Cover Image: The Night Witches

The Night Witches

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Member Reviews

Through dynamic artwork and vivid storytelling, Ennis and Braun capture the tension, drama, and adrenaline of aerial combat, as well as the camaraderie and solidarity that develop among the Night Witches as they face danger and death together. The graphic novel also explores the personal sacrifices and struggles of the pilots, from the trauma of losing friends in battle to the challenges of balancing duty with personal relationships.

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The blurb caught my attention but after that I lost my interest and didn't read this book. Maybe next time.

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I thought this was non-fiction, about the history of the Night Witches, but it's actually a fictionalized account by a (fictional) Night Witch.

The coloring is vibrant and clear, and while sometimes the scenes of war are a bit much, it's never TOO much (though the sex scenes were pretty unnecessary). Sometimes the text is a little much and overshadows the art.

A good primer for those interested in little-known Soviet- and World War II history.

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Let's get out of the way that I'm a big fan of Garth Ennis and have been for a long time. I'm also firmly convinced he's the best current writer of war comics and that he's well worthy of being mentioned along with such greats as Harvey Kurtzman, Archie Goodwin and Pat Mills.

Here, Ennis and Russ Braun give us a look at the Russian female pilots that were dubbed The Night Witches by their Nazi adversaries. The story is told through the eyes of Anna Kharkova, a young pilot and follows her through the war in the South, to Poland and ultimately to the dark days after the war of Stalinist purges. Obviously this is fictionalized. And Ennis is writing for a largely American audience of comic book readers. I don't know the actual history here well enough to call him out about inaccuracies or to praise him for historical accuracy. And that's really the point. Ennis is giving his audience something that they likely don't know much or anything about. I'm pretty well versed in the history of World War II. But I can honestly say that I knew nothing about the Night Witches before reading this work. Which may say something American's failure to appreciate the Soviet Union's part in the second World War.

So while I find this to be a very well done comic, with fabulous art by Braun, it also can act as a jumping off point to look at some portions of history that not everyone has explored.

My thanks to Net Galley, the publisher and the author for a preview copy in exchange for my reviews.

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Un frammento di Storia troppo poco conosciuto esplorato in tipico stile Ennis: brutale, talvolta esagerato, ma precisissimo nella ricostruzione storica e militare.
Sebbene non sia un autore che amo, questo è un ottimo lavoro, se si ha lo stomaco per certe scene.

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I really liked learning more about the Night Witches in this graphic novel. The illustrations were beautiful as well. Definitely recommend for people looking to learn about lesser known parts of history.

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If the Western Front in WWII is the story of determination and the triumph over evil, the Eastern front is the story of everything that is wrong with humanity. Totalitarianism, casual disregard for human life, putting principles over human decency, and the triumph of the small minded politically powerful. Through it all, the uplifting and sad story of women aviators in the Soviet Union is told through the (unrealistic as writer Garth Ennis admits) exploits of Lieutenant Anna Kharkova. Kharkova is a sunnier and less bitter (even when she is incredibly biter) character than I'm used to from Ennis, and she is truly memorable and a great contrast to the utterly horrible events taking place on the Eastern Front. Misogyny and authoritarianism make a terrible combination, and Ennis' piece can be read both as an affirmation of what is good in humanity and as a stark warning of all of the evil we are capable of.

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This graphic novel presents the story of The Night Witches through the lens of a fictional character, Anna.

At first, I was excited to get a graphic novel about The Night Witches. If you check out that Wikipedia entry, you can see they were awesome. But then, I see the main character is fictional and I felt immediate disappointment. Call me petty but I didn't want characters based on the real women, I wanted the real women. Irena may have some dramatizations but Irena existed. But I give it the benefit of the doubt and read it. 

Oof...

I didn't even like Anna, everything felt so forced - including all the random sex scenes -  the villains feel over the top, and the art style didn't click with me at all. I could tell there was an effort but, it all felt sour at the end. If anything, hopefully, this will get people curious enough to do further reading. 2 out of 5.

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Female badass pilots ! What’s not to like? I enjoyed the autobiographical approach to the comic, it was dynamic and engaging , but at times lacked flow. Beautifully illustrated and gorgeously coloured.

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This graphic novel tells the story of Russian women fighter pilots in World War Two. It is based on actual events. I had no idea that Russia trained a number of women fighter pilots. The en ding is somewhat over the top but very entertaining.

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The Night Witches is a graphic novel about a pilot assigned to an all female squadron in the Soviet Union during WWII. I did know a little about the Night Witches prior to reading this, because I’m a huge history buff, but I’m not a fan of graphic novels, so this was an interesting choice for me.

The story was really three smaller novellas (is that the correct term for a graphic novel?) put together. Anna is the main character and we follow her through the three stories. I enjoyed seeing Anna grow as a character through the stories, from starry-eyed teenager who is ready to die for the Motherland to a bitter soldier who has seen too much death and destruction. While the three were natural continuations of each other, they do cover a lot of time so you honestly don’t get to know a lot of the other characters in the book.

