303

Story: Garth Ennis
Art: Jacen Burrows
Color: Greg Waller
Cover: Jacen Burrows
Publisher: Avatar Press
6 issue mini-series
Mature Readers

So this Ex Spetnaz Russian Colonel decides to take an antique 303 British Army rifle and walk from Afghanistan to America and kill a very important governmental figure. Can any one guess who will be assassinated?
That’s the premise of Garth Ennis’ comic 303 from Avatar Press, and it’s one that fits in nicely with existing reality. Ennis fills in the blanks as to how to go about killing someone worth killing, especially a world leader. First off show how much of a bad ass this character is and then give him a mission that is not only insane but pretty much impossible. That’s where the 303 rifle comes into play. Ennis’ imagination shows how one man with one gun can change the status quo for the entire world.
The Russian Colonel has no name, and for the task he has embarked on, he doesn’t need one. All he knows is that he needs to fulfill this mission no matter who or what gets in his way. His chosen weapon is an antiquated rifle that’s been around for nearly 100 years. They don’t make them like that anymore and Ennis throws in some historical reference on the rifle that I found fascinating. The historical facts show how this rifle and others like it helped soldiers shape the outcome of war in different parts of the world. This one rifle made a huge impact on warfare and how they just don’t make them this reliable anymore.
The Colonel is also cut from the same cloth, old school and hard line tactics. He does not waver and is not impressed by new recruits, he is there to do a job, killing folks, and he does his job well and without mistakes.From the battle ravaged deserts of Afghanistan, the Colonel begins his march, his mission.
The body count piles up as the Colonel walks the path of what he feels will be his redemption to every single person he has murdered, for everything he’s ever done wrong or perhaps, for what the world has made him do. We realize early on that the Russian has been born for war and for the craft of death. All his enemies follow him as apparitions everywhere he goes, like silent ghosts that do not really haunt him, but are there as a reminder of what he does and what he needs to do. That is until he reaches America, that’s right he gets to America with the rifle, but in the middle of the southwest, on another desert much like Afghanistan, he meets someone much like him, a cop who has problems realizing his place in the world other than being the strong arm of the law. The law is all this sheriff has and he intends to uphold it even when this stranger with a strange rifle comes through town. When the two meet, we’re left asking if the Russian will complete his mission or if the law will prevail.
Jacen Burrows provides the art and the book looks awesome for it. I discovered Burrows when he drew Warren Ellis’ SCARS for Avatar Press and I have followed his work ever since. Don’t get me wrong, this comic is about war and the art brings those images vividly to life. Burrows captures the atrocities of war as well as the human emotions that run rampant in that setting. The Colonel’s story unfolds in spectacular widescreen shots provided by Burrows’ art. The gore is highly detailed, not just a red splotch on the page, but entrails and tissue is delivered to the eye in dramatic fashion.The books were a bit late in coming out but I was finally able to acquire the full story recently. Ennis delivered what I had hoped for, a raw story, full of action and brilliant imagery.
This is Ennis at his best, no holds barred, take no prisoners and tell it like it is. It made want to know more about this mysterious Russian who had killed so many people that the ghosts followed him around everywhere he went.
So go out and find copies of 303 before the NSA and Homeland Security get wind that someone has dared speak out in comic book form on what I think should be done in order to save the world from itself. It’s rare nowadays to find a comic where the story makes you think of how things would be if someone decided to change the world. This series delivered an answer to that question. Ennis delivers war in comic book form as well as redemption from those atrocities in a twisted way. Maybe in a few weeks, as long as the government isn’t listening, I’ll start shopping around for an antique model 303, and one lone bullet, because, usually it’s up to a lone gunman and God as his witness to right the wrongs of madmen and tyrants…

Originally posted on www.hiredgunthecomic.com January 2006