Customer Reviews

Unknown Soldier Vol. 1: Haunted House

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

 

 

I've just finished reading the first two trades of Unknown Soldier and must say I'm still very conflicted about this comic. On one hand I'm really getting sick of comics (particularly superhero comics) trying to address the serious issues of the REAL world using realistic violence and situations borderlining on tragedy porn. Apparently watching our favorite superhero's get raped, disemboweled, emotionally tortured or have to deal with child massacres became entertaining at some point. However this new version of Unknown Soldier never pretends to be set anywhere but the real world. It's also very well written and researched by writer Joshua Dysart.

Unknown Soldier is set in 2002 Uganda. It's protagonist is Dr. Moses Lwanga and he and his wife are on a peace-keeping mission. Through circumstances Moses is attacked and discovers he has combat abilities (ala the Bourne Identity) and proceeds to wage a one-man war against the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) and it's leader Joseph Kony. Along the way he discovers more and more the complexities of the situations in Uganda (political or otherwise) and how it effects the people who live there showing that these problems existed long before the LRA came into being.

Unknown Soldier may sound like a simple action-adventure story but it's actually very heavy handed. Every action Moses takes has an impact and not just on the LRA. He kills alot of his enemies but there are always reprocussions. Also just like real life, the LRA fights alot of it's battles with child soldiers. In this comic you will see children kill adults and other children; as well as be killed by others (including Moses himself). Normally this would be enough reason NOT to read this comic but never once did I feel it was trying to be exploitive. Even when it seems the action is starting to get too stylish there's always something to remind you of how very real this world is. Watching someone get killed (bad guy or anyone else) is anything but fun and this comic knows it.

Along with good writing is fantastic art by Alberto Ponticelli. Unknown Soldier is drawn very compitantly (great use of colors too) and helps ground the subject in reality.

Obviously Unknown Soldier isn't for everyone; in fact I'm still debating if it's even for me. The story's very realistic and grim (though the second volume offers it's characters some glimpse of hope). The story is also very intelligent and doesn't feel like it's exploiting it's real world subject matter for the sake of entertainment like so many other comics these days (i.e. Iron Man, Green Arrow, the Ultimates and just about anything Garth Ennis writes). It even encouraged me to learn more about Uganda and it's history. For that alone I think Unknown Soldier is at least worth a look.

This is an excellent and gutsy series. I completely disagree with the reviewer who finds the volume didactic. This volume takes place in AFRICA, the world's most conflicting place, with lots of geo-political intrigue and cultural self-sabotage. This book is VERY smart in it's presentation. This book is powerful on so many levels, and it's juxtapositions of ideas such as brutality and love are incredible. A warning- this book (which is full of child soldiers) contains some very dark truths and really leaves the reader thinking deeply about morality, hope, and the state of the world around us. Some may see the images in this book as pointless violence- but those people completely miss the point- and the point is that this book (like all great works) is a metaphor, and everyone on this planet is responsible for Africa and what happens there. Just as we are all responsible for each other in every capacity. It is our violence that gives rise to violence, and it is our compassion that gives rise to compassion, regardless of borders, money, or lifestyle. Great GREAT book!

I came into this book with high expectations as I've read great reviews and I am very interested in stories about Africa. The comic does not disappoint. It is sad, scary, exciting and different.

The story starts with an idealist, practical Ugandan doctor trying to help people in Northern Uganda. He is a pacifist and he is loved by the people he helps. Tragedy changes him into a soldier. This sounds like a ridiculous comic book cliché, a tragedy transforms a person into a vigilante, however the comic uses it in a new way. At almost every issue we get the notion that violence might be making things worse. The villains are monsters, but it is not clear whether violence is the way to stop them or if there's a peaceful solution. I really like that the comic keeps questioning whether violence is the way (something which comics usually take as the default answer).

The art is very well done. Ponticelli does a fantastic job of making the world feel real. It is the part of the book that makes things scary, as the visceral images bring in an extra layer of terror.

A very interesting story that makes you think of tough questions about life. I can't wait to read the next volume.

I did not know that this was a re-imagining of an older DC character when I first read through this book but that point did not matter much as this trade collects the first 6 issues of Vertigo's 'Unknown Soldier,' that kept me compelled with its tale of Ugandan strife and brutality and an anti-hero that rises from its ashes. Oh yeah, Alberto Ponticelli's artwork is a standout with a strong visual style that is both detailed, articulate and visceral.

An excellent story. The drawings are good, but the content and accurate details of the story are what make the book excellent. Having worked all over Africa and the Middle East for over a decade, I can say the book overall is somewhat accurate. Yes some things are over the top and blown out of proportion; however, the context is pretty much on par with what I've witnessed. Like I said, the story is a good read. The only thing I didn't care for was the "Unknown Soldier" title. I'm used to the WWII "Unknown Soldier" and thinking about an "Unknown Soldier" that wasn't fighting in WWII turned me off a little bit. After reading the first few pages...the title didn't matter.

it's didactic but it has to be. context is very important here.

the characters are believable. the subject is compelling. the storytelling is well done. and the art kicks butt. im highly impressed.

Some books you know from a random issue; not this one. It takes reading a full arc to understand the beauty and horror of this series. This is at the top of my monthly comic pile now. No shortage of action, either, to go along with some deep history. Unlike anything else on the stands.

