Review by Karl Verhoven
Johnny Redman is a British pilot who found himself leading a squadron of Russians during World War II. In his heyday, when serialised in Battle during the 1980s, he acquired a distinctive supporting cast. Garth Ennis opens A Couple of Heroes by establishing the realities of life for a fighter pilot by noting only Johnny himself has survived to early 1945.
It seems at first there’s too great a presumption on Ennis’ part of readers being familiar with a backstory that’s been out of print for decades when reintroducing another British pilot. It’s not quite established why Johnny would so dislike Mike Pryce-Fanshawe, but his return sets in motion a plot involving a secret mission and a chance for Johnny to locate long-missing friend and lover Nina Petrova.
Ennis and Keith Burns previously gave us Johnny Red: The Hurricane, and Burns’ art here is even more astounding. His page rate surely can’t compensate for the research on the era’s planes and other forms of war technology, never mind the sheer effort he applies to everything. The sample spread shows a packed battle scene, yet Burns invests the same work ethic on every page. Aircraft hangars are full workshops and even scenes where people are just talking have activity in the backgrounds. Beyond that, time after time the page designs provide thrilling scenes. Burns’ style seems to be moving nearer Howard Chaykin, with a roughness to the inks reflecting the desperate circumstances.
Two plots are weaved together, the search for Nina enabling Ennis to introduce assorted other areas of Soviet conflict via flashbacks, which also briefly allow the inclusion of the now dead supporting cast. Nina shines as Ennis builds on her original acerbic personality. “No, I fly through mass dogfights for the good of my health” she snaps at Johnny at one point. A constant background to the 1980s stories was the Soviet ideology, but with more space Ennis is able to emphasise how frequently it’s at odds with the truth, and he’s eventually able to circle round to Nazi beliefs as he factors in an old foe of Johnny’s.
Characters who initially just seem substitutes for the dead and missing are fleshed out into distinct personalities, and the sheer inhumanity of those charged with keeping nations safe is given an airing in what develops into a complex thriller with plenty of action. What with the post-war epilogue it very much has the feeling of a valedictory turn for Ennis on Johnny Red, although he doesn’t say so in his extensive afterword, which does mention his wanting to close off Johnny’s wartime career. If the chance for a pint outside your local on a sunny day isn’t something worth the fight to preserve, then what is?
