A Fistful of War Comics (for Veterans’ Day)

Conceived and used with the permission of Matthew Constantine and Brad Gullickson, the original dorks.

Everyone has a “Top 5.”  But Brad and Matt, choose to walk a different path, amended that to “A Fistful…” over at their blog, In the Mouth of Dorkness.  A film-centric blog where they also discuss comics and books and TV, these two regularly share their top 5, ranging from “Heroic Kids” to “Spies” to “Summer Movies” to “Punches” to all things in between.  Always fun, often insightful, and something I hope to regularly pilfer for Warrior27.  As they say:  If you’re going to steal, steal from those you know relatively well, who will not sue you.

In honor of Veteran’s Day, in no particular order, here are five of the best war comics from my collection. 

5. Blazing Combat



Reprinting the legendary four issues of Blazing Combat, this Fantagraphics collection includes all the stories written by Archie Goodwin, with artwork from Wally Wood, John Severin, Frank Frazetta, Gene Colan, and Alex Toth.  In the vein of EC, published by Warren, these stories from the mid-1960s showed the horrors of war, in a manner not seen in comics, or in much of popular culture.  They are rightfully considered some of the best comics ever produced. 

4. Enemy Ace: War Idyll, written & painted by George Pratt

In 1990, George Pratt brought back the classic DC comics character, the Enemy Ace, but as a dying man in 1969.  Interviewed by a reporter, who turns out to have been a tunnel rat in Vietnam.  In the sharing of their stories, they discover an unexpected connection that will lead to a truth both have been avoiding for a long time.  With lush painted artwork from Pratt, this is a beautiful, as well as a touching, story. 

3. Unknown Soldier by James Owsley (Christopher Priest) & Phil Gascoine



Eschewing previous continuity—while also being ignored by later writers—Owsley and Gascoine’s series tells the story of an actual immortal soldier who is far more cynical than the patriotic character created by Robert Kanigher & Joe Kubert.  With solid art from Gascoine and a gripping story from Owsley (known today by the name Christopher Priest), this is a classic war comic that rarely gets mentioned.  But it should be. 

2. Jack Kirby’s The Losers

Kirby created, defined, and redefined more comic book characters and genres than any other artist or writer in the field, and his Losers, written & drawn by “the King,” is possibly his best writing effort, including Kamandi and his Fourth World saga. These comics are full-on Kirby, with his dynamic artistry and storytelling on display, but when I first read these, it was the words that jumped out at me.  Missing are the stilted dialogue and the overreaching hyperbole found in so much of his work.  Not to denigrate Kirby’s other writing efforts, which have a charm and excitement, but the reading of these dozen war stories was so smooth and easy that it stood out.  Kirby was a WWII veteran, and he infused this comic with those experiences, and maybe the reality of those coupled with the weightiness of the subject matter inspired Kirby’s writing in these.  It’s definitely one of his finest runs on a series. 

1. Vietnam Journal by Don Lomax

This is one of my all-time favorite comic series.  The combination of Lomax’s loose, moody artwork with stories culled form his experiences in Vietnam resulted in something special.  Touching, unvarnished, heart wrenching, and mysterious, these comics, especially the first 16 issues, are incredibly gripping.  I cannot recommend this series highly enough.  Check here for more on this amazing comic. 

Vietnam Journal by Don Lomax, an important comic

Some of my earliest published writing were reviews of small press comics, for Independent Propaganda and then the Pulse.  During that time, I also submitted work to a fledgling, and now-defunct, site: graphicnovelreview(dot)com.  The main stipulation for their reviews were that they not go over 500 words.  It was a fun challenge, trying to get everything I wanted to say on the page while being economical with my words, and I was happy with the submission I crafted for Don Lomax's Vietnam Journal.  I never did hear back from them.  No big deal.  But, I did come across that piece in an old file folder a few days back and thought I would share--not just because I generally like what I wrote, but because Vietnam Journal is a great comic (#7 in my personal Top Ten all time comics--storylines edition).  Hope you enjoy.  And if you're looking for a great war comic, seek this book out, it's collected and available through Amazon.

Back in the World: a review of the graphic novel Vietnam Journal,

created by Don Lomax, published by Transfuzion publishing.

By C. M. Beckett

Written and illustrated by Don Lomax, Vietnam Journal is a brutally honest look at what it was like incountry during the Vietnam conflict.  Wishing to “ . . . counter the sophomoric, one-man-war approach to Vietnam” typified by the Rambo movies, Lomax opts in favor of diverse characters dealing with the horror of their reality.  In a genre that falls so easily into cliché – John Wayne, Sgt. Rock, et al. – Lomax sidesteps these deftly while telling stories focused on serious, and sometimes unsettling, issues. 

The first chapter, “The Field Jacket,” exemplifies this when Scott “Journal” Neithammer, a freelance news correspondent, relates the story of the tattered field jacket he wears to his new comrades.  He shares how one wearer avoided fatal injury from a homemade explosive while another’s mission was unexpectedly aborted.  In every instance, the owner believed his good fortune was a result of the jacket’s protective qualities.  When each of these soldiers left Vietnam – either due to a serious, or fatal, injury – the field jacket passed to another grunt until ultimately being laid at Journal’s feet.  With its supernatural pedigree, Journal sees it in the same light as its previous owners, a good luck charm.  In the end, however, the soldiers in Journal’s new company point out that the only luck that can be ascribed to the jacket is bad, since most who wore it became “believers.”  These soldiers, despite having just crossed from the threshold of boyhood, realize that bravado and superstition won’t help them survive.

Lomax’s art is not as polished as you might find in more mainstream comics, but there is a fluidity to his work reminiscent of Will Eisner or Stephen Bissette.  What Lomax’s art lacks in “beauty” is more than offset by his skilled use of the comic page’s unique strengths.  His backgrounds are fully realized, evoking the splendor and harshness of Vietnam, while splash pages are used sparingly, adding to their impact and allowing them to resonate long after one closes the book. 

Lomax is also one of a handful of creators able to use captions successfully.  Rather than reiterating what can be found in the pictures, he utilizes them to add to the narrative.  Lomax allows the images and words to mesh together in service to the story, elevating Vietnam Journal above the vast majority of graphic novels found on the shelves.

Like any good work of fiction, Vietnam Journal also educates its readers.  Not only does it inform its audience of those turbulent times – through the “Back in the World” feature, which includes excerpts from newspaper stories of the day – but the book also teaches readers about life.  With events continuing to spiral out of control in the Middle East, these stories are more relevant today than when initially produced twenty years ago.  Mr. Lomax presents an unfiltered view of what war is really like based on his own tour of duty in Vietnam.  These are important stories that should be shared so their lessons can be passed on to a new generation.