A new trade collection from Wildstorm, STORMING PARADISE is a World War II comic, but it’s also an alternate history story. The premise here is that an accident occurs that prevents the Atom Bomb from being used in Japan. What follows is a long drawn out war on the ground.
Avoiding a war on the ground was the reason the bombs were dropped and reading this shows why it may have been the right decision. Right or wrong that decision changed the world as we know it.
The action here is rather brutal, as it should be, because there really is nothing comfortable about killing each other. The portrayal of the Japanese here may be accurate for the circumstances, I can’t say with authority one way or the other, but it feels real. A people fighting to the very last to protect their home. As with most well written war comics, it is shown to be a futile and depressing thing, but also filled with acts of heroism. But from reports of vets, most acts of heroism are actually self preservation and simply looking out for their comrades. In other words, acts not done to be heroic, but to stay alive. In hindsight they are tryuly heroic, on both sides.
The book concludes with a surprise brought about by a few German scientists that leaves us hanging with the idea that the US and Russia will be working together.
I’d love to see where the story goes from there.
Written by Chuck Dixon with art by Butch Guice, Rick Burchett, Eduardo Barreto and Fernando Blanco STORMING PARADISE is a really cool read for both fans of war comics and people who just love good story telling.
