Children of the Grave

(Shooting Star, 2005)
™ and © Shooting Star Comisc, LLC

For those longing for a return of Two-Fisted Tales, Frontline Combat, or Blazing Combat need look no further than this book for its gritty wartime realism. Set in modern times in an adventure where US forces battle the evil terrorists guilty of genocide and worse crimes in order to save the newly orphaned children from Colonel Akbar Assan. While the stories are much more fictional in nature, the intensity and attention to detail should more than make up for the fact that these tales are not based on specific battles or events.

— Mark Arnold

From the Comics Buyer’s Guide:

IDW has collected the four-issue 2005 mini-series from Shooting Star Comics in this trade paperback, and it’s a welcome addition to the publisher’s catalog. Tom Waltz and Casey Maloney’s story about the hell and hope of a war is powerful at times and never less than thought-provoking.

The story follows a group of soldiers who investigate a mass murder of children by the evil Col. Akbar Assan. As the soldiers struggle to survive and bring justice to Assan, the ghosts of the murdered children become involved in a quest for vengeance.

This “director’s cut” includes newly remastered (aka grayscaled) art, as well as a guest-artist pin-up gallery, an additional eight-page story by Waltz and Maloney, and more.

Fans of war fiction or action comics will appreciate the depth of the story. The characters aren’t always dynamic, but the combination of characters with the horrific situation and their struggles with their beliefs and the realities of war make this a tale worth reading. Waltz and Maloney have created an engaging, enthralling story.

— Ray Sidman

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