Sara

The book focuses on Sara, a sniper in the Russian army during WWII, who has been allowed to serve, with other members of her all-female squad, because of the losses of soldiers and territory to the Nazi's during the war. Sara is easily the best shot and most proficient killer of her unit, to the point it is mentioned she has received a Medal for her actions in hunting down and killing over a hundred enemy soldiers from Stalin himself. But.She truly hates both the Nazi's AND her own government, she just has nowhere else to go. Her commanding officer has noticed that Sara seems to be permanently angry at almost everyone and everything, but can't get Sara to say why-and actually has to warn her to not mouth off where anyone outside the unit might hear her. As it turns out, what happened to make her the way she is is both simple and truly awful. The worst thing about it, though? How she finds out the truth...She and her unit are all well aware that if they are captured alive, they all face a fate worse than death. So they won't be-by any and all means.Which leads into the appearance of an elite Nazi sniper sent to hunt down Sara herself, who has gained the attention of Nazi command. Her unit knows she's the best of them, but if she can't win this snipers duel? Her hunter will kill them all. They are the only friends and family Sara has left, though, so the question is less will she succeed, it's more how far will she go to to make sure the hunter dies?Read the book and find out, it's brutal, but well-written and very well-drawn.

A thrilling and engrossing war tale about Sara a Russian Sniper fighting the Germans on the Eastern Front during World War 2. Nor only do we have a short bit about how she became a sniper, but a great story about courage and determination by one woman and her other crew of female snipers. I also liked the cliff hanger ending too. Overall a great read. Ten out of ten.

A Garth Ennis war comic? Say it ain't so. Sara is broadly as bloodthirsty as much of Ennis's other work, particularly in this genre, though as it concerns snipers the blood is usually contained to the "pheetoooo" of a bullet whipping through a body. But colour artist Elizabeth Breitweiser gets to do some lovely blood-on-snow compositions, and this is not as mired in the mud and guts of war. The story is a deceptively simple one, Sara is a Soviet sniper - the best of her all-female troop - on the Western Front, as the Nazi's are advancing. We see her day-to-day activities, normally solitary, as she takes out opposition officers, and then in the evening as she socializes in the barracks or deals with the political officer. We also get flashbacks to her training, to see what makes her so good (hint - in the first instance it's hate). As the story progresses she starts to question the morality of her own side, the reports to the political officer, and what is done in the name of morale. And then an inevitable showdown.Sara is a war comic, and trades in the cynicism, but it is actually more like a Western, with Sara as the Wyatt Earp figure - the tallest poppy in her field. Like a revisionist Western this sees no glory in her actions, or in war. This may be a commentary on communism, but it feels a little more sophisticated than that, at least from this perspective. All that being said, the structure makes the plot rather inevitable, it is going for a classic statement here rather than trying to surprise the reader. It does reach that level as Ennis is good at this kind of clear-eyed cynicism (he is good at all kinds of cynicism), and Epting's art mixes dynamic war comic style with something a little softer and more expressive for the women back at base. Sara, for a mass killer, is a very appealing presence and despite being a loner there is enough going on around her that illuminates her actions (though her narration certainly helps). A cut above the average war comic, even if it doesn't give you much in the way of surprises.

I loved this story. A very well put together graphic novel, with good story-telling, interesting characters and beautiful artwork. Sara is a sniper in the Soviet army in World War Two, fighting the Nazis but also disillusioned with her own side. Recommended.

Really enjoyed this, the tale of a Russian women who becomes an outstanding pupil and master of rifle and scope. It’s a dark tale and shows an ambiguity to the sides involved in WW2, making things a little more grey. Pulls no punches and very well illustrated and written; no surprises given the creative talent involved.

Great story. I have a few of the TKO titles and they're all great. Well written, beautiful artwork. Oversized format too.

Garth Ennis is never better than when he writes war stories. Clearly very well researched, this is the story of Sara, one of a group of female snipers in the early stages of WWII Eastern Front conflict. The story is plausible and realistic and the ending comes as a shock.

Big fan of Garth Ennis on his punisher run but didn’t quite like this. Not good and not bad, just a middle of the road read that was just not quite good enough.