Vertigo has taken up the reigns of a major publisher putting out some pretty ballsy pieces of work lately.  Aaron and Ahmed is a complicated piece of work and though it’s been over a week since I finished reading it, I’m still struggling to fully grasp it.  The title of the graphic novel calls it “A Love Story” and boy is it a messed up one, full of abuse (mostly in the psychological sense).  “What causes terrorism?” the graphic novel asks, but much the answer to the question, the graphic novel is deep and opens up more questions.

The tale is a metaphor of love following a member of the army who has a twisted relationship with a member of Al Qaeda in Guantanamo.  While at first glimpse the story focuses on the question of what makes a suicide bomber commit that act, the bigger question is why do we do anything we do?  Most importantly why do we fall in love?

Written by Jay Cantor with art by James Romberger, I struggle with the story.  On the surface it creates a cop-out answer as to why people murder in the name of God and terror, but deeper down it very well may nail why we act on love and feelings.  They rather risque surface story is a cover and has so many depths much like the subject matter itself.

The tail touches on 9/11, the war on terror, terrorism, torture and love.  It’s an in depth and complicated tail and one weeks after reading I’m still thinking about and wishing I had someone to discuss it with.

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