The 'Stan is a collection of short comics about America's longest war. The tales in this book--based on reporting by David Axe and Kevin Knodell and drawn by artist Blue Delliquanti-are all true and took place in roughly the first decade of the U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan. While the stories are from the recent past, The 'Stan is still very much about Afghanistan's, and America's, present. And likely future.

Brent Dulak doesn't want to go to Afghanistan. Haunted by the memories of his two tours in Iraq and burnt out on soldiering, he wants nothing more than to drink to self-destructive excess and have meaningless sex with questionable women. He's a U.S. Army medic who was recently promoted to sergeant, in charge of a team of soldiers whose job it will be patch up the wounded at a remote outpost as American forces prepare to turn Kandahar Province over to the Afghan forces. That won't be easy, Kandahar is the birthplace of the Taliban. It's filled with motivated insurgents, questionable local allies and countless ways to die. Brutally honest and darkly funny, Machete Squad is the story of a soldier trying to keep people alive as America's longest war rages all around him. He must look out for the welfare of his men and their patients even as he doubts his own abilities-and at times his sanity.