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Garth Ennis is a successful and prolific writer whose best known works are with such comic books as the Preacher and The Boys. However he’s also written many war comics. His latest work is The Stringbags which focuses on a WWII aviation arm of the British Royal Navy. The crews flew in archaic machines to do the jobs that needed to get done. We spoke about this Fairey Swordfish unit, his graphic novel, and a bit about war comic book history.
(The audio player is at the bottom of the post.)
0:44 – Garth talks about writing war comics and reading them when he was a kid in Northern Ireland.
3:34 – Garth talks about his interest in WWII and other conflicts.
4:33 – Garth talks about the development of his writing.
5:47 – Garth explains why he wrote about the Stringbags.
14:00 – Garth talks about how he created the characters that conducted the historical operations.
15:56 – Garth talks about the operation against the Bismark.
17:34 – Garth discusses the thematic focus of his graphic novel.
20:15 – Garth talks about the types of pilots who flew the Swordfish.
22:58 – Garth talks about where the Swordfish flew from and technical details about the plane.
25:46 – Garth talks about how much the Stringbags are celebrated in the UK.
27:20 – Garth talks about Swordfish loses in WWII.
29:56 – Garth talks about the manufacture of the Swordfish and the Albacore.
31:52 – Garth talks about the armament and the radar of the Swordfish.
34:55 – Garth how he did his research for the graphic novel.
37:02 – Garth talks about the additional research he’s done for the novel.
40:50 – Garth talks about the first air museum he saw Ireland.
45:19 – Garth talks about his revival of the war comic Johnny Red and how he helps the reader differentiate between fact and fiction.
48:58 – Garth talks about his surprise that men flew in the Swordfish against much more modern weaponry.
50:51 – Garth talks about the German praise for the Swordfish crews.
53:46 – Garth talks about the promotion of war comics in comic book stores.
56:29 – Garth talks about pitching the revival of the comic book Enemy Ace.
58:55 – Garth talks about the historical accuracy of his war comics and The Stringbags.
1:01:16 – Garth talks about the support the Naval Institute Press gave to the novel.
1:01:55 – Garth talks about the war projects he’d like to write about going forward.
1:05:18 – Garth can be found by looking for him on Amazon, Marvel, DC, Dynamite, Avatar, and Aftershock.
Links of interest
https://www.deadreckoning.org/book/the-stringbags/
https://www.amazon.com/Garth-Ennis/e/B000APF7BM/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1
For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me at www.warscholar.org, on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar. Or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify
Guests: Garth Ennis
Host: Cris Alvarez
Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, graphic novel, war comic, Stringbags, Ireland, war comics, Vietnam, Alan Muir, Swordfish, torpedo bomber, Royal Navy, British, Taranto, Bismark, Channel Dash, Tuskeegee Airmen, Tirpitz, aviator, strike arm, torpedo, Charles lamb, Fairy Swordfish, WWII, world war two, world war 2, deflection shooting, Grumman Avenger, Albacore, radar, Taranto, Lancaster Bomber, Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, Hastings, Charnhorst, DC comics, Enemy Ace, Preacher, Dynamite Entertainment, Aftershock, Avatar, TKO, Night Watches, Axis
Check out this book here https://amzn.to/2XdDsj2
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