View source for Don Lomax

{{short description|American comic book writer/artist (born 1944)}}
{{Infobox comics creator
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| birth_date    = {{birth date and age|1944 |09| 14}} 
| birth_place   = Illinois, U.S.
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| nationality   = American
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| art           = y
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| notable works = ''[[Vietnam Journal]]''
| awards        = 
| spouse = Zenaida
| website       = [http://www.lomaxcomics.com www.lomaxcomics.com]
}}
'''Don Lomax''' (born 1944) is an American [[comic book]] writer/artist best known for his long-running comic ''[[Vietnam Journal]]''. A veteran of the [[Vietnam War]], much of Lomax's adrenaline-fueled work centers on the military experience, and its gritty, unflinching depiction of the reality of war, specifically in Vietnam.

== Biography ==

=== Early life ===
Growing up in [[Bushnell, Illinois]], Lomax's artistic influences included [[Jack Davis (cartoonist)|Jack Davis]] and [[Berni Wrightson]],<ref name="WhosWho">[http://www.bailsprojects.com/(S(vzhvta5555jvhmeejlyagqae))/bio.aspx?Name=LOMAX%2c+DON Lomax profile]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304002113/http://www.bailsprojects.com/(S(vzhvta5555jvhmeejlyagqae))/bio.aspx?Name=LOMAX%2C+DON |date=March 4, 2012 }}, Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999.</ref> as well as the war comics ''[[Two-Fisted Tales]]'' and ''[[Blazing Combat]]''.<ref name="Newsarama" />

=== Military service ===
Drafted into the [[U.S. Army]] in the fall of 1965, Lomax did his basic training at [[Fort Knox]]. In the fall of 1966, he was shipped out to [[Vietnam]] on the ''[[USS General John Pope]]'',<ref name="Newsarama">Epstein, Daniel Robert. [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=5378 "Don Lomax's Vietnam Memories,"]{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Newsarama (August 28, 2003).</ref> deployed to the 98th Light Equipment Maintenance Company. During his tour of duty, Lomax made notes and sketches which later were incorporated into ''[[Vietnam Journal]]''. According to Lomax, the War ". . . opened my eyes. Before I went into the war I trusted everybody, and when I came out I trusted nobody or the government."<ref name="Newsarama" />

=== Comics ===
Lomax's first professional comics work was ''Atilla the Frog'' for ''[[Heavy Metal (magazine)|Heavy Metal]]'' magazine in 1979.<ref name="WhosWho" /> In the early 1980s, he published comics stories in magazines like ''[[Cavalier (magazine)|Cavalier]]'' and ''[[Hustler (magazine)|Hustler]] Humor'', as well as contributing to [[Fantagraphics]]' ''Anything Goes!''. Lomax supplied art for [[Pacific Comics]]' ''[[Twisted Tales]]'', and for back-up stories in [[First Comics]] titles like ''[[American Flagg!]]'', ''[[Starslayer]]'',  and ''The Black Flame''.

==== ''Vietnam Journal'' and ''Desert Storm Journal'' ====
In [[1987 in comics|1987]], after doing some work for the fledgling publisher [[Apple Comics]], Lomax pitched Apple editor [[Michael Catron]] his proposal for ''[[Vietnam Journal]]''. Given the concurrent success of Vietnam-related films like ''[[Platoon (film)|Platoon]]'' and ''[[Full Metal Jacket]]'', Catron agreed to Lomax's proposal.<ref name="Newsarama" /> Between 1987 and 1991, Apple published 16 issues of ''Vietnam Journal'', which then spawned a selection of limited series and one-shots. ''Vietnam Journal'' tells the fictional adventures of [[war correspondent]] Scott "Journal" Neithammer.

During this period, Apple also published Lomax's four-issue limited series ''High Shining Brass'', collecting the Vietnam War stories of Robert Durand.

