The 2000AD founder Pat Mills’s introduction to this rewarding anthology is full of fury at those who talk of “a noble sacrifice and a just war”. There’s certainly nothing rosy about the 28 strips that follow. The first world war’s headlines – Franz Ferdinand, Ypres, the Somme and dogfights – are here, but the focus is on more personal, less familiar stories. So we get Zeppelins over Yarmouth, East African stretcher bearers, the lurching confusion of a tank crew, cats, war reporters, nurses on the Eastern Front and a teenager shot for desertion. Even the quirkier stories have an edge: an account of a famous circus elephant also features unreported air raids and negligent officers, while a merrily illustrated PoW escape doubles as a tale of class privilege. The mix of styles can be jarring and some strips are on the raw side, unsurprisingly given the number of relative newcomers doing the writing and drawing. But this wealth of voices is also a great strength: To End All Wars is not just worthy (some of the proceeds from each book go to Médecins Sans Frontières), but enjoyable and illuminating too.
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