American Terror volume one begins in 2041, and it features the aging Victor Sheppard, a former U.S. army captain turned mercenary terrorist. Sheppard helped start the war that would end all wars, and he brought peace to the world--but at an extreme cost. Haunted by his past, and with the only man he could call a friend being buried, Sheppard decides to finally tell the truth about his role in ending the third world.

I am truly impressed by this comic, and I'm sure anyone who reads it will be too. It's dark, and it teeters on the edge of controversy. With a title like American Terror, how could it not?

We're given a glimpse into a seemingly utopian future desired by all--no war, free healthcare, and the police don't have to carry weapons anymore--but what had to be done to garner that peace? Terrorism, that's what.

This new war, the one Victor Sheppard is fighting, is fought on a corporate battlefield, but it goes beyond just the Suits. Corporations that have dealings in the Middle East are hiring any type of special op/militant muscle as corporate security to protect their assets.

Less is more in American Terror. McComesy and Cooper are wonderful story tellers, and having McComesy do the art just strengthens the bond between words and pictures. Many panels are pure gunfight action, some are just characters walking into a coffee house, but the way they are drawn tells the story. The black and white may turn some people away. However, for this subject, black and white amplifies the dystopian society Victor Sheppard lives in.

Sheppard is a hard guy to figure out. He was a captain in the U.S. Special Forces, and he was court-martialed for a botched mission. After getting out of prison, he was forced to live the life of an Average Joe citizen and was pursued by several corporations looking to hire him for their security teams. He declined.

Now he's working against those corporations. Sheppard seems to want to do the right thing, but he's a killer--a point that's made very apparent in the opening--and he's haunted by figures from his past.

He’s also a something of a mythic figure; teenagers wear his face on their shirts, but do they really know who he is and what he stood for? What makes this guy tick? It's the complexity and mystery of the characters that really drive the story forward, and that's what will keep you reading and asking for more.

This is a great book, and I think Alterna Comics could have a great success on their hands. American Terror could be considered a junior V for Vendetta--following in that book’s fight-for-revolution footsteps. Search this volume out and look for future volumes. You'll want to read them.

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