In Country

Don Lomax begins his tenure as the regular writer on The 'Nam with part one of a three-part story called "Operation: Chicken Lips." This also sees the return of Ed Marks as one of our key characters and puts us in March 1972, which is the subject of our historical context section. Plus, I have a clip of my conversation with Michael Golden, original 'Nam artist, from the 2017 Baltimore Comic-Con.

In Country is back and about to head into its last 20 episodes with a look at yet another Vietnam War-themed movie. This time around, it is the Robin Williams classic Good Morning Vietnam, which tells the story of Army discjockey Adrian Cronauer. I summarize and review the film as well as take a look at the real-life Adrian Cronauer.

The finale of the second three-part "Punisher Invades The 'Nam" and Chuck Dixon's last issue of the series takes us through the end of Iceman's story about Frank Castle's time in country, with plenty of action, as Frank defends a firebase and confronts the colonel who may or may not know about the shady things that have led to his fellow soldiers' deaths. It's "Down to the Ground" by Chuck Dixon, Kevin Kobasic, adn Jimmy Palmiotti in The 'Nam #69. I take a look at the issue and reflect on the overall Punisher storyline and also look at the historical background for January and February of 1972.

Chuck Dixon, Kevin Kobasic, and Jimmy Palmiotti take us through the second part of a three-part Punisher storyline with "The Walking Dead." Frank has made his way back to his firebase and has uncovered the nefarious deeds of his C.O. Will he confront him or will he perish in a firefight before he can dole out ... PUNISHMENT?! Oh, stop laughing. Anyway, I cover the issue and give a very brief review (I'm saving it for the finale, I guess), cover letters and ads, and take a look at the rest of 1971.

Frank Castle is back in the second "Punisher in 'The 'Nam'" storyline! This time around, I take a look at The 'Nam #67, the first of a three-parter starring the Marvel vigilante who was so popular in the early 1990s that he got a book about his weapons. But at this point, he's not The Punisher yet, although he does ... punish. It's brought to you by Chuck Dixon, Kevin Kobasic, and Jimmy Palmiotti. In addition to the issue, I'll also be covering the historical context for the summer of 1971.

It's our 75th episode and that means it's time for another look at another movie about the Vietnam War. This time around, I'm joined by fellow TTF podcaster Luke Jaconetti (Earth Destruction Directive) to talk about the 1982 Sylvester Stallone movie First Blood as well as its 1985 sequel, Rambo: First Blood Part II. We talk about each movie's plot and characters as well as the novel First Blood by David Morell, and then talk about the pop culture phenomenon that was Rambo in the mid-1980s. CONTENT WARNING: THIS EPISODE CONTAINS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE.

Chuck Dixon and Kevin Kobasic bring us "Creep," the story of an American sniper that is more legend than man, in The 'Nam #66. As always, I'll have a synopsis and review of the comic and this time around, my historical context section will be focusing on the second half of 1970 and January 1971.

War comics legend Russ Heath joins regular writer Chuck Dixon for a story about Ice and Speed tracking a ruthless VC sniper known as The Ghost. It's all in The 'Nam #65, "The Gratitude of His People." As always, I take a complete look at the issue and this time around I'll be looking at June 1971.

It's the conclusion of a three-part story featuring Iceman and Speed in "Duty Elsewhere" from The 'Nam #64 by Chuck Dixon, Wayne Vansant, and Art Nichols. Plus, I take a look at the history of the Vietnam War in April and May 1971

After a brief hiatus, "In Country" is back and back in The 'Nam with issue #63. We continue our three-parter featuring Iceman and Speed with a story by Chuck Dixon that features art by Wayne Vansant and Kim DeMulder. Plus, I look at events from March 1971 and read listener feedback!

"Dirty Deeds" brings us the return of two characters from previous 'Nam missions: Speed and Iceman. Here, they are sent to retrieve an LRRP soldier who has gone rogue while back in Da Nang, the girlfriend of one of their special forces' team gets into some serious trouble. It's all in The 'Nam #62 by Chuck Dixon, Wayne Vansant and Kim DeMulder. I'll also take a look at historical context from March 1971 and will be looking at letters and ads.

This time around, we close out the three-issue POW storyline with "The Ville," a story by Chuck Dixon, Wayne Vansant, and Nicholas James that sees what happened to Ritchey when he escaped the POW camp. Will he make it out of the jungle alive? Or will he get caught and sentenced to an even worse fate? Find out in The 'Nam #61. I'll also be covering historical information from March 1970 as well as letters and ads.

Our three-part storyline about a downed airman being taken prisoner reaches its midpoint as Ritchie is forced into a POW camp and comes across Jerry Ramnarain, a character we haven't seen since about issue #16. And what ends up happening begs the question--to get out, will he sell out? It's all brought to us by Chuck Dixon, Wayne Vansant, and Kim DeMulder. I also get into the historical information for January and February 1970 as well as letters and ads!

We are back to regular coverage with The 'Nam #59, a story called "Buff Strike" that starts as a look at the crew of a B-52 and ends up being a POW story. It's brought to us by Chuck Dixon, Wayne Vansant, and Kim DeMulder. Plus, a look at May 1972 in the history section!

This episode, I take time out from my regular coverage of The 'Nam to continue my look at Vietnam War movies with Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. I give a full review of the movie as well as a look at Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse, the documentary that detailed the making of this infamously troubled production. CONTENT WARNING: THIS EPISODE CONTAINS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE.

We reach the conclusion to "The Death of Joe Hallen" with "Down So Long ..." in The 'Nam #58, a story written by Chuck Dixon with art by Wayne Vansant and Tony DeZuniga as well as a cover with metallic silver ink by Andy Kubert (it's about as Nineties as The 'Nam will get, kids ... at least as far as the covers go). Also in this episode, I wrap up the historical context for the year 1969 with a look at December.

"The Death of Joe Hallen" hits its penultimate chapter with "Burned" from The 'Nam #57. Joe and his Marine unit finish their covert mission for a CIA agent and try to find their way back to more friendly territory, but things don't exactly turn out as planned. It's brought to us by Chuck Dixon, Wayne Vansant, and Tony DeZuniga. Plus, I'll take a look at the historical context for October 1970.

"Whipping Post" is the title of The 'Nam #56 and part three of "The Death of Joe Hallen." Here we see Joe and his new unit take on a very secret, possibly sketchy mission into enemy territory that involves a connection to the Chinese and the CIA. It's brought to you by Chuck Dixon, Wayne Vansant, and Tony DeZuniga. Also in this episode is the return of the history portion of the show, as I cover November 1969.

Chuck Dixon, Wayne Vansant, and Tony DeZuniga bring us part two of "The Death of Joe Hallen" in The 'Nam #55 as Joe Returns to Vietnam for some LRRP and falls in with a new group. Plus, I take a look at "Christmas in Saigon," an episode of the classic 1980s Fox television drama 21 Jump Street.

Chuck Dixon's regular tenure as the writer for The 'Nam begins with part one of "The Death of Joe Hallen," a special five-party storyline featuring art by Wayne Vansant and Tony DeZuniga. In this issue, we get a closer look at Joe (whom we've seen briefly before) and what is waiting for him when he returns from Vietnam to Baltimore. Additionally, I take a look at another story of a vet returning home from Vietnam by looking at Bruce Springsteen's classic song, "Born in the U.S.A."