Unknown Soldier is Joshua Dysart’s contemporary re-imagining of the classic DC character of the same name. The classic Unknown Soldier character first appearance in Our Army At War #168 in a Sgt. Rock story named “I Knew The Unknown Soldier!”, which sparked a spin-off series featuring this incredibly enigmatic character.

The original series takes place during World War II, and focuses on the missions of an United States intelligence agent code-named “The Unknown Soldier,” whose head and face are so severely disfigured that he typically has it completely wrapped in heavy bandages. Despite this, he is a master of disguise who can assume the identity of almost any man using latex masks and make-up. However, his disguises occasionally itch where they meet the scar tissue of his face, forcing him to be conscious not to give himself away by scratching. He is also prone to loss of temper at enemy atrocities and has been seen to blow his cover in this manner.

Dysart’s re-imagining is very loosely inspired by this original concept, and sees the U.S. secret intelligence agent replaced by a new protagonist, Dr. Lwanga Moses, a Ugandan born man, raised in the United States after his family fled the war torn country when he was only seven years old. In the United States, Moses was afforded a far better life than he would have if his family had remained in Uganda, and realizing this fact, he dedicates his life and career to facilitating the peace process in his war ravaged homeland.

In 2002 Moses returns to Uganda with his wife Sera, also a physician, hoping to put their medical skills to use in a part of the country that has experienced civil war for 15 years. Moses soon finds that the situation in Uganda is beyond anything that he had previously imagined, as he is exposed to a world of corrupt politicians, child soldiers, and young girls being taken into sexual slavery.

After Moses falls afoul of an LRA child soldier army, he sense the presence of an ‘other’ personality in the back of his mind, a personality that is not afraid to kill, and instinctively knows the most brutal, and most efficient ways to dispense of these unwanted nuisances. Driven by this compelling voice, Moses descends into a frenzied and violent rage that culminates in him caving his own face in with a jagged rock. Disfigured beyond recognition, Moses takes to wrapping his entire head in heavy bandages. Haunted by the voice of a cold-blooded killer, physically altered beyond all recognition, and with his eyes open to the true horrors of a decades long civil war, Moses decides that he can not return to the fairy tale life of politics and peace discussions that he once inhabited. The Ugandan authorities assume that Moses did not survive the LRA ambush, and he is declared dead, an assertion which he does not correct them on. Now, presumed dead, Moses becomes as a ghost, launching violent guerrilla warfare attacks against both the corrupt government forces and the child armies of the LRA. Compelled by the killer in his mind, Moses realizes that the only way to solve all this pointless violence is with violence itself.

I believe that Unknown Soldier is one of the most profoundly compelling and important comic stories of the last decade. It forces the reader to look deep into the blacked heart of Africa, at a world of corruption, violence, famine, and sexual slavery that the Western World remains blissfully, and purposefully ignorant of. This is a world that no amount of self-styled saviors like Angelina Jolie will ever save, and a world that your $5 a month contribution to the Christian Aid Society does nothing to help…

Dysart has created something truly special here. This is not a book that you can sit on the bus and enjoy on your way to work, but is a book that demands your full attention at all times. The story is so brutal and honest that there are times when reading it that I feel a deep pang in my soul, and actually feel guilty for not being able to do anything about these terrible atrocities that are a daily reality for many people in so many African nations.

Apparently, Issue #9 of Unknown Soldier sold only 7,500 copies, placing it at Number 207 in the June sales ranks. That means that there are not enough people out there reading this comic, which makes me quite mad. I implore every reader of this site to pick up this amazing series! Please, just drop Avengers or JLA for one month, and read something a little more challenging. If you read Unknown Soldier, and are not profoundly affected by it, then I would begin to suspect that you are not truly Human.

• To read the NYT Article, head here
• To read Joshua Dysart’s blog, head here.
• I would also urge you to read Dysart’s behind the scenes blog for Unknown soldier, to see the sheer amount of research and dedication that he has put into this series!

Pull this series on Comixology:

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