Aaron and Ahmed. Jay Cantor, Writer

by Jay Cantor; James Romberger, James Romberger (Illustrator)

What causes terrorism? After his fiancee dies during the 9/11 attacks, this question plagues Aaron. It makes him give up his career as a doctor to become an interrogator/torturer at Guantanamo Bay. Overseeing experiments of how meme theory might program people to becoming suicide bombers, he meets Ahmed."

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, War, Historical Fiction, LGBT, Politics, Graphic Novels Comics

Hardcover

First published April 12, 2011

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 1 out of 5]

Therapy is like a romance - even if it's the kind of love story where one person gets paid.

Dr. Aaron Goodman is working at a VA hospital on the morning of September 11, 2001 when he receives a call from his fiancée. She's on a plane from Boston heading to L.A.

The second plane.

Choked with anger and grief, Aaron is determined to be part of the war on terror, so he becomes an interrogator at Guantanamo Bay. Okay - slightly implausible, but I was willing to go with it for the sake of the story. There he decides to try out a new technique on one of the prisoners.

I'm going to drug Ahmed's food - a hormone cocktail, heavy on the estrogen . . . I'm not doing this to humiliate him. It's like in therapy. I want him to feel he loves me.

Then I can really fuck him over.

Woo-hoo - let the mind games begin!

I expected intense, angry dialogue, and plenty of flashbacks, with maybe Ahmed turning the tables on Aaron's little scheme in a who's-zooming-who kind of thing. And, in the end, I expected both men to emerge as slightly better people, or . . . possibly even worse people.

What I didn't expect was a turn for the out and out SILLY. Both men escaping Gitmo in a ROWBOAT? And arriving SAFELY in Pakistan? Where Aaron is brainwashed into becoming a suicide bomber, because who'd suspect a blue-eyed blond of having explosives strapped to his chest?

Yeah. Right.

It took me almost a month to finish this one, as I loathed picking it up each day.

Perhaps I need to start a "good premise wasted" shelf.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

i honestly don't know how i feel about this.... it was so bizarre and really didn't add anything to the discussion of understanding terrorism

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably not as racy as you're imagining. This is one of those books whose primary mission is to provide food for thought. That said, it also functions fine as just a story. Honestly, I'm a bit underwhelmed, but this was at least an interesting read.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This dealt with some pretty heavy issues, I mean you get that from the cover right? Terrorism, the war on terror, torture, brainwashing. And alternately trying to explain why it occurs and whether it's possible to stop.

I guess with these political stories they always seem relevant now, more than ever, which is a fairly depressing thought. But when the government of the world's most powerful country is putting children in concentration camps often under the banner of "preventing terrorism", it's hard not to despair.

I feel like this book is probably up to interpretation, but coming from a bleeding heart, looney lefty I found this to be a fairly wide condemnation of the dehumanisation on both sides, the terrible actions of terrorists as well as the terrible actions of those supposedly trying to prevent them.

Because this book deals with such heavy topics I feel like it will require a second readthrough to fully understand all of the messages the author was trying to convey.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was finished I sat there in shock,shaking for a full minute. A really powerful book about both sides of the terrorist coin. I wish I could write something profound but I don't have the words. Read this book!!!

[zxvasdf · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't see myself going where Jay Cantor took me and found myself punched in the brain. We all know about memes, and how they can take a life of their own. What if they could be primed like a rocket and set on a collision course trajectory? Cantor writes, through the dialogues of Aaron and Ahmed, that suicide bombers aren't merely fearless religious fanatics, but are as unaware of their intentions as we are. You find out about programming and deprogramming the psyche. You find that just maybe your grip on the world isn't as absolute, and that a dedicated madman could tear it from you.

The tale of Aaron and Ahmed is a gripping journey of ideas and locales... in the end you find the unexpected man to be the most libertine. Now I have the urge to find my misplaced copy of Krazy Kat.

[Raina]

Very not my thing. Refraining from a star rating for that reason.
I'm sure a lot of the problem was the genre - I generally don't get into war/torture stories. But something about the storytelling didn't quite feel clear to me, either. I almost didn't finish it.

