The 'Stan is a collection of short comics about America's longest war. Individual stories highlight different perspectives--including a Taliban ambassador and Afghan and U.S. Army soldiers--but every account highlights the human element of war. The tales in this book--based on reporting by David Axe and Kevin Knodell and drawn by artist Blue Delliquanti--are all true and took place in roughly the first decade of the U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan....

Lapis Lazuli is a semiprecious gemstone found deep in the Sar-i-sang mountains of Afghanistan's remote Badakhshan province. For thousands of years, it has sustained the nearby mining villages, whose inhabitants lived peacefully in the mountainous landscape--until the Taliban, known to the denizens of the region as the Horsemen, came seeking riches stored deep beneath the earth. Taliban rule has turned the stone into a conflict mineral, as they steal...

"Machete Squad is the story of a soldier trying to keep people alive as America's longest war rages all around him. It is the autobiographical story of Brent Dulak, who is burnt out from his two tours in Iraq, as he heads to Afghanistan. He's a U.S. Army medic who was recently promoted to sergeant, in charge of a team of soldiers whose job it will be patch up the wounded at a remote outpost as American forces prepare to turn Kandahar Province over...