Tag Archives: World War II

A dozen great movies about antifascist resistance, just because

Posted on October 9, 2025 by I.M. Baytor

For some reason, I decided to do a list of films about antifascist resistance. Even setting aside intelligent Andor-like sci-fi allegories, or movies about organized resistance to the current rise of authoritarianism (like the wild One Battle After Another), there … Continue reading →

Posted in SPYCRAFT & WARFARE | Tagged Doc Savage, espionage, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, movies, politics, Quentin Tarantino, Rogue Trooper, World War II | Leave a comment

More cool film noir thrillers – part 1

Posted on June 27, 2025 by I.M. Baytor

The times are dark, so I suppose it makes sense to go back to my favorite type of cinema: film noir. Cinema Purgatorio #18 Aesthetically and ideologically, those stark, moody postwar thrillers about chain-smoking anti-heroes, doomed lovers, dirty cops, femmes … Continue reading →

Posted in HARDBOILED CRIME | Tagged Cold War, movies, noir, Peter Milligan, politics, World War II | Leave a comment

COMICS CAN BE AWESOME (12 May 2025)

Posted on May 12, 2025 by I.M. Baytor

Between sponsoring genocide, ethnic cleansing, and running a concentration camp in El Salvador, how long until the current US administration and its supporters start to wonder if they’re the ‘baddies‘? In the meantime, for this week’s reminder that comic books … Continue reading →

Posted in HEADSHOTS | Tagged Commando, covers, Ken Barr, World War II | Leave a comment

More comics that are COMICS

Posted on November 7, 2024 by I.M. Baytor

In case you need a break and to briefly take your mind off the news, for some reason, here is another post about scattered comics that I associate with just the kind of offbeat genre stuff this medium excels at. … Continue reading →

Posted in FANTASTIC ADVENTURES | Tagged Absolution, Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Can See, Black Widow, François Miville-Deschênes, Griz Grobus, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, Jess Polard, John Paul Leon, Know Your Station, Lee Loughridge, Liana Kangas, Mark Russell, Mike Deodato Jr, Patrick Horvath, Paul Cornell, Peter Milligan, Richard Connell, Sarah Gailey, science fiction, Scott Hanna, Sergey Nazarov, Simon Roy, Stefano Cardoselli, Steve Pugh, Sylvain Runberg, Tom Raney, Van Jensen, World War II, Zaroff | Leave a comment

Spotlight on the Unknown Soldier, 1997

Posted on March 20, 2024 by I.M. Baytor

After being absent from the stands for about eight years, in 1997 the spy/war comic Unknown Soldier got the Vertigo treatment. By then, the Vertigo imprint had come to specialize in getting edgy (usually British) creators to reimagine third-tier DC … Continue reading →

Posted in SPYCRAFT & WARFARE | Tagged Axel Alonso, Cold War, espionage, Garth Ennis, James Sinclair, Killian Plunkett, politics, Tim Bradstreet, Unknown Soldier, World War II | Leave a comment

COMICS CAN BE AWESOME (26 February 2024)

Posted on February 26, 2024 by I.M. Baytor

War and comics tend to be a generative combination. The former has triggered politically charged works, it has shaped the background of popular characters (especially superheroes), it has inspired bonkers tales that counterintuitively mix fun and horrific elements , and … Continue reading →

Posted in GLIMPSES INTO THE PAST | Tagged covers, Ira Schnapp, Irv Novick, Jack Adler, Jerry Grandenetti, Joe Kubert, Russ Heath, Star Spangled War Stories, World War II | Leave a comment

COMICS CAN BE AWESOME (22 May 2023)

Posted on May 22, 2023 by I.M. Baytor

This weeks’ reminder that comics can be awesome is a tribute to the long history of tank covers at DC:

Posted in GLIMPSES INTO THE PAST | Tagged covers, G.I. Combat, Ira Schnapp, Jack Adler, Joe Kubert, Russ Heath, World War II | Leave a comment

Catching up with war comics

Posted on January 18, 2023 by I.M. Baytor

Every once in a while, Dead Reckoning – an imprint of the U.S. Naval Institute’s book-publishing division – sends me graphic novels to review in Gotham Calling. Last year they sent me The Lions of Leningrad and The Stretcher Bearers, … Continue reading →

Posted in SPYCRAFT & WARFARE | Tagged Garth Ennis, Jean-Claude Van Rijckeghem, Lion & the Eagle, Lions of Leningrad, Matt Milla, PJ Holden, politics, Reid Beaman, Rob Steen, Ryan Beaman, Stretcher Bearers, Thomas du Caju, World War II | Leave a comment

COMICS CAN BE AWESOME (12 December 2022)

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

This has been a year marked by war. I know, I know, aren’t they all? Sure, but the stakes feel more global than they had felt in a while – and, yes, this conflict’s impact hits closer to (my) home. … Continue reading →

Posted in GLIMPSES INTO THE PAST | Tagged covers, Gaspar Saladino, Ira Schnapp, Irv Novick, Jack Adler, Jack Sparling, Jerry Grandenetti, Joe Kubert, Mlle. Marie, Star Spangled War Stories, World War II | Leave a comment

If you like Barton Fink…

Posted on April 28, 2022 by I.M. Baytor

By 1991, Joel and Ethan Coen had done three very different pictures, but they all shared some connection to crime fiction, not to mention a fondness for labyrinthic plotting. With their next project, though, the Coen brothers truly defied everybody’s … Continue reading →

Posted in WEBS OF FICTION | Tagged A Small Killing, Alan Moore, Coen brothers, Cold War, Dave McKean, Duncan Fegredo, Grant Morrison, horror, Jon J. Muth, Kyle Baker, movies, Neil Gaiman, Oscar Zarate, Peter Milligan, politics, World War II | Leave a comment