12, 2022 by I.M. Baytor

I’ve written extensively about John le Carré in this blog, but today I want to go further back into the roots of spy literature. Here are a couple of very different novels by a couple of very different writers who … Continue reading →

Posted in SPYCRAFT & WARFARE | Tagged Alfred Hitchcock, books without pictures, Cold War, espionage, politics | Leave a comment

Spotlight on The Unknown Soldier, 1988-1989 – part 2

Posted on March 10, 2022 by I.M. Baytor

As I started to discuss last week, 1988-9’s exhilarating The Unknown Soldier limited series is miles apart from Joe Kubert’s original iteration of the character. For one thing, instead of a fully-committed agent of an unquestionably righteous American war effort, … Continue reading →

Posted in SPYCRAFT & WARFARE | Tagged Bob Haney, Christopher Mooneyham, Christopher Priest, Cold War, David Michelinie, espionage, Ivan Plascencia, James Owsley, Joe Kubert, Phil Gascoine, politics, Unknown Soldier, World War II | Leave a comment

Spotlight on The Unknown Soldier, 1988-1989 – part 1

Posted on March 3, 2022 by I.M. Baytor

At a time when pavlovian pundits and politicians seem keen to revive Cold War rhetoric and imagery, (mis)applying it to the conflict taking place in Ukraine, perhaps it is worth remembering that even during the Cold War itself there were … Continue reading →

Posted in SPYCRAFT & WARFARE | Tagged Carl Gafford, Christopher Priest, Cold War, Denny O'Neil, espionage, James Owsley, John Costanza, Phil Gascoine, politics, Unknown Soldier, Vietnam | Leave a comment

Animal war comics – part 2

Posted on December 29, 2021 by I.M. Baytor

If you read last week’s post, you know I’ve been discussing war comics that prominently feature animals. This week, let’s start by looking at 2004’s science-gone-wrong mini-series We3, about a trio of weaponized animal cyborgs (a dog, a cat, and … Continue reading →

Posted in SPYCRAFT & WARFARE | Tagged Ben Towle, Brahm Revel, Dogs of War, Four-Fisted Tales: Animals in Combat, Frank Quitely, Grant Morrison, Guerillas, Jamie Grant, Luke Pearson, Nathan Fox, politics, science fiction, Sheila Keenan, Todd Klein, Vietnam, WE3, World War II | Leave a comment

Animal war comics – part 1

Posted on December 23, 2021 by I.M. Baytor

Once again, the folks at Dead Reckoning have sent me one of their graphic novels to review: Four-Fisted Tales: Animals in Combat, in which Ben Towle spotlights the historical role of different creatures in various wars. Like last time, I … Continue reading →

Posted in SPYCRAFT & WARFARE | Tagged Art Spiegelman, Brian K. Vaughan, Cat Shit One, Cesar Lopez-Vera, Cold War, Dodderio, Enemy Ace, Joe Kubert, John Wagner, Juan Arancio, Motofumi Kobayashi, Niko Henrichon, Pat Mills, politics, Ramon Solá, Robert Kanigher, Shako, Vietnam, World War II | Leave a comment

On Dynamite’s James Bond – part 2

Posted on September 30, 2021 by I.M. Baytor

If you read last week’s post, you know I’ve been looking back at the James Bond comics published by Dynamite in these last few years. By securing some of the industry’s top talent, this publisher has been able to churn … Continue reading →

Posted in SPYCRAFT & WARFARE | Tagged Aaron Campbell, Ales Kot, Antonio Fuso, Chris O'Halloran, Dennis Calero, Eoin Marron, espionage, Fay Dalton, Greg Pak, Hayden Sherman, Ibrahim Moustafa, James Bond, James Robinson, Javier Pulido, Jeff Parker, Kewber Baal, Luca Casalanguida, Mission Impossible, movies, Ninjak, Rapha Lobosco, Salvatore Aiala, Shimerys Baal, Simon Bowland, Van Jensen | Leave a comment

On Dynamite’s James Bond – part 1

Posted on September 23, 2021 by I.M. Baytor

After much delay, the latest James Bond movie is finally coming out next week. Hopefully, No Time to Die will bring the kind of super-spy thrills Black Widow kept threatening to deliver but never really did. In fact, aside from … Continue reading →

Posted in SPYCRAFT & WARFARE | Tagged Ales Kot, Andy Diggle, Benjamin Percy, Black Widow, Brent Peeples, Chris Blythe, Christos Gage, Danny Lore, Declan Shalvey, Eric Gapstur, Erica D'Urso, espionage, Heather Moore, James Bond, Jason Masters, Jody Houser, Kieron Gillen, Luca Casalanguida, movies, politics, Vita Ayala, Warren Ellis | Leave a comment

Collected war comics

Posted on June 3, 2021 by I.M. Baytor

The folks at Dead Reckoning sent a copy of Garth Ennis’ and Carlos Ezquerra’s The Tankies for me to review, so I figured it would be fun to put the book into context by discussing it together with other collections … Continue reading →

Posted in SPYCRAFT & WARFARE | Tagged Alan Hebden, Alex Toth, Battle, Battlefields, Cam Kennedy, Carlos Ezquerra, Charles Biro, Cold War, Dave Berg, espionage, Fighting Mann, Frontline Combat, Garth Ennis, Gene Colan, Harvey Kurtzman, Hector Ezquerra, Joe Kubert, John Severin, Johnny Craig, Marie Severin, Mike Western, politics, R.C. Harvey, Reed Crandall, Ric Estrada, Russ Heath, The Tankies, Tony Avina, Two-Fisted Tales, Vietnam, War Dog, World War II | Leave a comment

Spotlight on The Unknown Soldier, 1980-1982

Posted on April 15, 2021 by I.M. Baytor

This is the final installment in my overview of Bob Haney’s neglected run on The Unknown Soldier, which ended with a bang. By 1980, this World War II-set comic had turned into a fairly mechanic, well-oiled enterprise. Haney churned out … Continue reading →

Posted in SPYCRAFT & WARFARE | Tagged Adolf Hitler, Bob Haney, Bob LeRose, Dick Ayers, Elizabeth Breitweiser, espionage, Garth Ennis, Gerry Talaoc, Jerry Serpe, Joe Kubert, Len Wein, Mike W. Barr, Paul Levitz, politics, Rick Veitch, Steve Epting, Unknown Soldier, World War II | Leave a comment

John le Carré (1931-2020)

Posted on December 14, 2020 by I.M. Baytor

Although his work had little to do with Batman comics, John le Carré was a foundational writer for some of the other stuff I cover in this blog. Between the Circus series and his other novels, he became one of … Continue reading →

Posted in SPYCRAFT & WARFARE | Tagged books without pictures, espionage, John le Carré | Leave a comment