[Ill D · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reading this lame excuse for a graphic novel reminds me of my experience with the Matrix series. While the first one is a pretty good movie, though it most certainly doesn't deserve half the accolades it receives for its less than deep philosophy. While I digress from what might seem an unnecessary addendum, what makes the first Matrix movie of the series a good movie is that while it attempts to have some deep ideas behind it, it doesn't try to hard along these lines. This is the failing of the sequels, Reloaded and Revolutions, and shockingly similar, the failure of this abortion of a graphic novel. It tries too hard to be too deep when nothing it adds or expounds upon is really all that profound. The author reminds of the pseudo-intellectuals you meet in college who name drop big words and ideas but, when pressed about them, are proven to be the vacuous and utterly inane individuals they are because they're just stupid.

Sure enough like the aforementioned pseduo-intellectuals, the author drops big words like memes and imperialism but, with no understanding of the immense historical and psychogical impacts or meanings of these terms. Moreover, in a graphic novel which evidently, as I can only assume on the authors part, is meant to be realistic, the whole aside with the hashish smoking old man of the mountain being nothing more than an actual historical legend, is not only offensive, to Muslims and inhabitants of the Middle East, but comes across as way too esoteric a la some science fiction bullshit for a piece of literature that attempts to take place in the REAL WORLD . Bernard Lewis has an excellent tract about the ACTUAL history of the assassin sect that anyone should read to learn the truth. Although the author has a clear and retarded liberal bias in this work, "dur-hur" Middle Eastern people are just like us, it's highly offensive and insensitive to dip into such puerile orientalist fantasies.

Finally the whole homosexual subplot, that was conveniently added at the end seems nothing more than an unnecessary and insipid addendum that had no place in this work other than to once more manifest this authors retarded liberal sensibilities that yes, of course, there are homosexuals in the middle east and they want to be honest about it. PLEASE

I can't inveigh against reading this piece of trash enough. What seemed as an edgy and interesting graphic novel I picked up at my local library, instead turned out to be an insipid, delusional liberal fantasy replete with homosexual undertones, a pro-multicultural bias, and despite its intentions to be a realistic and a genuine portrayal of Middle-Eastern people, instead it descends, almost predictably, into oriental delusions and inane ramblings on what a meme is and how it can be used as a weapon. Clearly the author knows nothing about the actual history of the Middle-East and all he knows about memes he probably got from skimming the Wikipedia page on it. What a tool.

Don't waste your time reading this piece of liberal diarrhea. there are plenty of grahpic novels of a political nature that are much better. Check out my Goodreads account for some of those.

[Jays · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is actually a pretty subversive little story, for a variety of reasons. I'm a little curious as to why it was written in graphic novel form, as it seems like a traditional novel would have served the story a little better, but that said I still enjoyed reading it. The central characters have a really nicely complex relationship, making for a very interesting and often surprising read.

On the downside, the story feels a little outdated. The central question of "what makes a suicide bomber do what he does?" is a little circa 2004, although I suspect that what the author is really asking instead is "how do seemingly repulsive ideas move from one person to another" and the suicide bomber business is just a tactic to get at the larger question.

On the upside, I really liked both Aaron and Ahmed as characters. Considering the relatively little time we get to spend with both of them compared to what it would have been if this had been a traditional novel instead of a graphic one, I feel like they both really come to life. If anything, I wanted to learn more about Ahmed, although I think his mystery is really kind of the point.

There's a slightly odd mix of fantasy into this that was a little unexpected (although it's a graphic novel, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised) but it's handled well in that the author plays with the readers a bit to allow the fantasy elements be interpreted either literally or just as a product of the characters' guilt and emotional exhaustion.

This book is actually a lot bolder than I think it's going to get credit for, mostly because I feel like a lot of people will get stuck on the trappings of the story (the suicide bombing and the post-9/11 paranoia) and not pay as much attention to what's really unconventional about it (the relationship between Aaron and Ahmed).

[Jonathan Lu · Rating 1 out of 5]

What an odd graphic novel� picked it up at the reco of the library as it sounded really interesting. An army psychiatrist who volunteers to become a Guantanamo interrogator after the death of his wife during 9-11, and the relationship he builds with a prisoner. Attempts to delve into the root causes of manipulation for how men could be driven to terror and suicide bombings, through planting meme � powerful concepts in their head. Aside from the showing how desensitized we have become to horror through the nonchalant and purposely unshocking rampant torture illustrated in Gitmo, to the diabolical plans of the man in charge to understand how to manipulate a man�s psyche to send men back to reverse terrorize, I can�t say I really understood the point that the author was trying to make (after re-reading a 2nd time to find some sort of hidden message). Really was just the blunt in-your-face: we all do anything we can to seek the approval and love of those we hold in high esteem (e.g. Bin Laden using religion as a means to convince others to do his bidding), and the only way out is love, be it love of man or love of something greater that can pull you away. Like a bad porno, I�m left unfulfilled and a bit confused by this story.

