“The boys have not yet learned how to live, but by God they know how to die.”
-Waffen, SS Officer Kurt “Panzer” Meyer on his Hitler Youth Grenadiers

“Listen, Sugar. Don’t take this the wrong way, but – even though you got some real sweet, real kind eyes . . . you look like a man who’s got some nasty ideas”
-Waitress in Carolina

It’s raining hard as John Summer makes his way south through America’s heartland in 1971 on a mysterious quest, accompanied only by his dog, Sam, a loaded gun and Death.

It’s also raining in Germany, in the last days of World War II, as the Wolfpack of five lost, but determined, Hitler Youth ready to make their stand against the Allies and claim a page of glory in the Thousand-Year Reich.

After three issues of deft set-up, all the pieces are in motion in the fourth issue of Tony Keaton’s Wolves of Summer, and the story seems to move inexorably towards its conclusion somewhere in Copper Point, FL.   Much of the issue is taken with the story of the Young Werewolves and their attack on an Allied convoy, moving quickly back and forth between the easy joy of boys playing at war and the terrifying consequences of war itself.  A downed Luftwaffe pilot provides an ominous beacon to the boys in their mission, and a chance meeting with an old woman in a field gives us the portent that times and feelings are changing around them, even as they seek their own validation and redemptions.

Artist Andrew Herbst manages to admirably capture that uneasy swing between joy and terror during the attack, as well as Hans’ moral dilemma, while Keaton’s storytelling masterfully teases us with the outcome, at least until next issue.

What’s awaiting John Summer in Copper Point?  Is Death there for him or his destination?  Is redemption even possible for him.  Wait for issue five.

And, in some other good news, if you haven’t read the first three issues, they’ve been collected into one volume though Comixology with some nice supplementary materials (scripts and process pages), an additional story by Andrew Herbst called “Words Can Never Hurt Me, ” as well as Keaton’s afterward “A Tale of Three Rambos,” in which he talks about some of the inspirations for the book. You can pick it up, as well as the current issue, on 9/25/13 and be completely up to date when John Summer confronts his demons.  Things are coming to a head.  Don’t miss it.

VERDICT:    FIVE Vintage Hitler Youth Knives out of FIVE