Sword of Sand

Note: Part of Okinawa by Fantagraphics

Sword of Sand is a collection of stories that take place at the end of WWII. Susumu Higa gives us an inside look at the battle of Okinawa, from the first signs to the aftermath, through different points of view of inhabitants, soldiers, Japanese and American, in this war where there is neither good nor evil, neither good nor bad, only a cruel sense of absurdity. The men are in turn overwhelmingly stupid, full of wisdom or infinitely touching by their humanity. Because Higa's work has something deeply generous, which is also felt in his simple and precise lines.