Who knew the future of warfare would be so polite?

Although I haven't watched it regularly in over twenty years, I still dwell on an old Saturday Night Live bit from around the first Gulf War. During a round-table style news discussion show, an army general type ponders how America wants to deploy troops but doesn't want to lose any but invulnerable super-soldiers aren't available. This was some years before drones became more prevalent; which have brought up even more problems; most of which aren't addressed in today's book: from 1992, Farewell to Weapons, story and art by Katsuhiro Otomo, translation by Robert Spaulding, colors by Steve Oliff.

This was a translated reprint of a short story from 1981, a mere year before Otomo's Akira began. Set after a World War IV, a Western squad patrols a city abandoned by Eastern troops; and the power-armored troops run across an automated tank, which the troops call a "Gonk" after the noise it makes. The ensuing battle does not go well for the troops, but when the last soldier's armor is destroyed and he's disarmed, the Gonk has a surprise for him...

I hadn't seen this comic before, although I do have Memories somewhere: it was another Otomo reprint from Epic Comics. There's a pretty good article here that mentions the anime adaptation of Farewell to Arms, Short Peace.

Haven't watched a ton of anime in recent years, but I'll keep an eye out.