Although I was a film major in college, I come from a family of history majors. My mother, my father and my brother were all history majors in college. I think my sister is pursuing a history minor and I would have gone for a history minor had I been able to make room for it before graduating. When I was looking into the history minor, I was trying to find out if I could specialize in a specific subject, namely World War II. I’ve always been fascinated by the Second World War; my Grandfather fought in Japan, my High School football coach was a World War II fanatic and one of my favorite fictional characters, Captain America, was a hero of World War II. Hell, while I’m on the subject, one of my major inspirations, Indiana Jones, was also heavily involved in World War II. I’m not sure what it is, but there is something that just draws me to World War II.

With that in mind, it’s no surprise that I have played countless World War II based video games ranging from Medal of Honor, to Battlefield 1942, to Call of Duty and so on. A few years back there was a game released entitled Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30. There was something rather unique about this game, it was a first-person shooter like most WWII games, but it also had more soul and character than most of the other games. While most of the games were inspired and took place in actual battles, Brothers in Arms was actually based on the true story of the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division (Band of Brothers is based on the 506th or Easy Company of the 101st). On D-Day, the 502nd was dropped behind German lines hours before the beaches of Normandy were invaded by Allied Forces. In the game, players are given to ability to play the missions of the 101st Airborne during “Mission Albany”. This game was unique because it gave players control of one of two three man squads, each character having their own identities.

Usually video games have a difficult time translating to other medium. While Nintendo’s Mario had a fun animated show, the movie was probably the worst thing I ever sat through, then again the Street Fighter movie was just as atrocious. Basically, video game adaptations are usually complete and utter shit when they are removed from a player’s hands. Even Halo has failed to make a great transition as the Bendis / Maleev series was mediocre and has been heavily delayed. A lot of the problem is that video games are indeed interactive movies; the player can become a character or characters as opposed to reading or watching them. So why on Earth did I bother even looking at Dynamite’s adaptation of Brothers in Arms? For one, I like the game and as I stated, I love World War II stories. I’ve also thought about doing video game adaptations myself because some games do deserve a faithful treatment into other medium. I’ve also been pretty happy with the last few licensed properties Dynamite has handled, so I really had no excuse to not give the book a read.

Well, I have got to say that not only was I totally surprised by this issue, it is one of the best books I have read this week. If you have played the game, this story and the characters are familiar. But for those who haven’t played the game, or didn’t pay attention to the story, everything and everyone you need to know is concisely and well-explained from the get-go. Writers Mike Neumann (also the writer of the game) and David Wohl do a magnificent job introducing the reader to these characters and giving us a little bit about each major character. The dialogue is well-done; the narration is excellent for the advancement of the characters and the advancement of the story. Most importantly, intercut with flashbacks to the characters playing baseball, there is some real substance and heart to this story.

In the modern era, one man has captured World War II brilliantly, Steven Spielberg. Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers were highly successful because of the level of realism and the pure heart and soul put into the characters and what war does to them. This kind of thing is happening in this comic book. Hell, I hope that Spielberg takes a look at this story and seriously considers making a Brothers in Arms film. Sure he’s done his seminal World War II film with Saving Private Ryan, but Spielberg has an incredible knack for World War II films. Given the cast of already established characters, the existing heart and soul of this story and the true story surrounding the events taking place, this could be an extraordinarily compelling story in film form.

There’s really a great deal of stuff inside this comic book that I don’t think I’ve ever really seen before. There’s a fascinating narrative about flak and how it works and how dangerous it is to paratroopers. There’s also a phenomenal way of transition between the character driven aspects of the story and how war and surviving the war transform them into soldiers. It’s similar to Tom Hanks’ character in Saving Private Ryan but on a much more extensive level. I honestly couldn’t put this book down and I’ve read it twice more and even dusted off the old game.

The artwork by Davide Fabbri is also well done. While it is most certainly a different medium than the video game and definitely a different style, the artwork is clear, crisp and perfect for this story. The transitions are seamless and I love the way Fabbri draws certain characters as their “normal selves” during the war scenes. For example, one of the paratrooper s was a bus driver. When he is killed on board the airplane before the jump, Fabbri first draws a panel of the character in his bus driver uniform, followed by a “current” depiction of the character dead as a soldier. There’s certainly a cinematic quality and Fabbri does a great job with this story.

Check out Brothers in Arms, you might be surprised. If you are a fan of World War II, a history buff, you enjoy the game or are looking for something new, give this shot. Personally, I hope other people like this book as much as I do, I really feel like World War II needs a comic revitalization. This is one of my Picks of the Week.

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