Writer Richard Starkings
Cover Artist: Ladronn
Publisher: Image
Publication Date: April 2008
Format: Paperback

When an elephantman is the war toy, you can expect a compelling, hard-hitting story, just keep in mind, all toys are not fun.

“Elephantmen: War Toys #3″ is the final issue in a three-issue arc. It reads well as a single, stand-alone issue and, like all the other “Elephantmen” materi that I have read covers highly complex philosophical and ethical issues under the guise of a violent, pessimistic science-fiction odessy. While previous graphic novels have focused mainly on the difficulties the repurposed elephantmen face as they are forced to integrate with human society, “War Toys” focuses on what the Elephantmen were before, namely tools of a world war being waged by China and Africa.

Elephantmen are soldiers created through genetic manipulation to incorporate the DNA of both humans and animals. They are trained, from birth, to be ruthless, obediant, primal killers. They are larger than humans and stronger than humans and rely far more on their instincts. An elephantman (though this is a misnomer, as they not only resemble bipedal elephants, they also come in the forms of hippopautomi, crocodiles, and warthogs) given the order to kill the enemy does so without thought to whether the enemy is a man, woman, or child. They are effective, effecient, and brutal.

The horrors of war become magnified as elephantmen, ordered from the MAPPO corporation by Africa, invade Europe to enact genocide on a population already decimated by a virus. This issue takes place in France and Norway. A lone French woman named Yvette has decided to take on the elephantmen to avenge what has happened to her family, her friends, and her country. She becomes as brutal and every bit as accomplished as the elephantmen themselves. The issue culminates with a climactic confrontation between an elephantman and Yvette.

This is not a happy story. It was never intended to make the audience feel good. Instead, the goal seems to be to encourage people to think about what really happens in wars and in genocides and to assess whether they feel that the actual, human cost of war is really worth it. Elephantmen does not give concrete answers (though there is a fairly obvious slant towards a negative answer), nor does it offer a neatly wrapped package of proscribed ethics. Instead, the reader is offered a very compelling story with characters who truly seem to have no other choices than the paths that they have taken and no other logical endpoint than what is offered in the story. Elephantmen could disintegrate into a messy, didactic parpable that hammers a point home until the reader ends up angry, frustrated, and feeling more than a little gypped. Instead, the writers weave pathos, emotion, and moral dilemma into a skillful story that leaves the reader wishing that there was more. Fortunately, this is a comic book series, which allows for more story and character development.

Unlike previous volumes, this issue is printed in a lush grayscale with a hazy, pencil-shaded look that indicates (this is speculation on the part of the reviewer who only had this issue in the arc) a flashback. This is not to indicate that the artwork has less of a gritty feel or is less detailed. Rather, the quality of linework and shading in this issue is every bit as good as any other issue I’ve seen in the series. The simple removal of color simply indicates that this is a different type of story and visually draws the reader to the conclusion that these are memories, but they are very important memories.

“War Toys” is a book that I would recommend for adult readers who want a serious storyline that transends comic stereotypes. This, as with many war stories, is graphic and vicious, though not necessarily explicit. It is violent and frank which is in no way diminished by the black and white printing.

Topics: Elephantmen, Elephantmen War Toys, Image, Ladronn, Richard Starkings