War Heroes #1

    I have to give it Millar...the man knows how to orchestrate narrative hooks like few can.  At first, his story concepts seem to be aiming for shock value alone, but I have generally come to conclude that the man actually has something on his mind for the most part. 
    The fictional near-future that is laid out at the beginning of this issue is completely, and eerily, plausible to me.  It plays on real-world concerns up to a point, then throws a curveball: incessant terrorist attacks lead the U.S. into a war with Iran that claims thousands of lives...so the government makes super-powers standard issue for our troops.  Despite the questionable feasibility of that last part, I think this story has the potential to say a lot about the kinds of people who join up for the military, the current American war culture, being a soldier versus being a hero, and probably a lot more than I can think of off the top of my head at the moment.  In short, I think the world that is set up in this first issue has very rich potential for telling important stories that just happen to have people throwing tanks at terrorists.
    All that said, this issue was fairly slight as far as setting up what I'm guessing is our primary cast.  Here's hoping that these characters are fleshed out a bit more in subsequent issues.  From a writing standpoint, the lack of a story beyond the initial exposition is my only complaint.  From an art standpoint....well, I have no issues with Tony Harris' pencils.  They're really gorgeous.
    Anyway, to sum up...this issue does deliver an interesting and timely premise that could have merit beyond pulling ideas from the headlines, but has yet to show what the actual story is about.  I like what I have seen so far, now it's up to Millar and Harris to deliver the goods.