Apache Delivery Service

This moody, atmospheric war story reunites the creative team of writer Kindt with Grass Kings series artists Tyler and Hilary Jenkins for a complex thriller evocative of Apocalypse Now. The year is 1967, and Pvt. Ernie Nez is midway through his tour of duty in Vietnam, utilizing his particular talents in service of his country. The weary Navajo—erroneously and insensitively nicknamed “Apache Delivery Service” by his fellow soldiers—is gifted with uncanny survival instincts and hunting skills, abilities he puts to use as a scout uncovering Viet Cong strongholds and targeting them for air strikes. His solemn, solitary duty leads to his capture and recruitment by a mystery man known as Sobrat, who resides in a surprisingly upscale house hidden away in the jungle. Sobrat has been studying Nez and suspects he can lead them to a lost cache of Nazi gold that he’s spent years searching for, hidden deep within a network of caves. Nez reluctantly agrees, but as the two venture further into the jungle, the mysteries of the lost gold, their shared past, and the guardians of the lost treasure may prove to be much more than they bargained for. It’s a taut, claustrophobic examination of the horrors of war. (Aug.)