Army @ Love #8 - Vertigo

I think I've gotten a little more of a handle on this series. It seems that the one continuous theme here is the 4 basic addictions that every man and woman go through. They consist of, in no particular order, money, sex, adrenaline and power. Through all the plots and subplots of this book, those are the main themes that, pretty much, pop up in all of the characters. And it seems, in the case of this story where all the addictions are readily available, that any one can feed the need for the others. So once you start on that trip, really, you're stuck on that trip. I mean, we've got the story of the grunts, with Flabbergast, Switzer and Royden. Plus a few others here or there as they're needed. Their main theme seems to be sex and adrenaline. Then we have the blue collar characters. Which include the officers Healey, Woyner, and the rest of their entourage. Their theme appears to be money and power. And sometimes sex. But sex, for them, is mostly a tool to help with the money and power. Then we have the deity type entities. The commander in chiefs, such as Stelaphane, Pamona, and Dee Dee Geist, sometimes. They already have the power. They use mostly the sex and adrenaline as tools to get more money or power. And then of course they're all interconnected through various story-lines. And really that's just a basic breakdown. There's other characters that play a role in this, but they seem to be more transitional. They're involved where they're needed, and tend to float between goals. Mostly they're following their own. But sometimes the union with another, can help to advance theirs. Complicated. Right? Yes and no. Like I've said before, there's a lot of characters in this book. And what seems like a lot of plot lines. But more often than not, they're all intertwined and dependent upon each other. But then, as the writer, to take all of this on and intertwine the whole thing with rye humor, sarcasm and irony, just shows how brilliant Rick Veitch really is. Plus on top of that, he's doing the art. The guys a work-a-holic. You can't say he's not committed though. Whoever's not reading this book, is probably afraid of it. They're afraid of the parallels to current world conditions. But really, it's just a sarcastic look at the motivation of ourselves, our bosses and our leaders. Set in a theme that we can all relate to, because it's current. Yes it's edgy. But, that's what makes it so much fun. If you haven't tried it, you really should. It really is that good.