Review: "We Stand On Guard," by Brian K. Vaughan

That was a helluva graphic novel, I must say.

Controversial? Sure.

Prophetic? Time will tell... Some of the major things that stood out for me, and which made this amazing, were: 1. The main protagonist and main antagonist are both women, which was nice to see. This is a story dominated by war, so it would have been easy to put men in those roles. 2. There are gay characters! I know, you're probably rolling your eyes, but seeing gay characters in this was a pleasant surprise (one of them is kind of a bad ass, too - a nice change from the stereotypical gay character). 3. There were genuine twists. I actually said "whaaat?" once when a surprise was revealed midway through the story. 4. The writing/dialogue is very well done. I don't have a lot of graphic novel reading experience, but most of the writing I see out there is so-so. This writing is very well done indeed. 5. One of the characters pretty much speaks only in French, so you get a mini language lesson. I had my translator app at the ready and didn't miss a beat! 6. The story arch was told in a compelling sequence. Vaughan uses the occasional flashback but it doesn't throw off the action; rather, it builds up the characters, giving us more reason to care for them. 7. The amazing artwork. Steve Skroce (storyboard artist), Matt Hollingsworth (colourist), and Fonografiks (designer) all join forces to create a visual masterpiece. This edition combined all 6 of the chapters. Yet, at the end of the 6th chapter, you're sort of left with the feeling that there could be more story to follow. Fingers crossed! I'd say this is a good one to read if you're looking for something to turn you on to graphic novels.