Writer – Garth Ennis
Artists – Kevin O’Neill, Mike Dorey, John Higgins, Patrick Goddard, PJ Holden, Chris Burnham, Keith Burns
Colours – Sally Jane Hurst, Len O’Grady, Jason Wordie
Letters – Rob Steen

After more than a little hiatus, Battle Action returned to the stands in 2022 as this oversized special featuring seven stories all written by the one and only Garth Ennis and a plethora of artists can attest to. Featuring quite a few of the characters and features that regularly appeared in the first run of Battle/Action/Battle Action, Ennis would bring them back to both an established and a new audience looking for something a little different than what one might find on the stands. Leading off with Johnny Red in the first tale and then following that with The Sarge, Crazy Keller, Dredger, Hellman and Glory Rider, Kids Rule O.K. and finishing it off with Nina Petrova and the Angels of Death, the book would feature many facets of war from different sides. Some were better than others as is always the case with an anthology and it is no different here despite Ennis doing what he does best. The lead-off with Johnny Red was quite good, especially with the fantastic Keith Burns on art who would make Johnny’s exploits in the sky come alive quite vibrantly. So too would be the finale starring Nina Petrova and her Angels of Death. Making it look just as good as the opening feature would be Patrick Goddard and it would not only close the book strong, it would be one of the most exciting stories in the entire anthology. Those that would come in between would do so in quality, a few better than their brethren but falling short of the two that would open and close the book. The Sarge was quite similar to Sgt. Rock and Sgt. Fury in nature and was a fun read as was Hellman vs. Glory Rider. Kids Rule O.K. as drawn by the legendary Kevin O’Neill was okay as were Crazy Keller and Dredger but nowhere near as good as the rest. The artwork throughout was excellent and varied from tale to tale while making it even more interesting was how some stories were presented in colour and some in black and white. Taken as a whole, this was a solid read and as far as war comics go, filled with interesting characters, scenarios and all the things that make a comic book great. The artwork was top-notch, exciting more often than not and packed with action while its author gave readers everything they could want in a resurrection from this title. Good stuff all around.

3.5 out of 5