Invisible Wounds
“You do what you have to do to survive, and then you have your entire lifetime to make sense of it all,” (153). So states 
Squad Marksman Matt Klein in Invisible Wounds, Jess Ruliffson’s illustrated collection of interviews with veterans across the United States. Ruliffson spoke to twelve veterans about their deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. The storytellers range in age, race, gender and sexuality. The group includes three women, one a lesbian, and an Asian transgender man, as well as a Vietnamese American and a Black man. The narrators describe brotherhood and belonging, hazing, harassment, injuries, homecoming, violence and empathy.
I love to see how an artist visually interprets someone else’s memories and emotions. This works well in Amtracker Nathan Galster’s story. Contrasting the desert scenery of his deployment in Iraq, Galster reflects on how content he would be, to be still and at peace. Ruliffson depicts him reposing on a surfboard, watching the waves with a friend. Rifleman Josiah White broods with his hands in his pockets, eyes downcast, his home in the background. “I have so much because I got blown up. I wouldn’t have this house. I wouldn’t have a college degree,” (27). A yellowish tan color washes over the house while Josiah stands in a blue foreground. The way the two different tones meet in the bunting hanging across the panel, in Josiah’s clothes, seems like a representation of him being split between two things, perhaps belonging to both or neither. He finishes the thought, “If I could go back, I would do the right thing. You can’t go back,” (27). The overall color palette reminds me of a rainy fall day, muted tones paired with brighter reds and oranges. Colorwork can be restful for the senses. I found this colorwork to be appropriately agitating.
The artwork is not particularly graphic, but due to the theme, this book is best offered to older teens and adults. Not being a veteran myself, I can’t speak to how veterans would receive this work, but I expect they would relate to it as it would stir up thoughts and memories. Invisible Wounds is not a historical account of the Iraq War, and those who are curious may prefer supplementary resources or other books entirely for more facts, background information, and broader perspectives presented with a larger scope. However, for personal recollections that someone could be telling you from across a kitchen table with candidness and vulnerability, this is a thoughtful book with great artwork.
Invisible Wounds Graphic Journalism
By Jess Ruliffson
Fantagraphics, 2022
ISBN: 9781683961901
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18)
