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Graveyard of Empires #1


David O'Leary on the issue!

Hot Shot Of The Week

Graveyard of Empires #1 (Image Comics)

On the week where I expected to name the final issue of 28 Days Later as the Hot Shot, I get blindsided by a hell of a debut issue in Graveyard of Empires #1 from Image Comics. Writer Mark Sable gives us a story that completely disarms the reader in the sense that when you read the solicitation you know that there is going to be legions of the undead showing up. Now, you can shake your head at yet another zombie story but actually Sable barely hints at what is to come as he crafts a tale in the vein of The Hurt Locker.

The book follows the day to day life of a regiment of American soldiers that have to deal with them being not wanted in Afghanistan by the locals. If the book were just a war book it would still be the Hot Shot but by the time that the final scenes play out, you have forgotten about what was to come and it just throws you for a loop. It adds a whole new dimension to a book that would have stood on its own feet as a war book but has this new threat for the cast to overcome and I look forward to reading that.

Paul Azaceta is on art duties and does an amazing job of portraying the dry arid land that is Afghanistan so much so you can almost see the beads of sweat rolling down the soldiers faces. He researched the hell out of the book and in so doing, may well have produced the best looking book of his career yet.

The book is dedicated to slain photo journalist Tim Hetherington who was killed in Libya on April 20th this year and directly contributed to the book research.

The book goes on sale this Wednesday the 15th and is thoroughly recommended as the unbelievable high standard of story telling and structure and technique is unsurpassed so far this year.

Take A Look Inside

On Sale June 15th 2011 $2.99

From the Publisher

From Alexander the Great to the Soviet Union, war-torn Afghanistan has brought the world's greatest armies to their knees, earning the nation its infamous reputation as the "graveyard of empires." With the debut of this new series from Image Comics, the Marines will not only be in danger from enemy forces, but also from the undead!

Mark Sable, writer of Unthinkable, Teen Titans: Cold Case and Two-Face: Year One returns to Image with GROUNDED co-creator and Amazing Spider-Man artist Paul Azaceta for an all-new series that combines current military events with stark horror.

"Despite the many conflicts the US military is engaged in, there is currently a real dearth of war comics," Sable explained. "I'm honored to return to Image, a publisher brave enough to tackle a comic that literally rips the face off of modern warfare."

"Mark and I researched the hell out of this book to make the military aspect as authentic as possible," added Azaceta. "But don't let that fool you - this is heart-pounding survival horror at its best!"

In GRAVEYARD OF EMPIRES, when a young lieutenant arrives at Combat Outpost Alamo, a remote outpost in Afghanistan, he learns a new kind of insurgent math. It's said that in war, when you kill one insurgent, you create ten more by angering his family and friends. In this story, when you kill one, he comes back from the dead to infect ten of your fellow Marines.

"Mark Sable and Paul Azaceta got off to a truly auspicious start with GROUNDED, and it's great to have them working together again at Image on GRAVEYARD OF EMPIRES," Stephenson said. "They've come up with a fantastic fusion of horror and war comics that's probably best described as Robert Kirkman meets Harvey Kurtzman. Really, really excellent stuff here."

David has been with CR since June 2008 and started out as a reviewer and has expanded to do a couple of columns for the site also; starting with 28 Words Later with artist Declan Shalvey and later 5 Minutes With... where he talks with the industries best and brightest from Kubert to Moore.




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