True War Stories, Vol 1 edited by Alex de Campi and Khai Krumbhaar

Sometimes I feel like if people truly knew the reality of war (and pain and loss,) they’d be far less happy to embrace it. You’ve got all these weird macho cosplayers acting like war isn’t a big deal when they’ve never seen any action themselves. Then, ofc, you have the sociopaths happy to risk, if not outright take, the lives of others. Most of the military personnel I know, however, are thoughtful, responsible people with a clear-eyed view of what they’re involved in: something necessary and far more complicated than any glib slogan could encapsulate.

That is the tone, too, taken by the fifteen storytellers in this graphic volume, which will hopefully be the first of many. War is a lot of things to a lot of people, and this book seeks not to romanticize but to very much humanize the personnel who join the United States military. Some of our narrators are far more excited about the prospect of serving than others, but all have compelling stories of their times in active combat zones. Some of the stories go on to describe the aftermath of service, but all emphasize how military personnel are human beings just like us, with the same complex motivations and desires. Whether its a trans woman desperate to get out of the service and be reunited with her love, or a soldier in Vietnam who just wants a good night’s sleep, these are all deeply human stories.

Alex de Campi and Khai Krumbhaar (the latter of whom has her own hilarious chapter in this anthology) do an amazing job of taking all these stories and making them fit the graphic format. It helps that they have a terrific art team working with them for this charity volume. All profits from the book go to six service-related charities chosen by the contributors, which is just another reason to grab a copy for yourself or a loved one.

The only minor criticism I have of this book — and it could very well just be a quirk of my review copy — is that there’s no table of contents or list of artists. I’m going to include the list I made here for posterity:

The Art Of Motorpool Security by Tyson Walsh, Paul Williams & Matt Soffe
My Vietnam Blast by Robert Kent, Dave Acosta & Aladdin Collar
Rebels Of Macademia by Khai Krumbhaar, Jeff McComsey & Dee Cunniffe
Joint Team by Ian Eishen, Christopher Peterson & Kelly Fitzpatrick
In The Valley Of Lions by Randy Brown, Ryan Howe & Kelly Fitzpatrick
Man Overboard! by Matt Moores, Peter Krause & Kelly Fitzpatrick
Prayer Healing by Benari Poulten, Sam Hart & Tarsis Cruz
OK by Juan Vaca, Drew Moss & Aladdin Collar
Yonder by Annie Blitzen, A D’Amico & Kelly Fitzpatrick
Merry Christmas, Khaareji! by Jonathan Bratten, Eoin Maron & Dee Cunniffe
Airman Jennings The Impaler by Brandon Davis Jennings, PJ Holden & Kelly Fitzpatrick
Best Day, Worst Day by Jerrod Alberich & Tish Doolin
Bomb Convoy by Ray Patridge, Skylar Patridge & Kelly Fitzpatrick
Brothers by Stephen Cady, Peter Krause & Kelly Fitzpatrick
Roadside by Dylan Park, Josh Hood & Kelly Fitzpatrick

Especially with our country on the brink of another wholly unnecessary war, it’s important to remember that there are real people being sent out to risk their lives. War should be about protecting our freedoms and the lives of the vulnerable (in short, defense,) not stealing from other people and deliberately harming the innocent. I’m hoping that books like these will help the public understand better what we’re asking of our military every time we send our troops to war zones, so we can demand better of the people who put them in harm’s way.

True War Stories, Vol 1 edited by Alex de Campi and Khai Krumbhaar was published May 13 2025 by Image Comics and is available from all good booksellers, including