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This chick could probably kick most of Cobra’s ass on her own…

Do you know the name Kyle Baker?  No?  Not overly surprising.  His two biggest works to date are Truth: Red, White & Black and Plastic Man.  Would it surprise you though, even if you do know the name, to find out that his award shelf needs some immensely strong brackets?  He counts eight Eisner Awards, five Harvey Awards, and several Glyph Comic Awards on his trophy case.  Eight Eisners is akin to winning eight Oscars if you call acting your profession.  Harvey Awards are Emmys and Glyphs are probably closer to people’s choice awards.  Kyle Baker’s unique, award-winning style currently comes from a book he publishes through Image: Special Forces.

Written and Drawn by Kyle Baker, Special Forces follows a woman, (come to think of it, we never learn her name in this issue), apparently a GI in a ripped bikini top with an American flag on it and a pair of ‘combat bikini’ shorts that are so scandalously tiny that I would swear she resembles Paris Hilton with a shaved head, as she attempts to recover from an ambush on her unit and save her friend Zone in war torn Iraq.  Getting caught up in the turbulence of the region she finds herself kidnapped by a gang of children led by a radioactively deformed telepathic mutant baby, working with muscle bound mercenaries, whom are probably worse than the insurgents, and even dangling from a helicopter by a rope while being shot at.  All in a day’s work for the Special Forces in Iraq, eh?

To say that Baker writes a ridiculous depiction of events happening in Iraq probably reeks of understatement.  Somewhere in reading Special Forces though, it smacked me in the head that this book moves in the language of satire.  Everything about the story and the art comes across as a modern, satirical look at the war our country engaged.  The very essence of the book, a woman in a ‘combat bikini’, who most men would look at as a snack, being the only seemingly intelligent adult with any sort of moral standard even as a soldier, down to the fact that her partner gives a bad reputation to ‘slack-jawed idiots’ needing a list of minute details of what to do every day just to function.  The last page even collects real news articles to accentuate the ideas he puts forth in the issue.

Baker’s art and coloring of the book only further accentuates the satirical style.  He panels out most of the book in a very simple way, leaving lots of white space, furthering the ‘cartoony’ feel.  Several no margin splash pages really make the art pop on other pages as well.  Gritty coloring with several stand out parts (The soldier’s bright blue eyes for one) work well for the style he Baker seems to go for in Special Forces. 

Special Forces may not tickle everyone’s fancy.  Some cannot take the ultra violence, while others might dig it.  I know some end up turned off by the satirization of the horrible, bloody conflict happening overseas right now.  Some people might not even see the satirization and just see it as an over the top war comic.  Whatever your preference, Special Forces, between the creator and the content, is not the typical comic you find on the shelf.

Special Forces #3
Story & Art: Kyle Baker

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