There’s a lot to digest. The author even adds a chapter at the end with a more detailed history of the Night Witches and some of his research. This is definitely for adults. There is lot of language, graphic violence and blood, so be warned. The artwork is amazing.

If you are interested in learning about the Night Witches or WWII history, I’d definitely recommend this. I am going to look for the other graphic novels by Mr. Ennis.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy for review.

I don't usually write reviews for graphic novels, but here we go. First off I love the subject of this graphic novel. The Night Witches were a badass group of Russian women during WW2 that joined the fight, became fighter pilots, and terrorized the hell out of Germany. These women were insanely brave. They had old fighter planes so in order to avoid early detection they had to CUT THE ENGINES, glide into position, drop bombs, and then hightail it out before they were shot down. When all this was done Russia was all "Thanks, but also don't talk about this." These women are highly decorated veterans, and there is little to no attention paid to them. The authors did a great job of telling their story through characters loosely based on actual women.

The Night Witches follows. the rise and fall of Anna Kharkova. She joins up as a teenager, and quickly rises through the ranks. The authors do a great job of showing the camaraderie between the women, and their fight to be recognized. I liked the way they showed Anna go from a naive teen, to a battle scarred woman. The artwork is just amazing. I also liked that at the end they included a lot of their research and just more information on these women. I absolutely loved this, and if you have any interest in WW2, or the premise of women fighter pilots I definitely recommend picking this up.

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As World War 2 continues Germany invades Russia, a new squadron arrives at a Russian Air Force base. They are Russian female pilots and navigators. The men at the Air Force base think that they should not be there. The females pilots was bomb at night using old biplanes. They follow orders and risked their lives. The main character Anna Kharkova does not give into her fears as she loves flying regardless of the danger of being hit by the Germans. Her unit does so much damage to German equipment that the Germans called them “Night Witches.” Anna turns up everywhere from the Battle of Kursk to the edge of the Korean War. Anna ends up in two different prison camps. Will she survive the prison camps?

A good look at what life was like Russian female soldiers especially pilots. It shows a part of history that is true even though Anna is a make believe character. I was amazed that Russia had women fighting in World War 2. There is an excellent “Afterword” at the of this graphic novel. It is thought-provoking as well as a good story.

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While I liked the historical element, the writing and artwork lacked what I've come to expect from the Garth Ennis work I've read so far. Also, the amalgamated characters, lack of some historical context, and jumps in later plot points threw me off trying to piece things together.

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This graphic novel about the Soviet Union's legendary "Night Witches"--crack aviators who fought against Germany in the Second World War--follows several women who join, train, and fight. Written and drawn in a traditional, fairly realistic style, the content will be difficult for some readers. There's a military leader forcing one of his men to rape a woman, suicide, a medic biting through a man's arm to try to save him, the eating of a dog,
It's a very "talky" coming, with a lot of telling and less showing: panels are often crowded with speech balloons to the detriment of allowing the art to function as an equal. And the book engages in the use of fake Cyrillic lettering, an annoying affectation. The dialogue often includes slang from British culture, which makes it seem less realistic and jarring in context. The Afterword to the book is perhaps its greatest strength, offering readers information on the history of the Night Witches and air warfare, although readers should be warned that it glorifies such warfare.

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Thank you to NetGalley and Naval Institute Press for an advance reader’s copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The graphics were good, although a lot of blood - which I guess I should have expected- , but the story just didn’t work well for me.

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I have tried repeatedly to open this book on multiple devices with no luck. I’m very sad that it isn’t working because I love using graphic novels in my class for students new to the country and students who are English language learners. It looks great though!

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I liked the art style in this graphic novel and I believe that it tells an important part of our history.

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As a historian I have long been fascinated by the Night Witches, and this book does them justice. Both the illustrations and the three women’s stories are powerful and compelling.
Highly recommend.

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If you like your graphic novels/comics long and full of history, have I got a recommendation for you! The Night Witches is a graphic history of one of the most fascinating groups in World War II, the Russian lady pilots who flew clunkers of bombers at night with no guides against the Nazis. I have read more than one historical fiction book about them, and it was super cool to see the story unfold through some really stellar artwork.

The book is broken up into three parts and follows pilot Lieutenant Anna Kharkova from her early days of flying to a Nazi POW camp, a tribunal and demotion, and a a long stay in a Gulag. Ann goes through more in these pages than many people could endure in several lifetimes. Despite everything the Motherland puts her through, she never waivers in her patriotism and ultimately just wants to fly and serve her country. Unfortunately, most men are not fans of women doing “men’s work.”

This is not a fun, light comic. War is hell, and many of the characters you may become attached to die. Anna goes through horrific situations, and trigger warning for rape and attempted forced rape (one Nazi soldier tries to force another soldier to rape a woman after she has already been repeatedly raped). It’s not a light subject, so I definitely want to warn you.

I took my time with this one, partly because it’s a sizeable book, and partly because I didn’t want to fly through it. An issue or two per night gave me a chance to really appreciate both the story and the art. It’s out now, so definitely keep it on your radar if you’re a history buff.

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