G.I. Jihadi

The reasons the comic book industry has been relatively gun-shy about the war in Iraq are both bewildering and obvious. Bewildering because the conflict seems readymade for discussion and dissection within the panels of comics, the best-selling and most popular of which have always dealt with battles between good and evil, often featuring spies, soldiers, terrorists, villains, madmen, corrupt leaders and dictators.

Obvious because the ongoing war is and always has been so controversial. In an industry that climaxed two decades after its 1930s creation and whose audience has been steadily shrinking ever since the '50s, tackling controversy is always a risky business.

But what's true for the bottom line-watching big publishers -- Marvel and DC, the two giants whose superhero lines dominate the industry -- is rarely true for the scores of indie publishers. Publishers like Blue King Studios/, which was created by City of Heroes video game creator and "Geek Mafia" novelist Rick Dakan. Dakan set up Blue King to publish a comic book adaptation of his City of Heroes game, a monthly comic book series lettered by Neil Hendrick.

By the 12th issue of that series, Hendrick had graduated to writing the story and script, instead of just filling in the bubbles with another writer's words.

Hendrick calls Blue King's set-up "a kind of anarcho-syndacalist collective comic book machine," and Dakan a "visionary;" in other words, it's a perfect place for a ballsy comic book with nothing to lose. Like, say, a slam-bang action adventure comic book set in Baghdad, a book whose story barrels straight at the prickly subject matter of the Iraq War.

And Hendrick just so happened to have such a story to tell. A self-taught student of the Middle East, Islam, and the United States' conflicts there, Hendrick got a firsthand education from his brother, an Army Ranger who served in Iraq. The tales his brother and friends told Hendrick would inform what ultimately became his new comic book series, "The Black Heart Irregulars."

Together with Argentinian artist Ulises Carpintero, Hendrick created a near-future Bagdhad in which the culture of the conquerors informs that of the conquered, and many of the independent contractors paid to fight there are now left over and restlessly looking for work.

His protagonists are the former employees of the firm, Black Heart Security, who are hired by an Arab diplomat to escort him safely into the American embassy, where he promptly detonates himself. Disgraced for their inadvertent role in the massive suicide bombing, the Black Hearts decide to fight terror with terror, and their leader, Mr. Fifty, recruits a team of freelance international terrorists to, as their mission statement goes, terrorize the terrorists.

In the first issue, released in late August, Mr. Fifty recruits his own cell of Islamic jihadis, explaining, "Al Qaeda is a pyramid scheme, and I'm opening up a franchise," right before he seemingly bombs the set of an American reality TV show.

By the second issue, we see the Black Hearts taking the fight straight to the source -- going after Saudi money men. It's a nice bit of wish fulfillment at a time when America's real-life strategy of fighting terror seems particularly confused, but Hendrick's tale is not mere escapism; he slips in a lesson on the true nature of our true enemies.

How did you go from talking to your brother to thinking, 'Hey, there's a comic book series in here somewhere'?

Really, it's inspired by the camaraderie and comedy of my brother and his friends, Army Rangers. The way they talk and the stories they tell, these guys are a tribe to themselves. They aren't really that interested in the history and politics of it all, it's all about their Band of Brothers, a radical devotion to the man next to them.