 by
Rik Offenberger
A
generation after 9/11, the world is paralyzed by terrorist sects
of every persuasion. In this bitterly divided, terror-struck
United States, General Abigail Rhodes takes on the thankless job
of heading up the Department of Homeland Security. She could
only watch her country get its nose bloodied by these threats for
so long before she decided to put a stop to the reign of terrorists
once and for all. General Rhodes initiates "Operation:
Damocles," a top-secret project too risky for any of her predecessors
to try. Now, Rhodes commands a covert unit of super soldiers,
codenamed TASK FORCE 1, and she intends to take the terror
to the terrorists. It's an interesting intro, but what is TASK
FORCE 1 (first issue shipping in July from Image/Shadowline)
really all about? Jeffery Stevenson and Carlos Rodriguez explained
it all to Newsarama.
Newsarama:
There are a lot of super hero teams, what makes TASK
FORCE 1
unique?
Jeffery Stevenson:
This team has Jim, Carlos, Joel, Jason, Kris, and me making them
look good.
The team for TASK FORCE 1 is a actually a team of military
soldiers. BDUs, combat boots, armored vests, that work!, guns,
and all that fun military gear. Volunteers wanting to defend
their country, family, and friends.
They're also a look at what the military soldier could become.
I took Jim Valentino's initial concepts and went through notes and
press releases from the various military research centers, scientific
journals and news sites, and the archives of the great DefenseTech.org
blog to see if there were any patterns that could actually lead
to the technology TASK FORCE 1 uses. There are.
It's still a work of fiction, minus encounters with mutants, the
supernatural, aliens, magic, or super-genius time-travelling were-octopi
pygmies, but there's a hint of possibility for practically all the
tech seen in TASK FORCE 1, including the stuff used by the
terrorists. At any moment, you might get hit with the thought,
"damn, that really could happen."
NRAMA:
Who are the team members?
JS:
Marine Captain Kieran Robers aka Mass
is the team leader with a background in pulling soldiers from various
services together into elite special ops squads. His tech
allows him to increase his size and density but at some point his
internal organs will no longer be able to keep up with his growth.
Lieutenant
Leslie South aka Alpha is a former Air Force rescue and recovery
specialist and Defense Intelligence Agency operative. The
device implanted in her skull allows her to read and manipulate
the memories of others, but overuse causes her brain to swell and
could lead to seizures and eventually death.
Army
Staff Sergeant Njanu Saunders aka Blast is the explosive
ordnance disposal specialist assigned to the team to handle all
things that go "boom." His gauntlets, capable of
heating up or exploding matter, were permanently fused to his hands
on their first mission and can't be removed or turned off.
Sergeant
Danielle "Danni" Rothmann aka Rush is an Army sniper
and Pathfinder equipped with self-camouflaging armor that also allows
her to achieve subsonic running speeds. The technology in
the suit that was designed to reduce the high speed stress on her
body but wound up permanently changing her, and is now needed to
keep her physical body together and functioning.
Marine
Gunnery Sergeant Jon Nguyen aka Klone is a Marine Recon specialist
and special ops hand-to-hand instructor crippled by exposure from
an enemy's chemical attack. He volunteered to have his brain
and spine placed within an artificial body giving him mobility once
more, along with enhanced strength and reflexes, but the body lacks
the processing power to handle more than one or two of his senses
at a time.
NRAMA:
What is Operation: Damocles?
JS: A response to a terrorist action known as the Great Lakes
Incident. That event, which shall remain shrouded in mystery
for quite a while, was the turning point that forced someone in
the US government to actually take a stand and attempt to fight
fire with fire... terror with terror.
Operation: Damocles spun out of that idea to enhance military fighting
soldiers for this specific purpose. Because of its controversial
nature, it was secretly funded and remained completely hidden from
all but a few people.
NRAMA:
What is the worldwide reaction to the US adding super heroes to
their military forces?
 JS:
It's a covert team hidden from the public eye. They will become
a terrorist's bogeyman. They don't get to be role models,
they don't get any parades, and they will never get to live a normal
life ever again. How the world will react when it finally
finds out... well, that's for a future storyline.
NRAMA:
Are there going to be super heroes in the military in other countries
as well?
JS: As long as they have the resources and scientific know-how,
they can create tech to give their ordinary soldiers an extra edge
on the battlefield, too. All the tech used by TASK FORCE
1 can be recreated... it's just a matter of time, money, and
working out all the bugs.
NRAMA:
Are there going to be super terrorists?
JS: Yep, there will be a teched-out terrorist. Revealed
right there at the end of the first issue, too. But he's more
of a terrorist-for-hire. In this near future, terrorism becomes
lucrative if you have the skills, the know-how, or the access to
benefit a terrorist group's cause--a professional outsourcing route
to tap into a market created by the very countries they're terrorizing.
