''War Heroes'' is a six-issue

limited series Limited series may refer to: *Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series *Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered *Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...

from

Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-ow ...

, written by

Mark Millar Mark Millar (; born 24 December 1969) is a Scottish comic book writer and television producer who first came to prominence with a run on the superhero series '' The Authority'', published by DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint. Millar has written ex ...

,Talking about ''War Heroes'' with Mark Millar

Newsarama Newsarama is an American website that publishes news, interviews, and essays about the American comic book industry. It is owned by Future US. In June 2020, Newsarama was merged with the website GamesRadar+, also owned by FutureUS. History N ...

, May 1, 2008 with art by Tony Harris. Millar has said "''War Heroes'' is everything I've been leading up to with ''

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

'', ''

Ultimates The Ultimates is a superhero comic book series published by Marvel Comics and created by writer Mark Millar and artist Bryan Hitch, which first started publication from ''The Ultimates'' #1 (March 2002), as part of the company's Ultimate Marvel i ...

'', '' The Authority'', '' Kick-Ass'' and '' Wanted''" and "This is what my ''Ultimates 3'' would have been if Bryan and I had stuck around."

Publication history

The 6-issue limited series started August 2008 but as of February 2020 only three issues have been published.

Plot

Set in an alternate timeline during the coalition wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the detonation of a nuclear bomb in Washington D.C. prompts the United States administration to expand the coalition

War on Terror The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international Counterterrorism, counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campa ...

to include Iran, as well as institute

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

in the United States. As American casualties increase, morale and public support declines with the economy, reducing America's standing in the world. Lacking the necessary recruits, the US Military boosts enlistment by distributing pills to its soldiers which confer upon them various superpowers, tipping the scale in the war. The story focus on a group of disenchanted American con artists, who enlist in the military to steal the pills and sell them to foreign investors at $10 million before planning to

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

. Initially, however, the con artists had no knowledge of the identity of their clients that they were to sell to until it was revealed to be the terrorist organization,

Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

. When one of the con artists' brother (a war hero) is taken prisoner in an attack by a super-powered member of Al-Qaeda, the con artists set about rescuing him from a

public execution A public execution is a form of capital punishment which "members of the general public may voluntarily attend." This definition excludes the presence of only a small number of witnesses called upon to assure executive accountability. The purpose ...

Reception

David Wallace reviewed the first issue for

Comics Bulletin Comics Bulletin was a daily website covering the American comic-book industry. History Silver Bullet Comicbooks The site was founded in January 2000 as Silver Bullet Comicbooks by its New Zealand-based publisher/editor Jason Brice. During this ...

and concluded that "this is a solid debut that sets up the book's premise quickly and efficiently, and shows a lot of potential for the future." Richard Renteria at

agrees saying "Millar deftly sets into motion a series of events that are perfectly captured by Harris’ detailed and eye-catching art." The first issue had sales estimates of 30,637 putting it at 77th in the sales charts.

Film

In September 2008, it was announced that ''War Heroes'' had been optioned by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

, with

Michael DeLuca Michael De Luca (born August 13, 1965) is an American film studio executive, film producer and screenwriter. The former president of production at both New Line Cinema and DreamWorks, De Luca has been nominated for three Academy Awards for B ...

as producer and Millar taking an executive producer role. In 2011,

Jeff Kirschenbaum Jeff Kirschenbaum is an American film producer and member of the Producers Guild of America. He is known for collaborating with Joe Roth. Filmography ''He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.'' Film ;Miscellaneous crew Telev ...

bought the film rights from Columbia after they had let it lapse, and he set the film up at

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer are American screenwriters who have collaborated on a number of projects from ''Thoughtcrimes'' in 2003 through an adaptation of Brian Freeman's ''Infinite'' in 2021. Filmography *'' Thoughtcrimes'' ...

were considered to write the script.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:War Heroes (Comics) 2008 comics debuts Comics by Mark Millar Comics set during the Iraq War Unfinished comics