Close, but not quite there yet.
Creative Staff:
[Dr. J’s note: the advanced reader’s copy I received doesn’t outline who did what on this trade, so I’m just labeling all of these people under “Story”]
Story: Brent Dulak, Kevin Knodell, Per Berg, and David Axe
What They Say:
Brent Dulak doesn’t want to go to Afghanistan. Haunted by the memories of his two tours in Iraq and burnt out on soldiering, he wants nothing more than to drink to self-destructive excess and have meaningless sex with questionable women.
He’s a U.S. Army medic who was recently promoted to sergeant, in charge of a team of soldiers whose job it will be to patch up the wounded at a remote outpost as American forces prepare to turn Kandahar Province over to the Afghan forces. That won’t’ be easy, Kandahar is the birthplace of the Taliban. It’s filled with motivated insurgents, questionable local allies and countless ways to die.
Brutally honest and darkly funny, Machete Squad is the story of a soldier trying to keep people alive as America’s longest war rages all around hm. He must look out for the welfare of his men and their patients even as he doubts his own abilities—and at times his sanity.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
This is the third trade published by Dead Reckoning I’ve read, and I have to say, it’s the best so-far. Although it does suffer from the same issues that plagued The ‘Stan and Trench Dogs, it also has the clearest use of character of the three and almost has a narrative arc.
As the summary says, Brent Dulak is a man waiting to die. Two tours in Iraq wore him down to the nub, and all he wants is to forget. He drinks, he fools around, and in general exists instead of lives.
And now he has to go back to the battlefield.
The Army promotes him to sergeant and puts him in charge of a medical unit in Kandahar Province. His job is to pull himself and his squad together into a cohesive medical team, or else many soldiers will die.
That’s the thrust of the story, but there comes a point where the plot starts to get in the way. Machete Squad gives the reader glimpses of what it was like living and working in Afghanistan—the constant fear, the feeling of not being welcome, and the desire to come home. All of those emotions come through loud-and-clear, but the moments when we experience them too often come as an aside to the story of Dulak pulling himself out of a very dark place.
The art works very well in this piece. The artist uses a very expressive, cartoony style that allows for the characters to emote in a way that’s more effective and engaging than a more photorealistic style would permit. The colors also add to the story nicely, especially the way that it juxtaposes the bright Afghan days with the dark Afghan nights.
In Summary:
Although the plot too often gets in the way of the story, Machete Squad is easily the strongest title Dead Reckoning has published so far. Dr. J gives this a…
Grade: C+
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Dead Reckoning
Release Date: September 15th, 2018
MSRP: $18.95
