In Comic Book Art, Two War Stories are on the Move

Screen shot from 'Operation Homecoming.' Click here to view video.

Two recently posted online videos show how to tell war stories using newer comic-book tools, including animations and movie-theater-style coming-soon announcements.

First, in a bit of a blast from the past, The Atlantic magazine's Paul Rosenfeld recently re-posted an excerpt from the 2007 documentary "Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience."

Made by filmmaker Evan Parsons, the 7-minute clip depicts a combat narrative told by mil-blogger and author Colby Buzzell. Buzzell wrote "My War: Killing Time in Iraq"
(2006) and "Lost in America: A Dead-End Journey" (2011). The Atlantic headline suggests the excerpt is in the style of a "graphic novel," but it's really more like a "motion comic".

Some comic-book enthusiasts loathe motion comics. ("Worst! Format! Ever!") Some love them. For what it's worth, this one seems to work: It delivers action and emotional impact, but avoids gritty ultra-realism. It also avoids the usual Hollywood hype-and-tripe. In other words, this isn't war porn. Neither is it "G.I. Joe: The Movie."

"Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience" was a 2007 documentary regarding a federally funded therapeutic writing program for veterans. There was also a companion book. Both the movie and the book are worth checking out.

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FIRST ISSUE OF 'TILT-SHIFT' TO DEBUT AT 2013 NEW YORK COMIC CON

Preparing for the New York Comic Con Oct. 10-13, the creators of the comic book "Tilt-Shift" recently posted a movie-style coming-attrractions trailer. See it on YouTube or below in this blog post.

Written by Jose Torres, inked by Josh Hood, and colored by the Mike Spicer, "Tilt-Shift" tells the gritty, realistic story of U.S. military combat photographers deployed with special forces teams in Afghanistan.

The comic takes its title from a photographic term.

The project has been mentioned previously on the Red Bull Rising blog here and here.

Located in New York Comic Con booth AA16, the Tilt-Shifters will have on hand copies of their No. 1 issue, posters, post cards, and more. Writes Torres: "There'll be dudes in kit and our whole creative team just talking shop, war and comics!" If you're in the AO, be sure to stop by!

Check them out on Facebook here.