[FoxClouds · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a graphic novel I randomly picked up at the library. I was attracted by the cover even though the plot seemed a bit different from what I usually read.

This book is a train wreck. You keep reading it even when you wish you could stop. I am not saying I didn't like it. It has a powerful message that will kick you into your gut and steal your breath. Yes, memes are real, as well as coding, hypnosis, torture, etc. This book didn't shy away to show it all when it comes to war. And underneath it all - a tragic story of two men.

I liked the idea, I really did. It is just I personally take such plots too close to heart and this is not something that I would call an entertaining read. I read it because I couldn't put it down, but the book left me feeling sad and hopeless.

I took one star off because I didn't like the drawings itself, but plot wise this book is 4/5 stars.

Beware that this books is full of triggers.

[MsPink · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure how I feel about this book, or how to rate it accordingly, but it does feel ambitious on several different levels, even if it doesn't succeed on all--or even most--of them. The post-911 tale of a Guantanamo Bay psychiatrist/torture-enabler and one particular prisoner-patient wants to be a spy story, a psycho(-sexual?) thriller and maybe it has something to say about the origins of extremism, "counter-terrorism" and the "transference" inherent in the relationship of oppressors and oppressed or the "terrorists" and the terrorized... That's a lot of scare quotes, but like I said, it doesn't always succeed. It feels dated, even a little offensive (it's not always possible to read it as self-critical commentary, try though we might), and some of the psychology that propels the story/characters feels more than a little silly, implausible and unearned. All that being said--for what it's worth, I couldn't put it down.

[Frank McGirk · Rating 2 out of 5]

What starts off as a seemingly cliched critique of Gitmo, quickly turns very bizzare...unfortunately, it just stays as weird, rather than gripping. The love story between the two main protagonists, while being odd as being between an interegator and his prisoner (and then oddly flipping), never really feels compelling, or even interesting.

I usually like weird and different, but this also stayed flat, despite its attempts (or perhaps because of their inadequacies) to tackle the big questions of self, religion, and love.

[Jim Angstadt · Rating 1 out of 5]

Aaron and Ahmed
Jay Cantor, James Romberger (Illustrator)

This graphic novel follows Dr. Aaron Goodman after 9/11. "I had to be a part of that war." This leads him to Gitmo, and later, to Ahmed.

Aaron's quest to understand takes them to Pakistan, then NYC, and beyond.

The plot line is barely believable at the beginning, but goes downhill rapidly after that. The book's subtitle, "a love story", makes as little sense at the end, as it does it the beginning.

There are much better graphic novels.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insightful book about how infectious ideas can be and how they can lead people down very dangerous paths. Set in the time shortly after 9/11 in Guantanamo Bay, this book does not shy away from controversy.

[Ari · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best GN I've read all year. Amazing mind-f of a story line that will make you re-read to be sure you read it right. A look at terrorism and religious extremism, especially as influenced by meme psychology. Also, a gay love story.

[Kay · Rating 1 out of 5]

What started out as interesting, took an odd turn at bizarre and never came back. I'm sure the trippy psychological mumbo jumbo was supposed to be Highbrow, but I just found it unintelligible and forgettable.

[Andy Hickman · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Aaron and Ahmed: A Love Story” by Jay Cantor, James Romberger (Illustrator)

Intense depiction of hellish torture of Guantánamo detainees at the hands of Americans.
Fascinating insight into what makes a Jihadist - revealing that it's not an ethnic thing, nor a specific religious doctrine.

Aaron Goodman: “But … but you were in Afghanistan. You were a jihadist.”

Ahmed: I was an engineer who couldn't find work. I saw how distant western powers destroyed my family's life. Sometimes with bombs. Sometimes with movement of capital. 'It was nothing personal. There's OIL under our sand. Arab lives are just collateral damage.'”

[Justina · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's messed up in its ideas but also a mess as a comic book trying to sell them to us.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

After his wife is killed in the 9/11 attacks, Aaron gives up his promising career as a doctor to play a part in the war against terror. His path takes him to Gitmo, where he oversees an experiment trying to uncover how Al Quaida and other similar groups brainwash ordinary, peace-loving people to become suicide bombers. Aaron quickly becomes obsessed with one of his "patients"---a charismatic man named Ahmed who appears to know something about the techniques.

