Desert Peach: The Recconing

[sailorkitty]

 

This canon takes place on the German side during WWII.

North Africa, 1941. Oberst Pfirsich Rommel dislikes nazis, racism, and warfare. He enjoys tea, kisses from his boyfriend(Who is a jerk), and a makeshift truce with local allied units. Pfirsich leads a grave-digging battalion consisting of men who somehow ended up in the army, but really shouldn’t be there. Like the pill-addict who carries a pet landmine (Named ‘Fridl’), the ex-navy who left the bilgecocks open on a destroyer(It ‘kinda sunk’), and the French Morrocan who left the Colonial army.

Pfirsich spends his days making sure the boys don’t feed each other landmines or blow up the toilet(This sometimes fails). He’s occasionally visited by his fiancé, a Luftwaffe pilot with insufferable self-esteem, who insists on physical displays of affection. (The men may not always approve, because nobody is good enough for Herr Oberst.) This is very annoying, because Pfirsich is an old-fashioned gentleman who is trying to do his job. IE care for his boys until the dreary war is over, so that Germany can have them back alive and happy.

This comic started as a joke. It grew into fleshed-out characters and a love story that may not be the most romantic thing in the world, but definitely ranks with the sweetest. A lot of this may be attributed to how human it is: Everyone feels real. There’s that guy who thinks of himself as The Best at Everything (And couldn’t possibly consider the idea of being a bother), the ill-liked political fantatic hiding a destructive inferiority complex, the surly little guy who talks big and keeps failing at the tough guy act, and quite a few more. Pfirsich himself is a kind man, who often finds himself acting the exasperated father to his rambunctious young recruits.

The author based it on her stint in the army, along with a genuine love for German culture combined with a strong anti-war sentiment. This shows in everything from the atmosphere, to the camraderie, to how the men talk - one can forgive that the truth needs be stretched to make place for an obviously gay colonel in the Heer. Refreshingly for a historical series, internalized homophobia isn’t part of the main character’s story. He is proud of who he is, and never apologizes or feels guilty about it.

The first one and a half volumes are episodic in nature, covering camp shenanigans and Pfirsich’s work to keep the unit safe. Later stories are darker, covering the end of the war and the years after in a way seldom shown to English-speakers.

Warnings:

-Issue #10 features an attempt at corrective rape via sex pollen. It is not easily forgiven in-universe.

WHERE CAN I FIND IT?:

Free sample of six stories

Entire comic for 3 dollars in a PDF download

The main character in all his glory!



Also, his boyfriend.

Pfirsich's orderly is handsome and tiny and often retreats into his superior's arms.

Like so:



Sample page:

 

Oh, and this is from the time they went disguised in drag.