DOG TAG #1 (Mad Cave Studios)
Private Tom Fuller is a journalist/cartoonist who is covering World War II for Stars & Stripes. He is called into the Colonel’s office and told he will be covering the fake invasion from Dover which will help the Allies storm Europe. Even though he has mixed feelings about this, he never thought he would be an eyewitness to one of the biggest invasions in history.
Dog Tag #1 - Written By Mark Russell – Art By PJ Holden - Colors By JP Jordan - Letters By Buddy Beaudoin -Edited By Jon Moisan - Published By Mad Cave Studios
Credit: Mad Cave Studios
*** POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING ***
STORY OVERVIEW:
Private Tom Fuller is a journalist/cartoonist who writes a very popular column Tomfullery for the Stars & Stripes. As an enlisted man he is called into the Colonel’s office and informed he’s being deployed, but instead of to the front lines he will be deployed to Dover. In Dover the army has a fake army set up to fool the Germans into thinking that an attack is coming from Dover instead of Normandy. Even though he doesn’t like this assignment, he’s a soldier so he does what he’s told. He does find a silver lining though, which is he can journal about what is really going on to have a historical document. However, he was not ready for the real impact his stories and the deception would have on the war.
WRITING:
This first issue does a great job of setting the tone for the story, well giving the reader a great deal of back story. Mark Russell mixes real life events seamlessly with this fictional version of one of the most important military deceptions of all time. The way he shows Tom Fuller’s disappointment about being a liar, well also showing the importance of the job he’s doing, shows the duality of the character and situation. Russell truly captures the event that leads up to D-Day giving it the historical importance it deserves. But the biggest thing this first issue pulls off is the reality of war. After the invasion, Tom gets to see firsthand the toll of war and the reality that it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, there will always be loss.
ARTWORK:
The artwork in this first issue matches the tone and vibe of the story perfectly. PJ Holden captures the feel of war and the toll it takes with the artwork. The backgrounds and war machines look fantastic and put the reader directly on the frontlines. Holden takes great care of making sure the act of war is not glorified, well still showing the stark realities of war. JP Jordan’s color pallet for this issue is fantastic and makes the artwork pop out of every panel. The colors match the era and the use of a lot of earth tones capture the feel perfectly.
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Final Thoughts:
Dog Tag #1 brings an important historical story from World War II to life in its pages. The care that is put into keeping the historical story true to life, well expanding upon it with the fictional happenings, makes this story very cool. The promise of exploring even more post D-Day combat and stories as the series goes makes for some great potential for this series as it moves forward. If you like stories that are tied to history well also expanding into their own lore, this is the series for you.
FINAL GRADE: 9/10
Let me know your thoughts on Dog Tag #1 in the comments below. Thanks for reading!
