| War Heroes | |
|---|---|
 Cover ofWar Heroes #1. July 2008 byTony Harris andJ. D. Mettler. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Image Comics |
| Schedule | Erratic |
| Format | Limited series |
| Genre | |
| Publication date | August 2008 – present |
| No. of issues | 6 |
| Creative team | |
| Created by | Mark Millar Tony Harris |
| Written by | Mark Millar |
| Penciller | Tony Harris |
| Inker | Cliff Rathburn |
| Letterer | Clem Robins |
| Colorist | J. D. Mettler |
| Editor | Drew Gill |
War Heroes is a six-issuelimited series fromImage Comics, written byMark Millar,[1] with art byTony Harris.[2]
Millar has said "War Heroes is everything I've been leading up to withCivil War,Ultimates,The Authority,Kick-Ass andWanted"[3] and "This is what myUltimates 3 would have been ifBryan and I had stuck around."[1]
The six-issue limited series started August 2008 but as of March 2024[update] only three issues have been published.[4]
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 coalitionWar on Terror to include Iran, as well as institutemartial law 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 todesert. 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. 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 apublic execution.
David Wallace reviewed the first issue forComics Bulletin 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."[5] Richard Renteria atNewsarama agrees saying "Millar deftly sets into motion a series of events that are perfectly captured by Harris’ detailed and eye-catching art."[6]
The first issue had sales estimates of 30,637 putting it at 77th in the sales charts.[7]
In September 2008, it was announced thatWar Heroes had been optioned byColumbia Pictures, withMichael De Luca as producer and Millar taking an executive producer role.[8][9] In 2011,Jeff Kirschenbaum bought the film rights from Columbia after they had let it lapse, and he set the film up atUniversal Pictures.Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer were considered to write the script.[10]