I was looking forward to this one but the articles at the end were more informative than the comic itself. The story was disjointed, skipping chunks of time without notice. After the initial setup with the three main people we follow in Africa, it dissolves into a hard to follow mess.

Super confusing, probably because I don't know a ton about WWII to begin with, and much less about the war from the British Army's POV. Also, it was really hard to keep track of the two IDENTICAL looking characters, one of which was the narrator. Would have made more sense in my brain if they were more easily distinguishable from each other.
And for a war graphic, there was almost no actual action in this, which made it kind of dull.

'The Regiment-The True Story of the SAS Volume 1' by Vincent Brugeas with art by Thomas Legrain is an action graphic novel based on a true story.

The SAS was formed during the early years of World War II. The book focuses on three key individuals: David Stirling, Blair "Paddy" Mayne and "Jock" Lewes. This special forces group is tasked with sneaking on to enemy airbases in Africa and blowing up planes. The work is hard. The training is hard. There are setbacks. Despite this, the group becomes pretty legendary.

Included after the graphic novel is some great supplemental material about the war and the men featured in the book. The art is really great and the story moves along at a good clip.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Europe Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

The aspect of putting a reader in the mindset of a war zone, especially of a time passed has to interrelate in some ways to the people fighting it. In “The Regiment – The True Story Of The SAS – Book One” [Vincent Brugeas/Europe Comics/70pgs], it is the balance (like the recent “Project Blue Book”) about the balance of personalities. In this telling of the SAS in the Egyptian desert, it is three men: Sterling, Jock and Paddy from the perspective of a lower munitions specialist that give the narrative life. The progression is the texture of hotheaded bravado versus the idea of strategy. The key to the story here is to take out the Nazi air capabilities by sending small teams into and infiltrating the air bases and blowing up the aircraft with small compacted bombs. The irony of the bombs becomes the fact that while they are made of plastic explosives and thermite, but it is the addition of common motor oil that gives it the ability to burn the aspects around it. While much is made of the set up plus some of the failed times to accomplish a mission, when the victory finally comes to bear, the strategy is one of fanfare but also of great energy. There is also a sense of almost foolhardy patriotism which distinctly feels worthwhile and full of energy with the reckless actions of hothead Paddy. The epilogue elements paint how the SAS was formed and maintained in certain countries but also how its intelligence gathering is comported which was its initial creation point and continues to serve the world today.

B

By TIm Wassberg

This is a comic that tells the story of the early days in the most famous Special Forces unit in the world: The British Special Air Services. I have been fascinated with the Special Air Services (SAS) ever since I was a kid reading military history and seeing pictures of the famous counter-terrorism mission of storming the Iranian embassy in London when it was taken over by terrorists. This comic book is about the SAS origin’s in the North African desert during World War Two. The work was originally in French but was translated into English by the publisher.
I thought this work was well done in terms of its historical detail. The comic book began its account with the founder of the Special Air Service a young British officer name David Stirling going to the British military jail to convince a rogue and belligerent officer name Paddy Mayne to become the second in command in his new outfit (the SAS). Right off the bat you get the sense of the personality of Paddy Mayne as being someone who loves to fight and loves thinking outside the box of conventional British military thinking. In fact you see more of Mayne’s personality as the book progresses. From the jail scene we see Stirling going uphill to get permission and train up an outfit that would take the fight to the enemy. Stirling’s idea was of a small unit that is capable of making strategic impact beyond the size of the men involved. He wanted to have an outfit that would go deep into the desert of North Africa and strike at the Germans in a way that cripple their military capabilities. But he not only have to deal with Germans but also military politics and the unforgiving Saharan desert.
Again as I mentioned I was surprised at how well researched the writer and illustrator poured into this comic book. Pretty weighty for a comic book actually. For instance I appreciated that the work also showed the working relationship between the SAS and another colorful unit, the Long Range Desert Group (LDRG). In fact while I was reading this it reminded me a lot of my reading of a book on SAS history titled Rogue Heroes: The History of the SAS, Britain’s Secret Special Forces Unit That Sabotaged the Nazis and Changed the Nature of War. After the comics was done there’s several pages of historical information laid out in magazine style. I appreciated this section of the book as well.
The only criticism I have of this book is the final interview with a Jean-Dominque Merchet who is a French journalist and Special Forces expert. But it was kind of generic and at times off. After saying the SAS didn’t invented anything (really?) he says the SAS invented the four man team. It’s a self-contradiction within the same paragraph. Also the SAS did not invent four man fire team. He also said Navy SEALs were more killers than commandos. What does that even mean? The work was so good without this last part. Having the last interview would give this work a tabloid gossip feel rather than the professional well done artistic and historical work that the artist and writer displayed in this book.
NOTE: This book was provided to me free by Europe Comics and Net Galley without any obligation for a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

I'm sad, because I like stories set during 1939-1945, but this was plain. Dialogues seems to be a bit vague, characters underdeveloped, it was all kind of made in a quick way or what, very confusing sometimes, I don't know, it had that effect on me. Art is okay, could be better but after all I saw this week, I could call this masterpiece compared to those other things. But though my opinion is what it is, I think anyone who likes war stories should read this.

