Shooters

by Eric Trautmann, Brandon Jerwa, Steve Lieber (Illustrator)

Today's battlefield isn't just about the uniformed soldier in service to his country; there's also the contractor, who answers to the corporation. Call them mercenaries, soldiers-for-hire, or private military operators, they are a new breed of combatant in today's conflicts.

SHOOTERS is the story of Terry Glass, a warrior whose spirit and soul has been hardened in countless battles. When a horrible accident shatters his world, Glass finds himself waging a private war on several fronts – against his career, his marriage, and ultimately, his faith.

Written by Eric S. Trautmann (CHECKMATE, Red Sonja, Flash Gordon) and Brandon Jerwa (G.I. Joe, Battlestar Galactica, Highlander), and drawn by Eisner Award-winning artist Steve Lieber (Underground, Whiteout, ROAD TO PERDITION: ON THE ROAD), SHOOTERS tells a story of modern warfare that will stay with you forever.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, War, Graphic Novels Comics

144 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2012

About the author

Eric Trautmann is a comic book writer, editor, and graphic designer.

For several years, Eric was a writer and editor for West End Games' acclaimed Star Wars roleplaying game line. After leaving dice-and-paper gaming behind, Eric then moved into videogames, an early recruit into Microsoft Game Studios' nascent entertainment licensing apparatus.

While at Microsoft, Eric wrote and edited in-game dialogue, story bibles, marketing materials, and original fictional content for the web.

Among the titles that Eric helped develop were the smash-hit HALO: Combat Evolved (including editing chores on the first three HALO novels for Ballantine / Del Rey, as well as writing The Art of HALO, also for Del Rey); Crimson Skies (creating a strongly immersive in-universe website for the pulpy, two-fisted adventure setting; editing weekly serialized online pulp novellas; and editing and contributing to Del Rey's mass-market paperback fiction anthology based on the setting); MechWarrior 4; and Perfect Dark Zero, acting as a story consultant to the property and helping to develop a fiction publishing program in support of the game.

In addition, Eric has consulted on videogame properties for EPIC (drafting a story bible for the Gears of War franchise), story development for Radical Entertainment, and delivering talks on the craft of writing in games to various publishers (notably, Blizzard Entertainment).

After leaving Microsoft, Eric wrote a six-issue miniseries for Perfect Dark (titled Perfect Dark: Janus' Tears), published by Prima Games, as well as editing and lettering an original graphic novel prequel to the hyperviolent videogame Army of Two, titled Army of Two: Dirty Money (written by John Ney Rieber and illustrated by Brandon McKinney).

While developing Perfect Dark Zero's novel program, he edited Perfect Dark: Initial Vector and Perfect Dark: Second Front, scribed by Greg Rucka (and published by TOR). The collaboration proved fruitful, and Eric was later invited to write a fill-in issue of Greg's DC Comics superhero/espionage title, Checkmate (which led to a half-year stint as co-writer on the title, ending his run with issue #25).

Checkmate led to several other DC Comics projects (as both writer or co-writer), including Final Crisis: Resist, JSA Vs. Kobra: Engines of Faith, The Shield, Mighty Crusaders, Adventure Comics and others.

Eric currently writes the continuing adventures of classic sword-and-sorcery heroine, Red Sonja, for Dynamite Entertainment.

In November 2010, Eric's debut issue of a revitalized Vampirella (also published by Dynamite Entertainment) was released to widespread critical praise and excellent sales (Vampirella #1 was the best selling non-premier publisher title for Diamond Comics Distribution in the month of its release).

In addition to writing comics, Eric is a graphic designer and marketing consultant, through his Fedora Monkey Studio, which offers (among other services) logo and branding design, intellectual property development, and viral marketing (such as the infamous "Montoya Journal" to promote the DC Comics' series The Question: The Five Books of Blood).

Eric splits his time between Raymond, Wa (where he resides) and Lacey, WA (where his wife runs the best comic shop ever).

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED EVERY PAGE OF THIS GRAPHIC NOVEL! This one had me engaged and I didn't want to put it down. I thought it did an excellent job portraying what a lot of service men and women experience-that calling to be a part of something bigger in an effort to enable the rest of America to follow their dreams. It also did a good job showing the difficulties of military family life, post-traumatic stress, and that fine line between being the good guy and being the bad guy.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS! Even if I had not gotten it for free through a Goodreads giveaway, it would be worth the purchase!

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this book portrayed a lot of pain for nearly everyone -- good guys, bad guys, people on the sidelines -- it also showed me a kind of life I have wondered about. I was born while my dad was in the army, but he never shipped to Vietnam so he never had to face this kind of combat. Knowing that (and that my grandfather was in the South Pacific in WW II) and reading a lot of WW I trench warfare recently, I wondered how the military life goes today. This feels very realistic, complementary to the Queensryche album "American Soldier." The main character's relationship with his daughter was the most difficult for me to read. Still, I'm happy to have read this book... I feel like it gives me the faintest insight into what a large number of our military people are going through right now.

Side note: The once nice thing about being sick is the large amount of reading time it provides.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-written. Good illustration.

Having a hard time writing much about this one as I liked it even while I saw problems with it. However, a couple of the reviews posted here really bothered me.

It was a good story of the war in Iraq from the boots on the ground in the beginning perspective. A good look at people who buy into the reasons for war and what happens to them personally and physically.

It isn't the deepest story I have ever read and I expect certain sacrifices have been made to the narrative in order to make it follow a more followable(not a word, I know) structure...

Still, it is a "real" story that doesn't choose a side and tells multiple sides well.

[Janet]

Not a topic that I'd usually pick up, but this graphic novel is illustrated by Portland's own Steven Lieber. He's done a great job, as always. It's a deeply felt story about soldiers, their families, and the cost of war.

[Nathalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trautmann's preface prepares you for a very personal and difficult story to tell. PTSD, survivors guilt, and the irreparable ripple effect that modern warfare has on soldiers and their families. Brilliantly done.

[Cindi Dimichele · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a lucky winner of this book, which is on it's way in the mail!

[Bjornv · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really wanted to like this, but in the end, it's just a copy-and-paste job of Iraq-and-Afghanistan War cliches.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot better than I thought it was going to be. I figured it was a standard revenge plot, but it was smarter than that.

[Dan Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

As of this reading, the single best fictional presentation of the Iraq War. Don't waste time with "The Hurt Locker," read this.

[SA · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only piece of fiction, in any medium, that I felt has come close to articulating the post-war contracting world for vets in the 21st century (when not written by a vet his/herself).

[Sarah Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good, emotional. Reads like a movie sometimes. Artwork is great. :)