To pigeonhole a book like Unknown Soldier as dark and violent from the outset would seem a normal reaction after reading the pieces of praise given by various websites, and the synopsis, both printed on the back of this trade paperback collection, but this book is, in many ways, far beyond any discernable categorization. Even its supposed genre, being an action book, its horror underpinning and the story premise of an extremist rebel group wreaking havoc in Northern Uganda, are mere backdrops to the underlying moral and social difficulties faced by most African countries. One does not simply come off reading this like you would a regular superhero comic, but gains an understanding and sympathy for the human condition in Africa and in general, and it doesn't hurt to know that Joshua Dysart achieves all this in intelligent and yet fearless style, translated into Alberto Ponticelli's gritty and yet beautiful art.

Every eye-catching sequence draws the reader ever deeper into the struggles of the Ugandan people, particularly the women and children. It all started innocently enough, with Dr. Lwanga Moses, an activist for peace in Northern Uganda, with a pacifist viewpoint, going back to the lands he originated from to heal and to repair. No other line better exemplified that viewpoint than this: "We, as a people, must teach our children that peace is their mother. Prosperity is their mother. But will we ever believe that...if we continue to answer violence with violence." When the `dark' side of Dr. Lawanga Moses, depicted here as a hidden double presence, manifested, however, he ceased to be that voice of peace and became the hand of justice and violence that strikes at the very same rebels that have plagued the women and children for a long time, the Unknown Soldier. Bit by bit and horrific scene by horrific scene, we see how this transformation happened and how it was justified. The disfiguration, along with dozens of heart wrenching scenes (like girls with stumps for legs), brings us to that emotional place of sympathy for the Ugandan people and a special attachment to the Unknown Soldier who, like the Punisher, dishes out impunity to the aggressors. It gives new meaning to the word "violence."

And with writing this suspenseful and exciting, and a pace this good, Unknown Soldier becomes a book that's impossible to fault. Dysart's source material is unmistakable, without even a hint of doubt to the plausibility of the setting or the ripped-from-the-headlines type of conflict between the Ugandan rebels and the victims. This ultra-realism is what brings it on par with comparable historic non-fiction. Unknown Soldier never feels a little like a book purely for entertainment. In fact, it is a little like watching a good documentary, but ratcheted up with graphic violence appropriate to the type typically seen in places like Uganda and spruced up with some of the best sequences done for a Vertigo comic. If there is any book that signifies Dysart's clear-cut rise to maturity in his content, this is it. This has "Magnum Opus" written all over it, and readers are sure to take in every single pulse of excitement and exhilaration in the action, absorbing every emotion of struggle within the war-torn lands of Uganda.

Ponticelli hit a home run with visuals soaking with realism to match the story's. Every person portrayed here looks like someone out of a newscast, right down to the scrawny bones of the terrorized African children. Phenomenal is the right word to describe it. It is far beyond its time, and looks, in every sense, like it very well have ushered a new generation of excellence in comic art, a level where art draws us into the story in immeasurable ways rather than push us away with unrealistic visuals.

This story resonates with astounding ease and this first volume is just the seed for things to come, which already looks epic and something for the ages. It even educates us in the process, brings its readers into the pitfalls and failings of Africa and pours a sense of identification and sympathy into them. It's almost unfair.

I'll start this out by saying I am a huge fan of what DC is doing with its Vertigo line of comics. They help fill a gap in market that Marvel and DC proper are missing.

Unknown soldier is the story of a doctor names Moses whom is working in war torn Uganda. He and his wife are both pacifists who are trying to fix the area though medical help and peace. After witness a large number of the savage attacks and activities in the region, Moses finally snaps and leaves his pacifist ideals behind. While he thinks of himself as going crazy, there is something else going on in his mind, perhaps from his past, that is teased, but not answered in this volume. It is a interesting ride following a man who put down his medical bag and picks up a automatic rifle.

I feel that the story of in this book was very strong. Joshua Dysart has fleshed out the character of Moses quite well and also creates a good protagonist. The dialog is well done and the story moves along on a very brisk pace.

The art is ok, but there are a few issues. The girls that Alberto Ponticelli draw look a bit off, but other wise it has a very intesreting style and fits well. Bring the art to higher level though is some great coloring by Oscer Celestini. His color use was my second favorite thing about this book after the writing.

Overall, I feel this is a great book to add to your library if your a fan of mature, non-super hero book. It deals with some nasty, heavy issues, but does so in a very real world way. I'm looking forward to volume two.

Being a comics fan for many years, I'd read and enjoyed previous stories involving DC Comics' "Unknown Soldier," but did not pick up the new Vertigo version when it started recently. An article in the NY Times about the new series, seeing writer Joshua Dysart's enthusiasm and charm in an interview (and he's cute, which I guess is not a very good reason to read someone's work) and a low price for this collection all convened to where I picked the book up.

It is certainly meticulously researched and gives a lot of information about the conflict in Uganda, but I found the characters uninteresting, the plot stretched interminably over 140 pages and felt that I was being hit over the head with information and "important messages."

The book got great reviews in both comics-related media and some mainstream press, so I'm probably in the minority here--but, I do not recommend this at all.