Unknown Solider series by Garth Ennis and Joshua Dysart

The figure of a man with his face shrouded in bandages is an image most people would probably associate with H.G. Wells’s famous novel, The Invisible Man and more modern comic book readers might consider Batman’s enemy, Hush. It’s a powerful image that allows the imagination free rein to run riot wondering about the face beneath those bandages and the story of a man in such a state. Especially in our modern times when scarred soldiers are always returning from violent conflicts around the world. In between these two famous characters, however, is another figure, famous for being constantly bandaged and being present at the worst and most violent moments in recent history: The Unknown Soldier.

Unknown Soldier was a regular DC Comics character first appearing in the 1960’s and then again in the 1980’s. A soldier severely disfigured in combat who hid his mutilated face underneath medical bandages, his story was set during the Second World War where he worked as a secret service operator, doing dangerous and difficult jobs against the foreign powers. The unnamed and unknown soldier wore latex masks to disguise himself and was an uncontested master of both armed and unarmed combat. I never read these comics myself but I have heard they are particularly patriotic and fantastic boys-own stuff with a healthy dose of violence. He fights Japanese and German soldiers, in increasingly extreme situations, always supporting the notion that one soldier in the right place can make a difference. He even kills Hitler in the bunker and frames his suicide to make it look like he took the cowards way out. However, the comics I’m going to write about now is the later Vertigo Series, started with the 1997 one-off by Garth Ennis and the 2008 to 2010 run of the second Unknown Soldier by Joshua Dysart.
There are some spoilers here, but I’ll try to keep them to a minimum.

Garth Ennis’ 1997 four-issue Unknown Soldier, is a much darker portrayal of the character than the earlier comics. The story follows the investigation of Agent William Clyde, a black-op specialist himself, as he delves in the history of Project Unknown Soldier hearing different eye-witness accounts of all the major conflicts America had been involved in over the last sixty years. Dealing with personal loss and his own impending insanity Clyde falls deeper and deeper into the violent world the Solider inhabits and finds that Project Unknown Soldier has others interested in him and the Soldier himself has plans of his own. This brief glimpse into the world of soldiers doing dirty work is fascinating as the earlier attitudes to warfare were always firmly convinced that America was in the right, these accounts though question the rightfulness of these actions and who is really pulling the strings. The character of the soldier himself is seen mainly only in flashbacks in different accounts, but the impression is very strong. The vast involvement of the Unknown Soldier in so many crucial events and the fact he always survives makes Clyde sure that he is immortal like Superman, but this is dismissed. The soldier is 75 and in ‘Ultimate human condition’ but he is still just a man. However, being the Unknown Soldier, he is far from just a man as Clyde and his associates discover. This is a brief but powerful work and is interesting as Ennis does not attempt to recreate the character, like many writers would, he instead reinterprets the world he is from. In the 1960’s run of the comics the character is unquestionably a patriotic heroic character. Ennis’ version, however, guns down P.O.W.s calls down airstrikes on unprotected Vietnamese villages and slaughters the occupants of a Cambodian hospital. He is much harder to defend, even though he is following orders or working for ‘the greater good’. I especially like the idea of a ‘hero’ still crawling about long after the golden days doing the dirtiest work so no one else has too trying to maintain the American dream.

