A while back I read J.E. Macdonnell’s World War II naval adventure novel THE BUFFER and really enjoyed it. Recently I noticed that an issue of COMMANDO, the British series of digest-sized graphic novels about war, also has an entry called THE BUFFER, and it was written by one of my favorite authors, Brent Towns. Well, you don’t have to hit this old boy over the head. I immediately grabbed the Kindle version of that issue and read it, too.
The characters and story are completely different, of course, no relation to Macdonnell’s novel. In this version, the Buffer is Michael O’Rourke, a chief petty officer on the Australian destroyer Norse. O’Rourke has issues with his temper, and whenever the Norse is in port, he’s constantly getting into fights and thrown into the brig by the MPs. He’s a top-notch sailor, though. When the destroyer encounters a Japanese submarine while patrolling and is sunk, O’Rourke and one other sailor are the only survivors. Other members of the crew would have made it if the sub hadn’t surfaced and killed them all with machine gun fire.
O’Rourke and his companion make it ashore on an island where they’re found by an Australian coastwatcher. A team of Australian commandos come into play, too, because they’re on the island to carry out a vital mission. Unfortunately, O’Rourke’s volatile temper endangers not only that mission but all of their lives. Can he get control of himself long enough to keep from costing them everything?
I’ve said it before, but man, Brent Towns knows how to spin a yarn. The pace in this one is almost non-stop, but in the midst of all that action he also manages to create some compelling characters. The art is by Paolo Ongaro and does a good job of keeping the story rocketing along. THE BUFFER is half naval adventure, half jungle warfare, and Towns and Ongaro capture both very well. I had a great time reading it, and if you’re a fan of fast-moving World War II fiction, I give it a high recommendation.
By the way, while I was there I bought all the other issues of COMMANDO scripted by Towns that I hadn’t already bought and read, so there’ll probably be more of these reviews coming up in the near future.
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