Abominable Glory Review and Interview

Abominable Glory is the new graphic novel by Martin Hayes and Chris Askham. It is a gut-ripping yarn of blood and bullets, monsters and madmen, and bravery beyond belief. Set in the Himalayas in 1943, this is a war story.When a plane carrying a spy with a head full of Axis war secrets goes missing above the Zemu Glacier, a group of elite British Commandos is dispatched to get him back. But they aren't the only ones looking for him, and there's something else prowling the icy wastes.

Let's start by saying that this is definitely a book for adults. Set during World War II with soldiers in awful conditions, it's to be expected that there will be blood and a lot of swearing. You're life is threatened, you're freezing cold, you don't really know what's going on... you can excuse the guys for swearing a fair bit - and anyone who knows English commanders knew that they loved dropping the F-bomb.

The characters are well defined so you know who everyone is and what their place is within their squad. Nicely, you can tell this just through their speech. The characters aren't fleshed out, but there's no need for them to be as you easily get a sense of what each character is like.

Story wise, it's brutal. Like bloody brutal. It is war time though. People die, sometimes brutally like having their head removed from their shoulders. What felt weird was that apart from one German, the rest came off looking a bit better - they didn't really swear, they were composed, etc. There's a definite difference between how the English and the Germans speak. That's not a criticism... for all I know that's exactly how things were. I fully expect that the English swore a lot and the Germans were more relaxed and ruthless. It stands out here though and really helps define the difference between the opposing sides, even if you've not noticed the differences in winter clothing.

The artist, Chris Askham, is very talented. It's odd to see someone using the halftone effect these days, but it still works. It's an old technique, but with black and white comics it can still look effective. It certainly helps that the underlying lines are good. There's a particular page (which you can see below) where no words are used at all, but just showing a downed plane in the middle of nowhere. It's an effective page showing just how bad things can get very quickly with snow affecting everything.

The only problem - it felt like it ended a bit too soon. It's a story that could easily have been stretched out, one that could have spanned two or three books. It doesn't feel rushed, which is good, but it could have gone on a bit longer. Who knows though, maybe there will be more like this down the line. It ends pretty definitively though... and I guess we'll never know what those secrets were that everyone was after.

As well as being able to preview this graphic novel, Comic Book News also got the chance to speak to the author Martin Hayes:

CBN: Could you tell us a bit about how this story came about?

MH: There's actually an essay on this very topic in the bonus material at the back of the book, but, long story short, Abominable Glory sprang from the collision in my increasingly bewildered brain of two of the great fascinations of my childhood: war comics and films, and the whole arena of what you might call Fortean phenomena. Specifically, I always loved gritty comics like Commando and Battle Action, and TV shows like Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World, which would discuss topics like bigfoot and the yeti and such. Also, thinking on it now, one of my favourite films is The Abominable Snowman, an early Hammer Horror project staring Peter Cushing and Forrest Tucker. I've watched that film probably fifty times over the years. So, yeah, basically all this stuff has been sloshing around in my brain since I was a boy and eventually it all got mushed together and Abominable Glory fell out. 

CBN: If you have to pick one page or scene as your favourite, which would it be?

MH: I'll go you one better, I can pick a favourite panel. It's this one, a half-body shot of Murray. I just love the expression Chris Askham captured here. Shock, terror, bewilderment: he got it all in one panel.

CBN: What did you consider to be the most fun part about writing this graphic novel?

MH: Getting to scratch those twin itches of wanting to write a WWII story and a monster story at the same time. And it's always a joy to see a project coming together, seeing the art pages coming in, seeing the lettered pages appear in Dropbox, a real joy.

CBN: Are there any plans for a follow up book?

MH: No, I don't think so. I am planning to do another WWII based book but I think this is all we'll see of these particular characters.

CBN: Do you have a next book in mind to write?

MH: Well, the Abominable Glory team of me, Chris Askham on art, and Bram Meehan on lettering and design have just pitched another story to a publisher. We've had some positive feedback and are now awaiting the final decision. Should know within a week or two. Apart from that, I've got a few of other pitches in the works at the moment but it's too early to say if anything will come of them yet.