While Rall is a cartoonist turned journalist, Axe is a journalist turned graphic
memoirist. In the mid-2000s he joined with the illustrator Steven Olexa to produce a
memoir of his stint as an embedded journalist in Iraq. Like Rall, Axe had long been
interested in war and foreign policy. The ramped-up war on terror provided him
with the opportunity to witness the consequences of post-9/11 decision making up
close. Not surprisingly, it also placed him in dangerous situations. As the concluding
pages reveal, he nearly lost his life as a result of a roadside IED (improvised explosive
device), yet found himself making plans to return to Iraq even as he attempted
in vain to reconnect with his girlfriend. Like Rall, Axe has become a “war junkie.”15
Both creators remain critical of U.S. foreign policy even as they relish the chance to
observe the world’s mightiest engine of chaos in action.