War and its every aspect are fertile ground to tell compelling stories about the human condition. Some creators focus on positivity and tell stories about sacrifice and heroism, while others emphasize the negativities, such as bigotry and hatred.
War comics and graphic novels date back to the Golden Age, where several titles popped up with the age of WWI and WWII.
There're many war comics and novels that you can find on the market. Here's our list of some of the best ones out there, telling tales of sailors, soldiers, pilots, commandos, spies, and civilians dealing with the terrors and traumas of bloody combat.
War Is Hell: The First Flight of The Phantom Eagle
War Is Hell is based on WWI, a story about a mystery aviator named Karl Kaufmann. Karl arrives confidently at the Western Front in his plane, dressed in an outlandish manner and come to kill the Hun.
Suddenly, he's confronted by a staggering loss and witnesses violence at a scale that he never imagined. During the process, he must deal with the harsh reality of the horrific conflict. This is one gory story that truly lives up to its name!
Winter Soldier: Winter Kills
During the sharp divisions of the Civil War, James Buchanan Barnes, aka Winter Soldier (formerly Captain America's ally Bucky) is dealt with his first 21st Century Christmas and made to do some terrible things on various operations. Finally, HYDRA controls him with a variant of super-soldier serum, turning him into a highly-skilled assassin. And now he learns about everything he has been through while under the influence.
Twists of Fate
Twists of Fate is about Spanish veteran Miguel Ruiz who was exiled in France. Ruiz was a member of La Nueve (The Nine), a company of men who actively took part in the Spanish Civil War and went straight to the global battles of WWII.
The novel tells the story about their trek across Europe and then towards Africa, a journey that stretched for many years. They were spurred with the love of their country and the hatred for dictatorships. Twists of Fate is full of color illustrations depicting the terrors that war brings.
Titanium Rain (Vol. 1)
Our instincts to survive have made us who we are today. Titanium Rain is just about the survival instincts of mankind and how it is tested in a Chinese Civil War that turns into a global conflict in the year 2031.
A strong mix of sci-fi and military genres, it's about Alec Killian, a USAF pilot who has to shed some humanity like many others in exchange for machines and biotech. The story goes through the worst of mankind to reach its absolute best.
Thumbprint
Thumbprint is about Private Mallory Grennan who has done some terrible assignments as the prison worker at Abu Ghraib. She is being discharged from the Army and thinks she is leaving her past life behind, but things go south from there. Writer Joe Hill and Jason Ciaramella have done a fabulous job of turning your guts inside out as you go through this gripping, sad tale.
Rock: The Prophecy
Sgt. Rock and his Easy Company parachute their way into Lithuania, occupied by Nazis. Their assignment is to rescue a rabbi, bring him to America, and make the Holocaust horrors known to the entire globe. The novel tells the story in great detail to keep the reader anxious and guessing all the time.
The Rest Of Heaven Was Blue
The Rest Of Heaven Was Blue is about a young soldier in the Vietnam War who's dealing with the personal descent into purgatory. Under a firestorm of grenades, napalm, and bullets, he is in a moral abyss. He is tormented by seeing the dead soldiers around him while hounded by some illusionary phantom. Heaven doesn't hide anything from us, and neither does Hell.
Executive Outcomes
Major Cobus Claassens is commander of a company of 150 mercenaries assigned to stabilize Sierra Leone, a war-torn West African country. Cobus and his men battle overwhelming odds as allies to a small contingent of soldiers against 15000 rebel fighters hell-bent on genocide. They must deal with political pressure while handling the treacherous butchering battleground, all while trying to do what is right.
Born
In those waning days of the notorious Vietnam War, the Punisher is born. The year is 1971. Casualties are mounting and so is anti-war sentiment. In an isolated valley on the Cambodian border, Cpt. Frank Castle is among the few soldiers who are still fully committed to fighting their enemy.
Reserves are dwindling so Frank has to stand up against an enemy planning to wipe out the entire platoon. His actions will alter his course of life once and for all. This is Marvel Comics at its best, with numerous twists and turns revealing how the Punisher turned into the urban vigilante that he is now.
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