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Saturday 19 August 2017

303 Review (Garth Ennis, Jacen Burrows)


Garth Ennis does NOT like George W. Bush or his administration or seemingly America in general really and he basically uses 303 as his hate screed to show why. 

Our anti-hero is a grizzled Russian vet with an affinity for the classic .303 rifle whom Ennis drops into Afghanistan to show the effects of America’s (then-current) actions on the civilian population as well as highlighting what the Russians did historically. We’re then in the American heartland where Mexican slave labour is alive and well, working in fast-food slaughterhouses, being policed by suicidal cops, and then… well, that final page tells you what Ennis thinks someone should’ve done to Dubya! 

303 is an immensely grim read, a lot like some of Ennis’ Punisher MAX run, that unfortunately wasn’t nearly as entertaining. Instead it was mostly boring and gratuitously violent (it’s an Avatar book so it gets very graphic and gory at times) with disjointed, flat storytelling and two-dimensional characters.

The sniper in Afghanistan and the sheriff chasing the Russian in the desert were pretty exciting scenes and Jacen Burrows’ art is dependably solid but 303 isn’t one of Ennis’ better comics. Pointless and forgettable, I wouldn’t even rec it to Ennis fans.

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