Book Review: Creature Commandos

Various authors, Creature Commandos. Burbank, CA: DC Comics, 2023. ISBN: 9781779524393. 

Genre: comics and graphic novels

Subgenre: classic horror monsters, DC Comics, World War II

Format: trade paperback, compilation

Source: Eastside Branch, Lexington (KY) Public Library

 

This is a DC 1980s comics series about a special commando unit in World War II. Led by human lieutenant Matthew Shrieve, the commandos are Warren Griffith (werewolf), Sergeant Vincent Velcro (vampire), Private Elliot "Lucky" Taylor (Frankenstein's Monster), and later joined by Dr. Myrra Rhodic, (a gorgon, though she lacks the power to turn men to stone). The volume collects 20 issues of the series that first appeared in the Weird War Tales comics series from DC. 

To be honest, this is not the best DC has created and published. The concept is great, and it reminds me of other classic monster groups. The main issue is in the scripts and stories; they are not that good. The stories are typical World War II patriotic fare, and that is still somewhat good even if there is not much depth. Light fare can be fun. The problem is the stories are saddled with some heavy melodrama and a good amount of treacle. The at times syrupy sentimentality just takes away from what can be fun action war stories. In addition, Shrieve constantly berating his team for the sake of being tough just gets old after a few issues. In addition, I do not think the comics have aged well. 

As I said, the overall concept is great, which is probably why DC is resurrecting it for a streaming series (link to Wikipedia). From the looks of it, as often happens in adaptations, they are taking quite a few creative liberties, so it may be interesting to see how far different the series is from the comics, but that is another story for another time. Back to the comics, I really wanted to like this collections, but the reading experience was a drag and tiresome after a while. Hardcore DC fans may like it better and/or want to read it to be completists, but casual readers may want to skip it and read something else. For me, it was just OK. 

2 out of 5 stars.