Customer Reviews

The Other Side

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While I've always had a soft spot for comics like The Nam or Vietnam War Journal, the latter of those was probably my favorite for its more unflinching depiction of war and the characters' knee-deep-in-it placement. While I'll always applaud Marvel for even putting out The Nam, I always felt like too many issues left the devastation in the background, in the form of explosions on the horizon with characters reflecting back on it from their safe distance. That and the Punisher cameo. When I found Apple's Vietnam War Journal, it seemed a much more intense and authentic experience - it wasn't a Marvel comic, so you knew someone was going to die and stay dead; hell, it was in black-and-white - anything goes. Anyway, let me get to the point before I further digress into my criticisms and verbose rants (insert trademark symbol). It's been many years since either of those books have seen print, and - as far as my memory serves - the comic shelves haven't seen a war comic in quite some time, aside from a handful of Ennis titles. So it was a pleasant surprise to see Vertigo putting out this mini-series last year; even more so that it was really good.

Jason Aaron is related to the late author Gus Hasford (The Short Timers, among others, which became Full Metal Jacket), and it was nice to see that unforgettably great phrases like "get ready to run like a bald-headed chicken f***er" run in the family. In fact, one of the great things about this title is the superb balance of good dialogue and resonating imagery. Whether it be talking rats taking dibs on a young private's eyes when he dies, ghastly uniformed skeletons in the chopper waiting to land with everyone else on board, or heaps of bodies unceremoniously populating the setting, the line between the "real" and the "unreal" becomes moot in war, and they are both just as haunting. Cameron Stewart is a good asset to Aaron's script as well, and his art delivers the same "freaking-creepy" factor which I liked in some of his past work, like Seaguy.

If you missed the mini-series, pick up this newly released trade; it is not your typical Vietnam War story, and while that is one of its greatest strengths, it is such an engaging read that even the most rigid advocates of formulaic plot will have trouble not enjoying it. Yes, even you die-hard Marvel people (sorry, I couldn't resist). While you're at the comic shop, look for Aaron's newest from Vertigo, Scalped. It is just as good. Trust me, Captain America will come back, Superman will still fly, and The Crisis of 52 Infinite Civil Wars will come and go and come back again and again, and you won't be missing too much by passing on those and instead trying out something new. Who knows, when it's done this well, you may never go back to tights and capes again. Besides, Steve Rogers never had dialogue as good as "I'm ready for death ... and yonder the f***er comes."

I didn't expect a comic to be so moving or for its story to linger with me. Innocence Lost is a theme much explored in the best of literature, and it gets a fresh take here. By showing us how war damages in particular two soldiers, American and Vietnamese, Aaron shows how war damages us all. The dialog rings true, and the pacing is excellent. I look forward to seeing more from this exceptionally talented writer.

Jason Aaron takes us back to the Vietnam war where a young man from Alabama is drafted to fight for the US Army and another young man from North Vietnam is drafted to fight for the Vietnamese Army. The book follows the stories of these two young men as they train for war and make their way to the battlefields where their paths are destined to cross. Welcome to the Other Side.

Aaron is probably one of the best new comics writers to emerge in the last few years and having read his work on big Marvel properties like Wolverine and Punisher, I can say that I was already deeply impressed with the man's abilities in writing amazing comics. "The Other Side" shows Aaron giving range to his storytelling abilities, leaving the superhero world behind to tell the story of real life heroes with no superpowers but with no less heroism or anguish or humanity to them than any other.

Needless to say the story is harrowing. Aaron spares no gruesome details to this bloody chapter of American and Vietnamese history. The genocide being enacted by the Vietnamese army against its own people, the atrocities being committed by the Americans with weapons like Agent Orange, the mutilated piles of dead bodies being flung into mass graves, the mutations following the introduction of such devastating chemicals to humans and indigenous animals - the reader is exposed to it all.

Aaron also takes you into the minds of these two young men as they take in this hellish nightmare and how their young minds are slowly warped to the point where the American man is hallucinating dead bodies following him everywhere and his gun talking to him, to the Vietnamese man who imagines gods and monsters talking to him and taking him on a Dante-esque journey through hell.

Cameron Stewart does an amazing job with the art. I loved his work on Grant Morrison's Batman Vs Robin and am so glad that that job was given to him for his work on this book. The pages of military characters trudging through forests are juxtaposed with flights of fantasy as Stewart takes the character's madness and lets loose beautiful drawings of dragons in the sky, an army of zombies crawling across a burning field, and subtle changes to the heroes' faces as the days make their mark on their souls. Truly amazing work.

There were a couple of moments in the book where I felt Aaron and Stewart had taken liberally from that famous Vietnam masterwork "Full Metal Jacket" (particularly the drill instructor) until I read the afterword where Aaron mentions that "Full Metal Jacket" was written by his cousin who also wrote the book the film was based upon "The Short-timers" and that "The Other Side" was written in tribute to his cousin's great work.

This is an unforgettable and compelling piece of comic book art, the kind of book that deserves a far wider audience than just those who read comics. It's well written, well illustrated, and a fantastic read. The ending in particular will break your heart. A powerful book, highly recommended.

Good book, arrived in great condition and in a timely manner. Pleased all around. Thank you!

I will admit that I am a sucker for Superhero comics. For the longest time it was the bulk of my comic purchases. I have been trying to branch out lately in my comic selection and I have enjoyed Jason Aaron's previous work on Scalped Vol. 1: Indian Country and his run of Ghost Rider Vol. 1: Hell Bent and Heaven Bound (v. 5). So at [...] for the trade, I decided to pick this up.

The story is told from the perspective of an American soldier and a Vietnamese soldier's journal entries of the Vietnam war. Without spoiling anything, I want to say that this is a solid read from beginning to end, no filler. It is violent, scary, sad, and it has some awesome imagery of how each soldiers mind starts to give out as the war progresses on.

When I first flipped through the trade, I was a bit disappointed by the artwork because it seemed too "cartoon-like" for a War story to be taken serious. But once I got home and started reading, those feelings went right out the window as the story took over. Maybe it was just the strength of the story, I don't know.

You don't need any prior knowledge going into this to enjoy it. A solid trade of a Great War story for a good price, highly recommended.

At first I wasn't sure of what to make of the ghostly visions seen by Marine Private Billy Everette in this comic, but by the end of the book, and its final shot (to the gut), the whole thing came together in expert fashion. At times the back and forth between the U.S. soldier's and the Vietnam soldier's story got a little too choppy, and some of the events feel like we've watched them unspool on movie screens before, but Cameron Stewart's grisly rendering of Jason Aaron's script made the horrors come to life in shocking, effective detail--and in ways we've never seen on a comic book page or anywhere else. And it only gets more cringe-inducing the longer it sits with you. Good stuff.

if i were you, i'd check this out of a library or buy it from a used book store.

its a good read (will only take an hour or two), but i'm not sure this is one that HAS to be in your library.