Resting at the core of the book is the theory of Memes---essentially the theory that ideas can be transmitted between people almost like a virus, causing them to believe and even do things well beyond things they would normally would. In an attempt to understand better, Aaron sneaks Ahmed out of Gitmo and then follows Ahmed on a journey to the Middle East where Aaron undergoes a lengthy training ordeal involving physical exhaustion, near stavation and continual prayer.

After meeting "The Man in the Mountain"-----a strange man rumored to be everyone from Osama Bin Laden to an ancient mystic----Aaron is sent back to the U.S. fully trained and ready. He's told that at some point of their choosing, Aaron will be exposed to the right combination of words and images and he himself will become a suicide bomber. Back on U.S. soil, Aaron fears for his sanity and fears that he no longer has a choice in anything in his life. Ahmed stays with Aaron the whole time, at some points seeming to drag him down this dark path even further and while at others to help him back to reality.

So I don't leave out the artwork, Romberger is fantastic. His almost sketchy styles does a fantastic job in pushing the story further through imagery, often mixing different styles to highlight different locales, time periods and even emotional states. He's also phenomenal at conveying facial expressions. Villarubia's coloring is gorgeous, and used particularly well in a short fable Ahmed shares with Aaron.

Needless to say, it's a bit complicated and I think the story sags a bit under the weight of its own ideas. There's a lot here, but the ideas aren't explored quite enough to make the payoff at the end as powerful as it should be. Although we see little hints, I think this could have been a lot stronger if we saw more details of Aaron's brainwashing and that the connection to Meme theory was a bit stronger. But the part that really left me wanting more was the relationship between Aaron and Ahmed; although so central to the story I had trouble beleiving that anyone would go to the lengths that Aaron does. Getting into the emotions behind Aaron's choices would have helped, but those just aren't in this story. The questions the story raises, though, are intensely fascinating and could easily spawn some impassioned debates, be it in the classroom, the library or the local comic shop.

[Aj · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of this novel made me want to race out and buy it.
Addressing 9/11 in an engaging way? Yes!
Investigating the root causes of terrorism? Yes!
Exploring theories on terrorism? How cool!

I'll start out with the illustrations, however. I'm not a religious graphic novel reader. I'm not familiar with James Romberger. Illustrations that are landscape or scenic are very well done. The montage involving the Old Man, were slightly surrealistic, and enhanced the theoretical mind-altering experiences Aaron experiences on his journeys.
On the detracting side however, the first half of the novel finds both Aaron and Ahmed drawn in a sketchy style, as though they were ideas still being fleshed out, then in the last half they are quite refined, to a point where I'd almost think they were drawn by another artist.
There are a few places throughout the novel where text (in different languages) is placed on top of art in transparency, and it is, for whatever reason, pixelated. It detracts from the art of those frames.
I found most of the illustration mediocre, with some exceptions where it shined.

Now, on to the writing! Overall I liked the glimpse of insight the novel gave. I was a bit skeptical that 144 pages would be enough to flesh out the ideas though. It turns out I was right. My major gripe is that ideas/plots are mentioned, sometimes explored briefly, but no topic is done thoroughly.
I very much liked the premise of this book, and as a reader I would have preferred a multi-part series which maybe each told part of the overall story, while each release focusing on one of the topics more in depth. Maybe one on memes, one on the terrorist training camps, so on and so forth.

Turning the final page, and closing the book raised many more questions than it answered. I'm not a person who wants all the thinking done for me, by any means, but I feel left without leads. Where did they come up with or research their meme ideas, and their terrorist training scenarios? Was the love story of Aaron and Ahmed more a fellowship of brotherhood, or was it more? Previous relationship with a woman accounted for, was this plot-point to show that love is universal?

Beyond that, something about the end of the book felt rushed. Everything was so sudden, and plotwise I can't figure out why. To it's credit though, it was a powerful ending. It will make the reader feel very introspective, may make you shed a tear, and definitely pursue a good hug.

[Meepelous · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fiction book that read like nonfiction. My biggest complaint about this book is that it leaned too far towards the preaching to the choir side of things. If you believe the kinds of things that this book is espousing you will like it; if you don't, or just have no clue what they are talking about it, you will not really learn anything by reading this book. I am sort of stuck in the middle on this one so I feel pretty inspired to look into it more, but there wasn't even a suggested reading list at the end so I will probably never get around to doing more research into this subject because I will procrastinate and forget.

