Tools of the terror trade

Sometimes it takes a comic book to make things real. Jay Cantor’s Aaron & Ahmed tackles the use of torture at Guantanamo Bay and what it takes to make a suicide bomber. Aaron Goodman, an Army psychiatrist, watches the love of his life die on September 11, so he volunteers to work in Psy Ops at Gitmo. He meets Ahmed, a detainee who seems impervious to interrogation. In seeking a way to reach Ahmed, Aaron also discovers a means by which “memes,” ideas that spread from person to person, are used to create suicide bombers. The two of them go to Afghanistan in search of the truth—Ahmed ostensibly also wants to stop the violence—but find that it’s all much more complicated than it might seem. Aaron & Ahmed addresses questions of religious belief, love and free will in a very disturbing, direct fashion. With fantastic art by James Romberger and Jose Villarrubia.