Peter Panzerfaust #16

By Kurtis J. Weibe, Tyler Jenkins and Kelly Fitzpatrick

For the better part of this series, writer Kurtis Weibe, has used flashbacks from main characters to tell the story of Peter. This issue takes that and gives it an interesting twist. John, the biographer, visits the house where an important battle was fought and as he’s getting the grand tour from the current owner, the scenes flashback to the battle, also moving from color to grey tones as John tries to get a feeling for what these kids went through. The transitions from new to old are brilliantly planned and executed by artist Tyler Jenkins with colorist Kelly Fitzpatrick and it’s a real treat for long time readers who may have been tiring of the format of talking to one of the surviving members and then going right into a flashback.

Now, that’s not to say the old way actually was becoming old, because each issue was told from a different perspective, and it was great to see how the character had grown and their personal feelings with the war and their time with Peter. It was, however, a fresh and exciting way to start the new Tiger Lily arc that, if this issue is any indication, is going to be fantastic.

As mentioned above, Jenkins & Fitzpatrick’s handling of the transitions in the first handful of pages was brilliant. Every single issue, Jenkins seems to improve and try new things and he has yet to disappoint. All the flashbacks being done in grey tones was an excellent way to view his work as well, it might, arguably, look better than the color work. It just gives it a grittier feeling, and adds weight to the war and especially the scenes in this issue’s flashbacks so; hopefully, we’ll get more of this from Jenkins and Fitzpatrick as this arc plays out.

This is almost like the little book that could. When it first came out, it’s doubtful that too many people knew what it was about or really cared. Around the time we got to see Hook for the first time, the book exploded and issues were selling for big bucks and people were going nuts for it. It can’t be stressed enough that it’s all 100% deserved. All the hype, all the craze behind Peter Panzerfaust, couldn’t be more deserved. Weibe, Jenkins and Fitzpatrick smash it out of the park and you’d be a damn fool to keep missing out.