The Other Side
I don’t know what prompted me to actually buying this on Saturday. I was in the store, and I’ve got to say that there was a huge amount of books that were all vying for my attention, but for some reason the fact that this book was nominated for an Eisner really made me sit up and give it a shot; I’m soo glad I did. I tore through this 5 issue mini series like few other books I’ve read in a really long time.
The Other Side is hard to describe without doing it some injustice. It’s not just a ‘war’ story, it’s much more than that. It’s a world view and has something very important to address to everyone who’s interested in current affairs and the actual effect that current events will have on many generations to come. You’d think that being from a war torn country I’d try my best to avoid being reminded of the horrors of war, however this book is different and deserves your attention.
The Other Side is a story set in Vietnam as viewed from both sides of the fence. That is part of the reason why this book appealed to me in the first place. For years now, I’ve watched a plethora of movies that are either set in Vietnam or set around that time, or having something to say about it. Unfortunately I honestly can’t remember when or if I’ve ever been shown the war from the point of view of the Vietnamese. I’m sure there must have been some brilliant movies that I’m not aware of but the ones that come to mind, ‘Good Morning Vietnam’, ‘Platoon’, ‘Apocalypse Now’, ‘Forest Gump’ all show the events from an American perspective. Nothing wrong with that, it’s just that the other side has not really been greatly discussed as far as I’m concerned, and that is where this story elevates itself above the rest instead of spiralling into a standard ‘war story’.
To be fair it’s not an original trick to show both sides of the coin, so Jason Aaron definitely did his job in grabbing my attention, but he really had to work to keep my interest. In this regard he has definitely taken it to another level. Any time (and I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before) that I actually smile at the end of a comic, I know I’m onto something good. I had a massive smile at the end of issue 1 and in the middle of issue 3, because Jason uses the comic book format to tell a story that could only be told in this format. You couldn’t pull off this sort of thing in a movie, or in a book. There’s something about the whole experience of turning a page to the big reveal. Or the dual internal monologues crisscrossing between the actual protagonists. Aaron used a lot of tricks to great effect which I for one definitely enjoyed.
The other thing that really comes off very well is the realism of the characters. They’ve got distinct voices and the way he’s established this is by making sure you get to know the characters in another context than what they’re going through right now. This is mainly internal thoughts that discuss what they would be doing if they were anywhere but fighting a war that neither really wanted to fight.
The other great thing is the juxtaposition of where these two characters were at the beginning of the story and where they end up. It’s a story where the characters evolve and you can see why they are changing; you can feel the change with them.
Cameron Stewart is the artist on this book with Dean White on colours. I’ve not seen much of Cameron’s work in the past, mainly Catwoman during Ed Brubaker’s run on that title. The thing is he wouldn’t be my first choice for a story such as this and yet him and Dean simply do some of the best artwork I’ve seen on a war related story. There is a quiet subtly to their work which I truly appreciate and you can see that there is a certain love of the craft and the story that they are telling. The characters are distinct and the shots that they utilise really capitalise on the setting of the story. While I originally didn’t like the cover used for the trade paperback, I’ve got to say that it does grow on you, however the series had some absolutely brilliant stark cover images used (specifically the fourth issue, with everyone in red except Dai).
Why do I care about the other side? Simple, because in 20 years time when people will be talking and writing books on the Iraqi war I hope someone does something similar this story and does it as well as this.