by KEVIN KNODELL

Vietnamerica isn’t just one of the best comics I’ve ever read. It’s one of the best stories I’ve ever experienced — through any medium — in my entire life.

The book came out in January 2010. I first read it as a college student living in the basement of a chicken farm. Since then, I’ve reread it several times … and at no point has it gotten stale.

I knew I loved comics before reading it, but this book influenced my view of what comics can be. It’s partially responsible for my own forays into comics writing.

Vietnamese American cartoonist G.B. Tran tells an inter-generational tale about how Vietnam’s wars shaped his family, how the fall of Saigon turned them into refugees and how they began a new life in the United States.

It’s a war saga, an immigrant story and a coming-of-age tale all wrapped up in one beautifully drawn comic.

The book begins with Tran — the only member of his family to be born in America — visiting Vietnam with his parents. They return to pay their respects to Tran’s maternal grandmother and paternal grandfather, who both died at almost the same time.