This time Charley is gassed, injured, witnesses atrocities and returns to England where he witnesses Zeppelin bombing. It's graphic and terrible and should be part of every young person's education. People need to see how nasty war is and how people can make assumptions about cowardice, fear and bravery that are misnomers. ( )

A 16 year old boy signs up for the British Army and is sent to the Somme. This, the third volume, sees the home front and Zeppelins.
A truly brilliant comic and a scathing attack on war. Superbly drawn, excellently written, a must read. ( )

As regular readers know, I read graphic novels. Charley’s War is top notch, to the point where I slow down and go through it slowly so as to make it last. I will start by highly recommending it.

It has an unlikely subject for “comic book” format - trench warfare in World War I. There have been many comix that have shown combat, but they usually glorify it. Charley’s War tries to present it in a style sometime called virtual realism. The stories are straight from actual events. The drawings (b&w line in my version) are often based on actual photographs. This reality is quite horrifying enough and qualifies this as an antiwar text.

Good natured, not very bright and only 16 year old Charley enlists in 1916 is is sent to the front in time for the Somme. The storyline follows him, his mates and sergeant as they attack, defend, endure poison gas and lose friends and comrades. Originally publishes as comic books, they have been gathered into volumes. The story arc is well maintained, despite the episodic nature of the text.

Are the Germans brutal? Yes. So are many of the British officers. Heroes, bravery beyond the call of duty, cowardice, stupidity - everything one expects of a war. Can it make you cry? Without a doubt. ( )