Pundits who might have been expecting Combat Zone: True Tales of GIs in Iraq to be a right-wing smart bomb directed at the hearts and minds of conservative-leaning comics fans can rest easy, as whatever value it may have in that regard is severely undermined by the fact that its one of the most boring comics I've ever read. A dud, literally and figuratively.

Supposedly depicting "real-life accounts" of soldiers from the 82nd Airborne during the opening days of the war in Iraq, Karl Zinsmeister, editor-in-chief of The American Enterprise [now called The American], opts to change names and combine events "for a more condensed read," undermining the credibility of the "True Tales" aspect of the story. It's similar in intent to what the Army did with the initial story of Jessica Lynch's capture and rescue -- dutifully regurgita..., I mean, reported by the embedded journalists covering the war -- except he fails to deliver any of that ultimately discredited fable's emotional impact. Whereas Lynch's experience was a great story because of who she was and how she handled things, especially in helping the whole truth come out, there's not a single three-dimensional character in Zinsmeister's collection of cardboard ciphers for the reader to care about. As a result, the difficult decisions, heroic actions and tragic casualties all ring hollow, feeling too much like plot points in a low-budget, by-the-numbers Hollywood movie. "True Tales" or not, without an emotional center to ground things, he ends up with a disappointingly shallow effort that's a disservice to the men and women he's attempting to represent, seemingly much more focused on hammering home the point that America plays by the rules and the Iraqis don't, and showing off our technological superiority.

Dan Jurgens offers Zinsmeister little help on the visual side of things, seemingly phoning it in with little effort put towards creating distinctive, or even consistent, character designs, making the "Cast of Characters" roll call at the beginning of the story all but useless. His page layouts are relatively static, rarely varying his angles, especially in the many panels of clumsy exposition, though in his defense, Zinsmeister doesn't give him a lot to work with.

Whatever side of the ideological fence you may currently reside on, there is some great story-telling potential in the concept, ACTUAL True Tales of GIs in Iraq. Unfortunately, whatever Zinsmeister's talents may be as an editor and journalist, they do not translate into compelling sequential art. Taken at its word, the back cover's hyperbolic blurb -- "Combat comics are taken to a whole new level!" -- suggests Zinsmeister may be the first writer to achieve boring and unnecessary in the genre. If Marvel's intent behind this series was to show support for our troops, they'd have been better off making a donation equal to its production costs to a charitable organization like No Greater Love instead. Same goes for anyone considering dropping $19.95 for Combat Zone; put your money to better use.

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez is a Mets fan from the Bronx, and has a beautiful wife and two amazing kids. He won some poetry slams, founded a reading series, co-authored a book of poetry, and still writes when the mood hits him and he has the time. He prefers Pumpkin and India Pale Ales or Skyy Vodka with cranberry, still reads comic books, and hasn't completely let go of his plans for world domination.

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Keywords : Reviews, Politics, 9/11, Iraq, Military, Graphic Novel

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