TRUE WAR STORIES is not the sort of book I normally read, but wow it's a beautiful book - almost a "coffee table" kinda creation, printed on heavy, glossy stock, and it probably weighs a couple of pounds. The cover art is eye-catching with its desert camo color scheme, and the art inside the book is all startling in its detail and mood-setting shades and colors. The odd thing, for me, is that this is a COMIC BOOK! But a beautiful comic book, one to handle with care. The settings of the fifteen stories here range from the Vietnam war era to the present day wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with a couple side trips into Haiti and the Philippines. Some are deadly serious in their depictions of seriously injured men, post-service PTSD, two half-brothers meeting in a war zone, and even the trials of a transgender airman. But some are less so, such as one unit's attempts to rid their supply room of rats who are plundering their favorite cookies, or an inflatable sex toy that requires all hands on deck. I only recognized a couple of the contributors here - Randy Brown (aka Charlie Sherpa), who writes a couple of service-related blogs and has published a fine poetry collection, WELCOME TO FOB HAIKU; and Brandon Davis Jennings, whose books, BATTLE RATTLE and OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM IS MY FAULT, I enjoyed tremendously. In fact, the latter's piece here, "Airman Jennings the Impaler," is perhaps the funniest one in the whole collection, with its not-very-subtle parody of classic comics like "Captain America" or "Blackhawk." I was gonna give TRUE WAR STORIES only four stars, because comics just aren't really my thing. But hey, as a graphic collection of stories about war and the military and all the great art and the gorgeous presentation, this is simply a first-class production. And my hat is off to its editors, Alex de Campi and Khai Krumbhaar. And kudos to all the storytellers and artists involved. So, five stars. And to anyone who collects graphic novels or graphic-art comics, or whatever you call this kind of stuff, my highest recommendation.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the Cold War memoir, SOLDIER BOY: AT PLAY IN THE ASA ( )