''Vietnam Journal'' collections were published by Apple Comics in 1987 and 1991.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Vietnam Journal|url=https://www.comics.org/series/3536/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201007145945/https://www.comics.org/series/3536/ |archive-date=2020-10-07 |access-date=October 7, 2020|website=[[Grand Comics Database]]}}</ref> The publisher went bankrupt in 1994; right at that time Lomax published new ''Vietnam Journal'' material in the short-lived [[Dark Horse Comics]] series ''Harvey Kurtzman's The New Two-Fisted Tales''. ''Vietnam Journal'' was later revived as a monthly full-page strip from 2002 to 2006 by ''[[Gallery (magazine)|Gallery]]''.

''Vietnam Journal'' collections were re-issued by [[Byron Preiss|iBooks]] in 2004, and were nominated for a 2004 [[Harvey Award]] for Best Domestic Reprint Project.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=April 21, 2004|title=2004 Harvey Award Nominees Announced|url=https://www.cbr.com/2004-harvey-award-nominees-announced/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=October 7, 2020|website=CBR}}</ref> Lomax was at the time continuing the ''Vietnam Journal'' series and posting it on his website in five-page increments twice a month. The entire ''Vietnam Journal'' series was re-issued in graphic novel form through [[Transfuzion Publishing]].

Lomax's ''[[Desert Storm Journal]]'', published in 9 issues by Apple Comics from September 1991 to March 1993, covered the [[Gulf War]]. Scott "Journal" Neithammer gets caught up in the war between [[the Pentagon]] and the press, and heads off into the desert on his own, getting an unwelcome first-hand taste of the fury of American firepower. In 2004, iBooks published Lomax's ''Gulf War Journal'', collecting material from ''Desert Storm Journal''.

Years later, Journal once again finds himself dealing with the war in Iraq with the launching of [[Operation Iraqi Freedom]].

''Vietnam Journal: Series Two'', featuring all-new material by Lomax, was published for 15 issues by [[Caliber Comics]] starting in 2017.

==== Other comics work ====
In 1992–1993, Lomax wrote [[Marvel Comics]]' Vietnam comic ''[[The 'Nam]]'', as well as providing inks for their comic ''[[Sleepwalker (comics)|Sleepwalker]]'', ''[[The Punisher]]'', and others.

He has also had comics and cartoons appear in dozens of national magazines, including ''[[Easyriders]]'', ''[[Heavy Metal (magazine)|Heavy Metal]]'', ''[[CARtoons Magazine|CARtoons]],'' various truck magazines, and numerous [[pornographic]] magazines.

His weekly comic, "Boomer Hayes" is created in collaboration with Steven Calitri of ''[http://towindustryweek.com/ American Towman Magazine]''.

Some of Lomax's recent and ongoing projects include ''Guard Tales'', a nonfiction strip about [[National Guard of the United States]] soldiers published in ''GX Magazine''; ''Knights of the Road'', a nonfiction strip about [[truck driver]] heroes, published in ''Overdrive Magazine''; ''Above and Beyond'', true stories of [[Law enforcement agency|law enforcement]] personnel, published by ''[[Police and Security News]]''; and ''The Boys in the Basement'', a strip published in ''[[Model Railroading]] Magazine'' from 1998 to 2006.

== Personal life ==
Lomax lives in [[Illinois]] with his second wife Zenaida ("Zeny"). He has four children, two of whom have also served in the military.<ref name="Newsarama" /><ref name=RegisterMail2011>{{cite news|title=Vietnam in comic book form|first=Lisa |last=Coon|date=Aug 7, 2011|work=[[The Register-Mail]]|url=https://www.galesburg.com/story/news/2011/08/07/vietnam-in-comic-book-form/45453507007/|location=[[Galesburg, Illinois]]}}</ref>

== Bibliography ==

=== Comics ===
* ''Twisted Tales'' (issue 4, Aug. 1983)
* ''Vietnam Journal'' (16 issues, Nov. 1987–Apr. 1991)
* ''High Shining Brass'' (4 issues, 1990–June 1991)
* ''Survive!'' (Apple Comics, 1 issue, 1992)
* ''Vietnam Journal: Tet '68'' (6 issues, Mar. 1992 – 1993)
* ''The 'Nam'' (issues #70-84, July 1992-Sept. 1993)
* ''Vietnam Journal: Bloodbath at Khe Sanh'' (4 issues, 1992–Dec. 1993)
* ''Vietnam Journal: The Iron Triangle'' (Apple Comics, 1 issue, 1993)
* ''Vietnam Journal: Valley of Death'' (1 issue, June–Aug. 1994)

