DCnU - Men of War #1 from DC's New 52

Men of War is brought you by writer Ivan Brandon and artist Tom Derenick. It's a gritty tale of men serving in the US military in a world where there are people who are more powerful than tanks.

It starts off introducing us to Corporal Joe Rock, injured and in the middle of a battlefield. Then it takes us back to a "how we got here" view. We see Joe being recruited by Sgt. Torisi for some kind of special duty. The interview process includes a General who is present saying, "I knew your granddad, Corporal. Frank Rock was one of the best who ever wore this country's Flag. Think of the shoes you have to fill." To which Joe replies, "If it's all the same to you, I got my own shoes, sir."

Corporal Joe Rock is a career soldier. A man whose men mean more to him than orders from above. But he is a fighting man. In this first issue, right as Sgt. Torisi and his team, including Rock are jumping into a situation, a super attacks. The whole plan goes pear-shaped as their stealth mission has been disrupted by a hero, who is then attacked by another, and they devastate the location that Torisi, Rock and their squad were dropping in to.

We never even see who these super-powered beings are - they are silhouettes. We do know that at least one of them doesn't wear a cape, and must be dressed in red, as he leaves a red trail behind him as he flies. The one who tackles him leaves a blue trail. And that is all we see of them.

Torisi and Rock try to lead their men to accomplish their mission while dealing with the insurgents in the area and the fallout of the super battle taking place right in the area.

Once the action starts in this book, it is non-stop. However, I wasn't really compelled by the action. Maybe too much happens "off-screen" or maybe I wasn't attached enough to the characters. Regardless, it just didn't suck me in the way I had hoped.

It's actually the opposite of what I was expecting. I enjoyed the recruitment portion of the comic more than the action portion. We'll see if my opinion changes when I pick up issue #2.

We do see the Flashpoint Lady in Red here, at the bottom of page 17 of the digital version.

The backup story of the Navy Seals, "Human Shields" part 1 was pretty good, and had me looking forward to the next installment.