Battle Born: Lapis Lazuli

The vast landscapes rendered with vibrant colors bring the reader into the snow-capped mountains in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan Province, while rhythmic textures of earth and flesh keep you there. Themes of heartbreak and racism weave through the narrative, creating a very somber contrast to Uriarte’s more irreverent narratives of the infamous enlisted Marine.― New York Times Magazine Uriarte's manga-derived graphic chops and storytelling technique have grown immensely since The White Donkey ; his deliberate pacing, especially in the book's final sequences, is daringly bold. But the combat-based verisimilitude he brings... is its strongest element.― Gordon Flagg , Booklist Uriarte's illustrations are lush and vivid, with an appealing manga-tinted realism...The effect is sumptuously cinematic with the depth of an action movie.― Kirkus ...The story works best as a tragic meditation on the value of honor and justice in a world ruled by violence.― Library Journal An epic sagaxa0fromxa0the voice of a new generation of military veteransxa0about kindness, brutality, and the remains of colonialism.― Veterans Today Thrillingly cinematic…Thisxa0visceral war story reinforces the difficulty of decisions by forces fighting across blurred lines.― Publishers Weekly The vast landscapesxa0rendered with vibrant colorsxa0bring the reader into the snow-capped mountains in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan Province, whilexa0rhythmic texturesxa0of earth and flesh keep you there. Themes of heartbreak and racism weave through the narrative, creating a very somber contrast to Uriarte’s more irreverent narratives of the infamous enlisted Marine.― Josh Terry , New York Times Magazine Uriarte uniquely tackles the difficulty of being a Marine and serving in the military with raw honesty and creativity through all of his work...Battle Born: Lapis Lazuli is a deeply compelling compilation of the human experiences that affect us all.― We Are the Mighty Battle Born was written and illustrated by infantry Marine and Iraq veteran Maximilian Uriarte , creator of the hit comic strip Terminal Lance . Uriarte enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 2006 at the age of nineteen and served for four years. During his first deployment to Iraq in 2007 he served as an MRAP turret gunner and dismount of India Company's "Jump" platoon in the Zaidon region southeast of Fallujah. He deployed to Iraq again in 2009 as a billeted Combat Photographer and Combat Artist, then enrolling in California College of the Arts. He is the New York Times bestselling author of The White Donkey and the Terminal Lance Ultimate Omnibus .