Signature Wound: Rocking TBI (120 6x8-inch pages, b/w; Andrews McMeel, $9.99) completes Garry Trudeau’s trilogy of Doonesbury books that “examines that impact of combat on American soldiers in Iraq.” In this book, we meet SPC Leo Deluca (aka, Toggle), who is missing an eye and suffering from aphasia, a brand of traumatic brain injury (TBI) that is manifest in an inability to articulate ideas. Doonesbury stalwart B.D., the former football hero who, in the first volume of this series, lost a leg to an RPG, was once Toggle’s commander, and he shows up to help with the recovery and rehab. As Toggle regains some of his function, he meets Michael Doonesbury’s MIT techie daughter Alex on Facebook, and a romance ensues. As with the previous volumes, Trudeau researched his subject thoroughly, both through reading and consultation and by visiting military hospitals and talking with the wounded. The book features a foreword by General Peter Pace, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and raises money for Fisher House.
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