'68: Hardship

Written by Mark Kidwell
Art by Jeff Zornow

The high water mark of Vietnam War comics has to be Jason Aaron and Cameron Stewart's Vertigo book The Other Side. It is a brilliant examination of the war, told from the perspectives of two reluctant combatants - one an American GI, the other a VC peasant.  I found the Vietnamese guy much more sympathetic, especially after the American started cracking up.

Why am I talking about that book when reviewing this first '68 one-shot since the title became an on-going series?  Basically, if the soldier from The Other Side had come back to a zombie-infested America, that series's epilogue would have been this comic.

Teddy Calhoun has completed two tours in 'Nam, and has come home on a hardship exemption because his mother was dying.  The thing is, the hardship request came at on opportune time, since his commanding officer would probably have to have given him a Section 8 designation - period Army code for a psychological disorder.  Teddy's lost it, but back home in the fields of Nebraska, it's easy for him to give in to his paranoia and delusions.  Especially after the zombies start showing up.

This is a pretty classic horror story, following some rather predictable patterns (at least until the tornado shows up), but it's still pretty interesting.  Kidwell builds up the characters quickly, and makes the story compelling.  Zornow's art works, and he has the opportunity to really cut loose (both claymores and a wheat combine get used rather novelly).  Zombies and war - the concept is so good it has to work.

'68 #4

Written by Mark Kidwell
Art by Nat Jones

It's been a while since we last saw an issue of this series, which we are told in the back is going to be an on-going series now.  My advice to the creators is that they get their scheduling together before soliciting any more issues, aside from the two one-shots that were supposed to come out quite some time ago.

'68 is a cool comic, so a lot can be forgiven, but it's always tough to read the end of a series a couple of months after the previous issue; I find it really difficult to remember what had happened before, and who the characters are.

This series ends as many a zombie comic must, with the principle characters facing a massive horde of the undead, and with a very high body count, which means that the on-going series will need some new characters.  Firebase Aries, somewhere in the jungles of Vietnam, is surrounded by zombies, protected only by the group of VC who are now manning the perimeter of the base, while the Americans within continue to argue and drink themselves into oblivion.  The sense of impending destruction is palpable, and the idea of having the zombies use muscle memory to attack with scythes, knives, and rifles is a cool one, as is the closing scene, which pays homage to the famous escape from the Vietnamese embassy.

'68 takes a neat idea, and presents it with good artwork, that reminds me a lot of Steve Dillon.  What more can we ask for?  Oh yah, that the book come out on time...

'68 #3

Written by Mark Kidwell
Art by Nat Jones

One question that always lingers in zombie books, comics, movies, or TV shows, is if the rest of the world is having the same problem.  Well, with this issue of '68, the zombie/Vietnam War mash-up comic, we spend most of our time in Berkeley, answering that very question.

The comic opens with our usual cast in Vietnam.  The Asian soldier is still trying to get back to base with a dog and a wounded man.  The people on the base are making preparations to deal with the zombie issue (this involves a strange idea concerning tin panels and pennies), but also have time to shoot one-liners at one another in typical war comic fashion.

The Berkeley stuff is pretty interesting, as it is during an anti-Vietnam protest, attended by hippies and a small Black Panther contingent, that the zombie invasion is revealed.  As tear gas canisters start to fall, people get eaten.

What's cool about this comic is the way in which it reinterprets historical events, placing them in a zombie context.  By this point, any new zombie story needs some kind of original edge; '68's is definitely original.

'68 #2

Written by Mark Kidwell
Art by Nat Jones and Tim Vigil

This mash-up of war and zombie comics is really working well for me.  Kidwell continues to introduce and develop characters, such as the CIA agent Declan Rule, while establishing that the zombie phenomenon that our soldier protagonists is experiencing is happening across Vietnam.

Reading this, I had the thought that this comic is taking place in the same year that Night of the Living Dead was released, which explains why none of the characters are able to figure out what is going on exactly, and why the z-word hasn't been used yet in this comic.

The main story jumps around some, introducing Rule, and also checking in on Yam, the Chinese-American soldier we met last month.  Yam has to decide whether or not he wants to rescue the sergeant that has been making his life miserable.  Meanwhile, back at Firebase Aries, the brass is figuring out what to do about the zombies.

Like the first issue, there is a back-up story set elsewhere in Vietnam, showing another aspect of the outbreak, this time in a comfort woman like enclosure.  In all, there's some good stuff going on with these comics.

'68 #1

Written by Mark Kidwell
Art by Nat Jones

I remember picking up the '68 one-shot a number of years ago, and enjoying it's marrying of zombie films with the Vietnam War, but I'd somehow missed the fact that the title was returning as (possibly) an on-going.  Now, I like zombie comics (at least, I love the Walking Dead and got a kick out of books like The Last Resort and XXXombies), but I love reading about the Vietnam War, so this combination is a good idea.

In this first issue, there are two stories.  The main one introduces us to a Chinese-American soldier named Yam, and a few of the various people living at Firebase Aries.  Yam's patrol encounters a group of zombie-fied Viet Cong, and it seems that Yam is the only survivor, at least for now.  The second story takes place in Saigon, and looks to be included only for the purpose of establishing the extent to which the zombie problem has spread.

This comic makes good use of tension (the scenes in the tunnel are excellent), although it does rely pretty heavily on the standard tropes of Vietnam War books, movies, and comics.  Nat Jones's art reminds me of a roughed up Steve Dillon, and is pretty effective here.  I'm definitely going to give this title a chance (although I hope subsequent issues don't cost $3.99).