In the first Second Unknown soldier trade paper back: Haunted House we are introduced to a new character, Dr. Lwanga Moses. Lwanga is an Ivy League-educated doctor, happily married and successful. He is the epitome of the American dream having arrived there when he and his parents fled the Anime regime years before. Despite his strongly pacifist philosophy he is having terrible, violent dreams and hearing a menacing voice rumble in his ears. When he and his wife Sera go to Uganda to do what they can for the people there, struggling through a time of brutality as the Lord’s Resistance Army and the Uganda’s People’s Defense Force, these dreams become real and the voice can no longer be ignored. Terribly mutilated by an encounter with child soldiers Lwanga’s face is obscured with bandages and after another series of atrocities he declares a personal war on Joseph Kony and the L.R.A. Being the first book in the series, there are more questions here than answers, namely why does a pacifist Doctor seemingly posses military training, why is disgraced CIA agent Howl looking for Lwanga, and who is voice that keeps speaking in Lwanga’s head? Alberto Ponticelli’s haunting visceral artwork suits the action perfectly and is at times hard to look at. While Ennis’s soldier is a violent and furious force of nature, all his violence is carefully planned and organized with the style of a military strike. Dr. Lwanga’s soldier is a simmering pot of barely contained fury, striking violently and viciously. When he doesn’t have others around him to tear to pieces, he inexplicably and savagely mutilates his own body. The story sets up an ongoing series nicely with intriguing characters such as the angelic, determined and now abandoned wife Sera embarking on a quest to find her husband.  My favorite, is Howl, the former CIA agent now set on doing nothing but drinking and fucking himself to death, suddenly dragged into tracking down Dr. Lwanga.

Easy Kill: the second trade paperback, is both a more complete story arc and deeper exploration of the terrible  African conflict. It’s the longest of the four trade paperbacks and arguably the best of the lot. It examines the Western World’s attitude that it can solve the problems of third world countries by donating money and celebrity appearances. The effect in reality is like putting a band-aid on a bullet hole. In this story arc the Soldier is forced to confront his humanity when he tends to an injured child soldier called Paul and takes him to the child support organization. He is also forced to consider whether the end really justifies the means when a Liberation Movement approach him to assassinate Margaret Well the beautiful American actress and philanthropist. Believing her death will force the world to take an interest in the conflict and finally intervene.  Albert Ponticelli’s art is joined by Congolese artist Pat Masioni’s. The trade-paperback also includes an article at the end attempting (and I use this word as Dysart himself  comments on the difficulty of explaining the origins of the conflict) to explain the struggle between the L.R.A. and the U.P.D.F.

 Dry Season: Following the events of Easy Kill, Dry Season shows the Unknown Soldier remaining in the Acholi village where he and Paul ended up at the end of East Kill and the effects of a killer remaining in a place that only needs healing. The story focuses on stolen medical supplies and the different interests in them. This is also a glimpse into the more complicated nature of the soldier, Dr. Lwanga and the Voice in his head. Their increasingly schizophrenic and dependent relationship. Dry Season also examines the struggle of the poor Acholi people, their superstitions and their life in fear of L.R.A. rebels and corrupt U.P.D.F. Dry Season also has an article further explaining the effects of the IDP camps of Northern Uganda  on the Acholi population and their superstitions and witch hunts.

Beautiful World: The final book of the series, is arguably the weakest. The story follows the Soldier and Howl  as the people looking for Lwanga finally catch up with him. It explains the origins of the character and the connection between the Voice, the original soldier and Dr. Lwanga. While the ending is dramatic and fits nicely with the rest of the story arc it can’t help but feel a bit rushed. This is unfortunate, as the series was gathering momentum and  Dysart obviously had much more to tell.  However, apparently failing reader numbers (Fuck you comic book community, for not recognizing a good thing) meant that the series was cancelled prematurely and this makes the conclusion feel rushed. The fates of several characters are left unexplained, and this only weakens the story. The major players are each given their own little send offs, but it is strongly hinted that on the grander scale the violence is far from over.

While the 1980’s run of the comic has the soldier morph into some kind of immortal super soldier, Ennis and Dysart keep their ‘heroes’ firmly in the realms of mortality with all the trappings and ravaging that brings. Both of their comics are stories about people and the undisguised horrors or war. This makes Unknown Soldier is all the more poignant as most of the fighting that goes on around the world is done by people we’ll never know about, doing things so no one else has too. The series is certainly worth a look. It’s a powerful glimpse into the cruel effects of America’s hubris, the uncomfortable truth of African conflicts and the Developed world’s condescending attitude towards them.

Postscript: Since writing this, I’ve found a new run of DC comics, re-imagining several core figures, has created a new Unknown Soldier in Afghanistan. And so the war goes on.