Vietnam Journal

by Don Lomax

I love a good war comic, and Don Lomax excels at the genre.  He is a veteran of the Vietnam War, who began writing about it in comics in the 1980s with his Vietnam Journal series.  This graphic novel, published in 2003, collects some of the issues of that comic, although I'm not really able to tell which ones.  I know that Transfuzion Publishing is currently reprinting the whole series; I'm going to guess that this book contains the contents of the first two of the Transfuzion books, but I'm not sure.

Anyway, Vietnam Journal is about a journalist, Scott Neithammer, called Journal by the troops, who is reporting on the Vietnam war, having embedded himself with a group of front-line soldiers.  The stories in this comic are the standard, grounds-eye view of war tales we've come to expect from good war comics.  Lomax, and Journal, are prone to sentimentality at times (such as in the first story, which talks about a 'lucky' field jacket), but they also never shy away from some of the darker aspects, and decisions, of warfare.

At the core of this book is Journal's respect and regard of the troops.  It's central to how the character interacts with them, and in his willingness to pick up a gun or do anything else necessary to help out when they're in a tight spot.

Lomax's art is dense and detailed.  He has a good eye for military equipment, and for human facial expressions.  This is a very enjoyable read.