[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”23502″ img_size=”366×570″ alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]I have had the fortune of being able to read DC Vertigo’s Six Days: The Incredible Story of D-Day’s Lost Chapter, a telling event of a mis-drop that landed 182 members of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division in the French countryside, which was about eighteen miles southeast of the intended target. On June 1944 during WWII, the soldiers are brought into the town of Graignes and are fed and given shelter by the residents there, despite knowing that there could be consequences to their actions. We are given a glimpse into the next six days that include the Americans and French citizens fighting against a small German militia; 2,000 to be exact.
The beginning of the book begins with a quote:
“Just after midnight on June 6, 1944, more than 1,000 aircraft carrying three airborne divisions left England for drop zones in Normandy, France. It was the start of Operation Overlord and the campaign to liberate Europe from the stranglehold of Nazi Germany.
In the words of Supreme Allied Commander, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere marched with them.
This is a war story. But, at its heart, it is about people from different culture coming together for the common good.
The world will always need that.”
This is not a story of heroes who fly or who wear capes. Superman does not pop up to save the day in this comic book. Rather a tale of a different kind of hero and the reality it is based off of is put front and center in D-Day’s Lost Chapter. We see the very human banter that goes on between soldiers as they are waiting for battle, the little moments of peace they have with the French townspeople, and very real dread that came with the daunting realization that the enemy is rapidly approaching.
The book starts with the mis-drop, which was the biggest one on the history of war; and we very quickly see the soldiers recalculating their next move when they see the town of Graignes. Despite being wary of the Americans’ presence and what that could mean for their village, the French civilians welcome the soldiers in, and feed them. They even dance with them and there’s a few endearing moments in between the war. Not only are we given the perspective of the soldiers, but those who live there as well and the fear they have about the potential of the Nazis coming to town.
A very common theme is played throughout D-Day’s Lost Chapter. Despite the fact that they speak different languages and come from different countries, the thing that connects them all is that they are human. We laugh, we eat, we dance, and we love – all very tangible aspects of human nature that can be communicated no matter what culture you are from. And it was a nice reprieve in the book, to really highlight the six days these soldiers spent there.
The book itself reads very well and you will flip the pages rapidly, wanting to see what happens next. Devastation and loss happen quickly and we are given two very powerful moments at the end of the book that really makes you reflect on what you had just read. I really, thoroughly enjoyed this comic book, but that could just be the history lover in me. To see Kevin Maurer and Robert Venditti bring us this story is honorable and powerful. The illustration work was just what the book needed to tell this real-life event. I would suggest picking up a copy, which was released on May 14th and reading every page and taking it all in.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
A girl with too many fandoms to count.
