The Other Side #1 (of 5)
Published by: Vertigo
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist & Cover: Cameron Stewart
Colorist: Dave McCaig
Letterer: Pat Brosseau
Assist. Editor: Casey Seijas
Editor: Will Dennis
Created By: Aaron & Stewart

Rating: 4 out of 5

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Review:

Well, it’s been about a full day since the site’s been up, so let’s just get down to it. The first review is of Aaron & Stewart’s The Other Side #1. This is a gritty portrayal of two different soldiers’ experiences during the Vietnam War to be told in 5 parts. A story of this nature must be honest to the gruesome tragedy of it all, and this one hits you with it from page one.

Billy Everette is a 19-year-old boy from rural Alabama. Vo Binh Dai is a 19-year-old boy from a village in North Vietnam. We witness their stories simultaneously beginning with their enlistment through - in this issue - their exit from boot camp and their arrival on the front.

If this story had been told from one viewpoint or the other, it would read as either yet another Full Metal Jacket retelling (Which would be somewhat appropriate. Jason Aaron’s cousin, Gustav Hasford, was the author of The Short Timers, which was adapted into the Kubrick film.), or simply the story of a young Vietnamese man told by a white guy with no frame of reference as to his experience. The way it is told, constantly alternating between the main characters, may be distracting to some, but forces us to see both viewpoints simultaneously. We can see the effects and widespread nature of propaganda and indoctrination on both sides. Perhaps our natural predispositions would cause us to interpret these differently if this were told exclusively through one character.

This was a good first issue. It set the tone and background for the story to come. It is certainly very well done, and I’ll certainly continue to read the series.