Customer Reviews

Last Day In Vietnam

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Will Eisner shares a handful of his observations and experiences during the Vietnam Conflict in this 80 page, graphic novella, "Last Day in Vietnam."

While the stories all contain a poignant moment or two (mostly along the variety of 'war is hell') the narrative is somewhat constrained by Eisner's signature artistic style - a euphoric, cartoony aesthetic - that seems somewhat out of place in constrast to the bleak message of the stories. That being said, fans of Eisner's work along with those who appreciate War comics will find some enjoyment from this title.

"Last day in Vietnam", the graphic novel by Will Eisner. This book constituted a series of short stories. An anthology. However, peering through the same wavelenght, it is indicative to another denotation-- a collections of short stories gleaned from factual encounters by the author, during those indelible memories of his life of actually in more than one war. The book title, explicitly pinpointing to the feature story that runs from the opening pages & as well endowed with the most abundant pages, with 32-page allotment.

"The last day in Vietnam", the installment, was one of best anthologies played out in this graphic novel, along with the poignant last anthology. This feature was told with a first-person narrative technique. As one of the military authority escorting a press agent, whose whole individual per se, in no way & none anyhow, could be chance upon by the readers, to their war camp. In short, the military man was chattering to akin in front to a virtual hand-held camera. The artwork veritably confirmed this take, clearly depicted this proposition.

Overall, "the last day in Vietnam" feature is a prolific, little short anecdote. Although, I suspect, it is obligatory to re-read the story more than once like I did, to contemplate what the author, Will Eisner, furnishing to say. A slightly suspenseful & chilling effort.

In my perspective, this book is not one of the author best of endeavors. However, the stories constituted here are wholly allegorical in nature, they are symphathetic & relatable in real life. The core genre of these stories are pertinent to war. More than once, Will Eisner was indeed drafted & participated with other novice draftees, as he was hurled into the horizon of war to fight for his mother country.The whole presented here are pleasant, heartwarming, some funny, some tragedic. This book was crafted during the latter years in the 1990's.

The last story is one of the best, if not the best composed here. It was a story of a draftee who was a recidivist of a drunkard, hankering to vault from working a desk job to a full-blown military combatant, one who will actually tread into the wilderness & shall brazenly endures a real-life nightmare amidst with others. His friends, like a clockwork, doggingly showed earnest concern for his person by frequently like a ritual, tearing off his application to shift duty. However, one day his colleague, unfortunately, did not salvaged this inopportune circumstance, thus, their worst fear came to life.

This particular short yarn turned out, surprisingly, a poignant & fulfilling story. They were as well evocative, pleasant & allegorical. It portrayed to us the unrevealed dimensions of war. Superior story.

Will Eisner, one of the pioneers who help shaped the tumultuous maelstrom of the graphic novel industry. His name is a legend in the comicworld. I muse,in my opinion, as a token of appreciation, buying a copy from each one of us like this particular book, shall certainly reciprocated to "the man" whose cinch to become one of the legendary names in the industry for decades to come, as a homage.

The size of the book is appproximately, 8.5" X ll" (width to lengh), virtually commensurating to an oversized graphic novel book. The paper quality is sepia tone (light brown color), good thickness & coarse paper, softcover & inked (drawn) in brown color, 80 pages. Overall, good production quality.

If you will like this book, perhaps you will also love other graphic novels I'm extremely fond of. Such as "To the heart of the storm" by Will Eisner; A Jew in communist Prague vol. 1-3 softcover by Vittorio Giardino; "Age of bronze" by Eric Shanower; "Four women" by Sam Kieth; "Batman: Absolution" by J.M. DeMatteis; "Green Lantern: Willworld" by J.M. DeMatteis.

An astounding book to buy & add to your collections.

Highly recommended !

As the introduction for this books indicates, Will Eisner used his graphic talents to educate US armed forces in three conflicts -- WWII, Korea and Vietnam. His work in this small but impressive volume is mostly taken from Korea and Vietnam, and touches on peripheral stories of these conflicts. "Last Day in Vietnam" follows Eisner's guide to the war, a stocky, macho rearguard major who is suddenly confronted with fear on his last day "in country". "A Purple Heart for George" tells the tale of a young soldier who is bellicose when drunk and of the file clerks who try to keep him out of combat. "The Periphery" is about journalists -- those who "report" from the comfort of a Saigon café and those who return from hotter areas. "The Casualty" is about a wounded GI reminiscing about his Vietnamese lover and the pain she brought him. And "A Dull Day in Korea" tells the story of a bored GI on the DMZ in Korea, who has a loaded rifle but no enemy to shoot at.

Each tale is told with Eisner's trademark brevity. The entire book can be read in less than half an hour. This leads to some disappointment as each of these too-brief stories ends. Some tales are a bit too comic-bookish for my taste -- a few too many situations are resolved by a characters facing out at the reader with a "so, what are you gonna do?" quizzical gesture. One story, about a soldir who loves killing, ends with a too-easy comic reversal.

But as with all of Eisner's work, the images and stories stay with you long after you put the book down.While this is not my favorite Eisner work (check out the "Contract with God" trilogy) it is good stuff and worth a look.

Not his best but among the best in general. If zou like Eisner you cannot miss this...