Staff Picks (Nov13): Roll Hard TP

Publisher: Adventurist Corp

War — undoubtedly one the hardest genres to tackle in comics. Even harder is a war comic that tackles events that took place in Baghdad, Iraq back in 2004. Enter comics veteran Billy Tucci and journalist/author Robert Young Pelton with their graphic novel Roll Hard.

Take a drive down “IED Alley” (that’s short for Improvised Explosive Device, or car bomb, Alley) with the Mamba Team. A “new breed of warrior” made up of ex-military servicemen, cops, and private security people, their only job is transport cargo and people every day down the deadliest 12-mile stretch of Baghdad road. This is a misfit group and this is their untold, misfit story.

Billy Tucci’s wonderfully realistic and detail-oriented writing and drawing style capture the events that take place on “Route Irish” in a hyper realistic way that literally shoves you right into the action. With its attention to accuracy, Roll Hard is a comic war-buffs will definitely want to have! But with its compelling, true story and full-bodied characters any casual reader will be glad they gave it a read.

~ Caitlin McCabe