Hmmm… I had second thoughts about trying this one, and while I did learn a little of the origins of the SAS, both in the body of the book and the non-comic book addenda that close, I doubt if I'll remember much of it. It's all a little understated and low on drama. Enthusiasts will like as not know much of the contents, so it only really serves to act as a stepping stone to enthusiasm, for a select few readers.

Unlike most graphic novels, I picked up The Regiment: The True Story of the SAS by Vincent Brugeas and Thomas Legrain for its subject matter. As far as war-based fiction is concerned, North Africa has not received the same attention as central Europe and I was eager to wander off the beaten path and explore less trodden territory.

The tone of the narrative is complex both politically and interpersonally. Brugeas’ characterizations of Robert ‘Paddy’ Blair Mayne, John ‘Jock’ Steel Lewes, and David Archibald Stirling each boast a depth I’m unaccustomed to seeing in this genre and I found the effort put forth by the author on this front quite refreshing.

The story is primarily focused on the founding of the SAS (Special Air Service), a commando force that was conceived to operate behind enemy lines in the North African Campaign, but footnotes in the narrative illustrate the experiences of those who fight on the front lines in a unique and compelling way.

This book tells the story of the origins of the SAS. The artwork is good but the story itself is a bit confusing.

I think this would be a great book for anyone who wants to know about the SAS because the book also comes with photo and with a detailed history which would be useful for readers.

So a good book if you are interested in learning more about the SAS.

Copy provided by Europe Comics via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

Vincent Brugeas and company has provided an short, nicely illustrated origin to the Secret Air Service. They provide background on the milieu that lead to the SAS, the LRDG, the Commando's and other special units. If you have an interest in these units or in World War II history, you are likely to enjoy The Regiment.

This graphic novel is about SAS (Special action group); special unit of British army on Egyptian front during World war 2.
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Heroes of SAS, David Stirling, Robert Mayne and John Lewes who worked together to disable air force of opposite party.
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German army attacked on Libia front and British army had to retreat to Egypt and then SAS was formed to engage in guerrilla warfare and to attack enemy airfields.
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Drawing is awesome and formatting of comic pages is excellent. Depiction of rain and night scenes is realistic. Shade of colors, is adjusted according to time of the day during which event takes place.
Captions are easily readable and fight scenes are pretty nice.
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Being a story based on true events, this book is very good one for nonfiction lovers, who can enjoy visual feast.

The graphic novel side of the story is a little boring, in the sense it reflects the early frustrations of the men who came to lead the first commando units and the struggles and setbacks that they faced.
It was a steep learning curve and it is interesting to read and learn it was undoubtedly their involvement with the LRDG, the Long Range Desert Group that helped bring them more securely into being.
The comic book format has some excellent illustrations of desert locations and a few combat engagements. However, it is the lack of action and successes that are detailed here, the unlikely genesis of these fighting units that were nearly strangled at birth due to their unusual approach, lack of regimental control and initial failures.
What is more interesting still, are the few pages after the illustrated story concludes, that gives biographies and the later engagements, bringing the story of the SAS up to date.

A story of regiments , units which are joined together to accomplish tasks against Nazi. A good non fiction story told through graphic format. Good for a person to know about that time and courage holding capacity then.

Returning to graphic novels/comics after decades of novels may mean I am not well qualified to review them. 'The Regiment' is well drawn but the dialogue is dry and vague. It is the last ten pages that give a better hoistory of the SAS and those pages are not graphic.

This comic provides a quick history of the creation of Britain's SAS military unit. While the comic depicts bloodshed and contains profanity, neither are in excess or are overly used. The storyline is presented in enough detail to follow the action, but what I really appreciated was the endnotes that provided photographs of the real characters depicted in the story along with additional information of the history of the SAS with a timeline. For those who enjoy war stories, as many middle and high school aged students do, this is a way to sneak in history with a good read.

The "Regiment" tells about the less-than-smooth beginnings of the SAS and in doing so both teaches and takes one out behind enemy lines in the North African Campaign. In short, this is a solid read.