How do you conduct a murder investigation in the middle of widespread carnage? Find out in Chuck Dixon's compelling mystery about a serial killer in Germany during the waning days of WWII.

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Product Description

Berlin, Germany, 1945: The tide of the war has turned in favor of the Allies. The fall of the Nazi empire is inevitable, but there is still something even more dangerous than the ever approaching Allies to the Third Reich: The Iron Ghost. It's up to two non-Nazi German police officers to capture the Ghost. But once they discover the truth will they want to - or even be able to - stop him?

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2179008 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

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Customer Reviews

Iron Ghost
I seem to be hitting a lot of superior mysteries in graphic novels lately. Identity Crisis, Batman: Broken City, Hawkman: Rise Of The Golden Eagle...even Batman: Face The Face was entertaining. Now we have the Iron Ghost loose in decimated Berlin of 1945, killing off despicable Nazis with rare German .45 Lugers only a few of which were made in 1907.

A few civilian police officers work with that clue, and only a few others, to try and stop the slayings; these detectives are named Tannhauser and Volz, and they occasionally clash with Gestapo agents, who have not officially been assigned the Iron Ghost case (they have other problems, in 1945), but like to meddle in various intimidating ways, including torturing a suspect where Tannhauser and Volz are more inclined to interrogate.

The reader is present for most of the Iron Ghost's handiwork, which would make the case very easy for readers like me to solve if the Iron Ghost didn't wear a mask and dress pretty much like a supervillain. He's a pretty impressive-looking specimen, adept at cornering Nazis anywhere in war-ravaged Berlin--in alleys, in a German tavern, where the weapon of choice when outnumbered is a flamethrower, and even at an airfield crawling with German soldiers, where an aged General is just seconds away from fleeing Germany when the Ghost makes his fatal move. All the while we see images of sundered Berlin--the dazed homeless scurrying past rubble, or a dead horse, in the streets. And we see planes of the Allies relentlessly continuing the bombing. If the art lacks a strong mood, it certainly presents all the research that obviously went into this story.

Several interesting characters help fill out the action: disillusioned German air ace turned prime murder suspect Josef Meier; lying radio-propaganda master Werner Wecht; sultry Gestapo agent Lisa who has a talent for surviving close calls (but can it last forever, when she finds herself repeatedly in the path of the Iron Ghost?); arms manufacturer Klaus Essen who can't seem to account for the whereabouts of his rare pistol.

The creative team avoids the moral grey area inherent in a story about police trying to stop a scourge of the worst Nazis, by simply telling the story. No editorializing by the author, even through the mouths of his characters. So, in the end, the story lacks bite in terms of manipulating your sympathies and, as I say, the art doesn't quite generate a powerful emotional ping in the reader, like maybe pure horror. Iron Ghost is simply about action, a little bit of romance, a lot of suspense, historical accuracy, and trying to build a strong whodunit. At all of this, Iron Ghost succeeds, using high-velocity pace and terrific dialogue. The final solution to the mystery is not mind-blowing, but it is set up nicely, and the mask is pulled off with panache by the storytellers.

Despite my criticisms, this is a very engrossing period-piece, that makes you ponder who the murderer is, but not any moral ambiguities.