The Lion & The Eagle Review (Garth Ennis, PJ Holden)

1944, Burma, and the war in the Pacific rages on between the Allies and the Japanese. As Japan prepares to mount an offensive into India, a plan is formed to drop soldiers - a unit called the Chindits, named after the mythical Burmese creature that’s half lion and half eagle - behind enemy lines via plane to cause as much havoc to the Japanese Imperial Army as possible. Except things never go according to plan, eh…

One of the many reasons I love Garth Ennis is his war comics. He’s written some absolute bangers over the years and I always look forward to them as they tend to be better than most everything else he writes. Except in the last few years the quality has dropped off quite severely unfortunately. Johnny Red, Dreaming Eagles, Stringbags, and World of Tanks: Citadels (the latter two also with PJ Holden) were all really boring and disappointing books. And now The Lion & The Eagle can be added to the list.

Part of what appealed to me about this book was learning about this episode of the war, which I don’t know much about. And that’s probably the most laudable thing Ennis does with this one: shining a light on a part of the war that merits no less notice than the more famous parts.

More than that, he writes about all combatants involved - not just the British, Chinese or American troops, but the Nepalese Gurkhas and the Indian soldiers who volunteered to give their lives to the Allied cause, and even the Japanese, despite everything they did - with the dignity they deserve. No-one here is portrayed cartoonishly; they’re as real as the men who fought and died in that theatre of war.

It’s informative, it’s detailed - both Ennis and Holden have done their research and it shows - but it’s also lacking a strong narrative to really draw you in. The research overwhelms what little story there is so you get less of a driving tale and more of an idea of what fighting in the Burmese jungle was like. Conversely, there’s very little about their actual plan itself - why they’re there doing what they’re doing - so it’s hard to follow what exactly they’re doing, never mind become invested in it. The effect is an unengaging and sluggish read with no real goal besides seemingly relating the mundane message that war, yes, is hell and, yes, the people who had to experience it were brave.

Holden’s art is fine - I’m sure everything he drew is historically accurate - and suitably gory to match the unvarnished and honest subject matter. But it’s also nothing that’ll impress anyone who’s seen his work before and I wouldn’t put it up there with his best art.

If you want to read some of Ennis’ better war comics, I highly recommend Battlefields and War Stories - those aren’t just history lessons but combine the facts with exciting narratives; unfortunately, The Lion & The Eagle only provides you with a dry history lesson within a forgettable story.