Plot: Six wartime short stories with an overwhelming human touch.
In this slim volume, author Will Eisner, relates tales taken from his own experience of camp-life. Set in Korea and Vietnam, this book focuses NOT on the combat or fighting but on the wider human conflicts which impact on the lives of the various participants.
Upon reading, it becomes rapidly clear that this is not your usual run of the mill graphic novel but something a little different. For a start this entire book is viewed from a first person perspective. This unusual approach, although disorientating at first, actually serves to draw you in deeper to the tales told within. This, coupled with the highly stylised yet easy to understand artwork, gives the impression that these stories were not so much drawn, as created by some wonderful, beautiful magic.
And well they might, for Eisner is a master magician, summoning these elegant, powerful, poignant, moving tales for all to see. These tales can be ironic, tragic and amusing, yet they are always thought provoking emotional affairs, carved with a rapier-like subtlety.
All the stories are excellent - although the true jewels in this book's crown are the evocative, emotional "Last Day in Vietnam", where you are taken for a tour of the island only to find yourself in the midst of battle, and the ironic "Hard Duty", in which we see the truth behind the tough grease-monkey's front. I must admit that I finished that story with a great admiration for the cleverness of Eisner.
To conclude, I need to first state who this collection is NOT for. It is NOT for the gung-ho, guts-and-all war fanatic. It is NOT for those who want an action-packed extravaganza. Those people will be sorely disappointed. On the other hand, if you are one of those who are looking for something a little different, that actually makes you think, then this book is for you.
So, not recommended for everyone, but superb nevertheless.