=== Graphic novels and collections ===
*''Vietnam Journal Book One: Indian Country'' (reprints #1-4, plus original story) (Apple Press, 1990) {{ISBN|0-927203-02-2}}<!-- (re-issued by Transfuzion Publishing, 2009) ISBN 094161381X-->
*''Vietnam Journal Book Two: The Iron Triangle'' (reprints 5–8, plus original story) (Apple Press, 1991) {{ISBN|0-927203-06-5}}<!-- (re-issued by Transfuzion Publishing, 2010) ISBN 0-941613-32-1 -->
*''Vietnam Journal: Delta to Dak To'' (reprints 9–12) (Apple Press, 1991) {{ISBN|0-927203-07-3}}
*''Gulf War Journal'' (reprints #1-9) (iBooks, 2004) {{ISBN|0-7434-8669-2}} 
*''Burlington Route Tower Cartoonist'' (''Boys in the Basement'' collection; [[South Platte Press]], 2004) {{ISBN|0-942035-65-8}}
*''Vietnam Journal Book One: Indian Country'' (Transfuzion Publishing, 2009) {{ISBN|978-0-941613-81-1}}
*''Vietnam Journal Book Two: the Iron Triangle'' (Transfuzion Publishing, 2010) {{ISBN|978-0-941613-32-3}}
*''Vietnam Journal Book Three: From the Delta to Dak To'' (Transfuzion Publishing, 2010) {{ISBN|978-0-9826549-1-0}}
*''Vietnam Journal Book Four:  MIA'' (Transfuzion Publishing, 2010) {{ISBN|978-0-941613-76-7}}
*''Vietnam Journal Book Five: Tet '68'' (Transfuzion Publishing, 2010) {{ISBN|978-0-9826549-5-8}}
*''Vietnam Journal Book Six: Bloodbath at Khe Sanh'' (Transfuzion Publishing, 2011) {{ISBN|978-0-9826549-6-5}}
*''Vietnam Journal Book Seven: Valley of Death'' (Transfuzion Publishing, 2011) {{ISBN|978-0-9826549-7-2}}
*''Vietnam Journal Series Two, Book One: Incursion'' (Caliber Publishing, 2017) {{ISBN|978-1635299847}}
*''Vietnam Journal Series Two, Book Two: Journey into Hell'' (Caliber Publishing, 2018) {{ISBN|978-1635299267}}
*''Vietnam Journal Series Two, Book Three: Ripcord'' (Caliber Publishing, 2020) {{ISBN|978-1635298581}}

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
*{{comicbookdb|type=creator|id=2799|title=Don Lomax}}
* {{cite news|title=Don Lomax: An Interview With The Creator of Vietnam Journal |first=Leonard |last=Rifas|author-link=Leonard Rifas| pages= 86–103 |work= [[The Comics Journal]]|number=  136 |date=July 1990}}
* {{cite magazine|title=Don Lomax: An Interview with the creator of ''Vietnam Journal'' and Writer of the ''Nam''' Comic for Marvel| magazine=[[Vietnam Magazine]] |date=June 2012 |pages=46–51}}

== External links ==
* {{official website|http://www.lomaxcomics.com}}
* [http://www.lomaxcomics.com/vnjcon.html Vietnam Journal Continuum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100725020816/http://www.lomaxcomics.com/vnjcon.html |date=2010-07-25 }} — sample ''[[Vietnam Journal]]'' pages
{{s-start}}
{{succession box | title=''[[The 'Nam]]'' writer| before=[[Chuck Dixon]]| after=N/A| years=1992&ndash;1993}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lomax, Don}}
[[Category:1944 births]]
[[Category:American comics creators]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Bushnell, Illinois]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War]]
[[Category:United States Army soldiers]]