Review of "303 Issue 1," comic by Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows

 Review of

303 Issue 1, comic by Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows

Five out of five stars

Search for downed prize hardware in Afghanistan

 This creators of this comic did a superb job of setting the context for an engaging story. A small group of what appear to be international mercenaries is being guided through the wilds of Afghanistan. They are being led a large Russian man carrying a Lee-Enfield rifle. Some of the history of that weapon is given, from the use in Europe in 1914 to the mountains of Afghanistan when is was used by the Afghans to chase out the Soviet army.

 At this time, the group are being guided by a local Afghan man and they are searching for a crashed American transport that contains very valuable cargo. They are not the only team searching, there is an American search effort as well as a British one. An unusual feature of the scenario is that the British offered to assist the Americans and that offer was rebuffed.

 The leader of the mercenary group is a very wise and experienced old soldier. He served in Afghanistan, so he knows the terrain as well as how the locals will react. It is a tactical game of military chess, as each side makes their decisions based on the cold calculations of the advantages of wounding one of the other side.

 This comic ends with a cliffhanger that injects a desire in the reader to read the subsequent issues. It is a great story that is a bit more topical, given the recent events in Afghanistan.