Battle Born

Battle Born is rightly called cinematic. It is well drawn and a fine example of the graphic novel medium from Maximilian Uriarte. This book ranks as yet another work that shows the power graphic novels hold in telling visual stories and acts as a counternarrative to their assumed simplicity.

Wow.

Just wow. I downloaded this, and read it in one sitting, thinking I would just take one look at it, to see how it was. I usually don’t like stories set during war times, but the people were so interesting and distinct, and full of life, I had to know what would happen. I even pushed on when the Arabic wasn’t translated, because I figured we would know what was being said at one point.

War stories are gruesome. there is nothing that can be done about that, no matter when they take place, or who is fighting. There are rules, to be sure, but sometimes you don’t obey the rules, and it might be justified, but probably it isn’t.

All this to say that this graphic novel pulls you along, even if you are not into violence, or war stories, or any of those things.

Very violent. Lots of swearing. But, the author was also in the marines, so I’m sure he knows how they talk.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Wow. This was a visceral and stunning war story in a modern setting. Disclaimer that there is graphic violence and language, as you'd expect from such a scenario. Read it in one sitting and have already recommended to others.

Damn. I guess it takes a former Marine to write and draw a modern day war graphic novel. This is the story of a platoon of Marines sent to a remote region of Afghanistan to stop the Taliban from selling lapis lazuli, now classified as a conflict mineral. It turns into so much more when the sergeant grows a fondness for the people. It's gritty, visceral and full of emotion. I could even look past the long scenes that were untranslated from Arabic. The art is very solid although it can be difficult to distinguish who's who when their gear is on.