As far as the art goes, it had a pretty classic feel for the Vertigo titles I've read. Lost of expressive lines, which sometimes ends up looking a bit messy. The color pallet is pretty expressive, changing with the moods and setting of the scenes. The page layout varied every few pages but wasn't hard to follow. The art was just weird enough to reflect the convoluted nature of the story without rendering everything a jumbled mess.

As far as writing goes, I was expecting weird going in, but it still managed to weird me out. It's a heavy book with a million and a half different ideas interwoven with each other, but the plot is still pretty fast paced. So even if you don't understand everything they are talking about (like me) you will probably feel yourself being sucked in. As I mentioned at the start of the review, this comic definitly felt like it was preaching to the choir. So if you are in any way shape or form pro torture/GITMO you will probably not like this book.

Otherwise this book is fairly even toned. While they are looking at the "source of terrorism" Canton also turns his critical eye on the USA and their own policies. So the contrast in the novel is less east vs west and more love vs war. As the subtitle suggests, the main characters do move through a relationship that in someways could be termed romantic, but the book is more interested in looking at the basic human need for connection whether that be in familial, religious or patriotic senses.

[Eric Piotrowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

The illustrations are excellent; color palettes are intriguing and illuminative. The dialogue is well-paced.

Okay, that's all the good stuff out of the way. Sorry, but I was decidedly unimpressed by this book. Let's use 9/11 as the starting point for a really torturous and opaque exploration of "memes". Along the way we'll sidestep all of the myriad political, social, economic, and personal reasons for terrorism, and boil it all down to brainwashing and "love".

Don't bother. If you want a good graphic novel about 9/11, read Spiegelman's In the Shadow of No Towers instead, or Rall's To Afghanistan and Back: A Graphic Travelogue.

[Ginger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this hoping not to find Islamophobia, and while it did exist as part of the story of how the typical American views and misunderstands Jihad, Muslims, and the War on Terror, its driving message did not communicate anything negative or hateful of the religion. It focused more on how humans use religion to become puppets unknowingly. It is an extreme depiction of the power of memetic theory and seeks to answer the question of how someone could be a suicide bomber. It makes a much bigger statement on the military system in the US, one that I agree with. I would highly suggest a reading of it. It is most certainly engaging and even if you don't like it, I believe you will have been glad to have read it. The gay aspects of the storyline did appear to be forced and unnecessary, and I think its inclusion undermined the message a bit.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Doctor Aaron Goodman was a military therapist, working with veterans of various wars. Following his wife's death during the 9/11 attacks, Goodman chooses to utilize his mental tricks at Guantanamo Bay. Asked to crack a particulary difficult prisoner dubbed Ahmed, Goodman connects with the man over theories about terrorism. Determined to understand the root cause of the suicide bomber mentality, two men escape the prison camp and travel to Ahmed's training facility in Pakistan. As Goodman falls further into the depths of the programming, he is sent to New York with Ahmed and others as the latest jihadist. The odd story provides some interesting theories on the techniques that are used to turn men and women into living bombs; a hard look at the war on terror and its far-reaching effects.

[Vincent Powell · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've been flipping through the comic book section of the library recently, and I have come across some great stuff. I've also come across some pretty mediocre stuff. This is one of the latter, which is a shame, because it looked really promising from the first ten pages. Afterwards, however, the plot turned from the conflict/connection of Aaron & Ahmed to this conversation about memes and ideology and how someone can be convinced to become a martyr. This idea sounds interesting, but in the book it turns into a convoluted mess. The pseudo-philosophical repetition obscures the relationship between Aaron & Ahmed, which was the most interesting part of the book, and is just painful to read.

[sweet pea · Rating 4 out of 5]

a provocative read i cannot wait to discuss. it's hard to say much without revealing key elements. suffice to say it's a wild ride and an intriguing take on terrorism, torture, current events, and love.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

An okay comic, just not to my taste. overwrought post 9-11 story speculating on the roots of terrorism that misses the mark, in my opinion. I can usually figure out who I would suggest books to, but I'm not sure who the audience is for this book.

[Alden · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to think about this book. This was one of those books where I wasn't quite sure whether I was missing the point because I'm ignorant about these issues, or if the book itself is confusing. It's certainly engaging and I'll certainly remember it.

[laaaaames · Rating 3 out of 5]

Agggg I wanted so much more, but in a way that the book was doing its job.

(read: 49)