It's not for every group because of beliefs, but for those that
don't care and just want results...
NRAMA:
I can't help but notice that the heroes powers are killing them,
this is reminiscent of the THUNDER Agents, was that intentional?
JS: As I like to put it, "They come from the same hometown,
but they're taking different paths to different destinations."
In this comic, it's more like the technology has the "potential"
to kill them. Some of the technology will cause constant abuse
to their physical bodies, and that will take its toll over time,
and overuse of the tech could lead to more immediate results.
If they play it safe, they could live a long time... but you know
that's not gonna happen.
Some of it's also psychological in nature. Special ops and
covert work does carry an extreme level of stress and pressure that
leads to a higher than average suicide rate. Now, factor in
little things like not being able to touch your family without putting
them in the infirmary/grave or losing the use of most of your senses
or not being able to go out in public or finding out how some of
your technology "really" works and affects others.
Ticking time bombs waiting to go off? Maybe. They've
selected team members with the right psyche profiles to handle this
kind of stress, but it's a lot to ask of any soldier.
 Carlos
Rodriguez:
Well, I’m not sure if it is bad or good, but I have to admit that
I’ve never read a single THUNDER Agents comic although I
had heard about it. So regarding the visual aspect, any similarity
with that comic is just coincidence! Anyway, I think this is a new
approach that will satisfy you whether if you have read about the
THUNDER Agents or not.
NRAMA:
Terrorist employ suicide tactics to maximize their impact, what
will the members of TASK FORCE 1 do to combat this?
JS: Any way they need to. They're military soldiers,
and their motto is, "Anywhere. Anytime. Anyone."
NRAMA:
Is the membership stable or are team members going to be killed
and replaced by new members as the series goes on?
JS: Stable for the immediate future. That could change,
but I'm mostly of the belief that if you invest a lot of time getting
people emotionally involved with the core characters, you should
keep them around to be enjoyed issue after issue. Besides,
I need people attached to the characters to get the most out of
torturing, crippling, traumatizing, embarrassing, and emotionally
scarring them.
NRAMA:
Jeff, you spent 8 years in the military, how realistic are
the military scenes handled?
JS: Jim's initial concept and plot called for a bunch of
realism to the story, superbly delivered by Carlos' art and tons
of references, but it also had an old school, charm to it that was
fun and adventurous and twisty. I've been trying my best to
mix the two because wandering too far off into the realism realm
runs the risk of getting dull or just overwhelming with all the
details.
The foundation is realistic, the look is realistic, but the implementation
gets tweaked a little to add more excitement and fun to the story
and show off what TASK FORCE 1 can do above and beyond what
they could before getting this tech.
CR:
I’ve been trying to give my art a more realistic look than in my
previous works, ShadowHawk and The Pact. I think
the story demands it. On the other hand, since the story isn't settled
in the present, it allows me to include any futuristic detail on
the weapons, uniforms or vehicles I want without the risk of not
being loyal to the reality. And when you work with so many real
references it is also good to have the opportunity of creating your
own sci-fi world in some moments
 NRAMA:
How did you go from soldier to comic book writer
JS: Writing, writing, and more writing. On top of all
that, I also wrote a lot of stuff. I've actually been writing
since I was a little kid. I almost made an attempt at a career
in writing after high school, but "starving artist" didn't
appeal to a young kid from a poor family. I never stopped
writing though and didn't really think about getting published until
a friend inspired me a while back. Since I've always enjoyed
reading comics, that's where I decided to focus a lot of my efforts.
Since then, it's mostly been a matter of practicing, making friends,
and building credentials... writing short stories for various books,
Digital Webbing Presents, Even More Fund Comics, Hero
Happy Hour Super Special, the Ted Noodleman trade and
such, working on some game to comic adaptations, co-writer on BloodRayne:
Skies Afire from Echo 3 Worldwide/Digital Webbing and an unpublished
project for Studio ICE, and placing high enough in various screenwriting
contests to at least show some potential.
NRAMA:
This series is set a generation after 9/11. Why set the series
in the future?
JS: "Damn, that really could happen."
NRAMA:
Will there be any cross overs with other Shadowline characters,
for example will we see ShadowHawk 30 years older, etc?
JS: Not that I'm aware of. I don't see it happening,
but it's Jim's call. If he decides to go that route, well...
I'm a writer, so I can make anything happen.
CR:
Humm… It could be interesting to see how ShadowHawk gets
on with this team…
NRAMA:
When is the series coming out?
JS: First issue hits the shelves of fine comic shops everywhere
mid-July.
NRAMA:
Is this a miniseries or an ongoing series?
JS: The optimist in me says it will continue forever and
ever. The realist in me says, "ongoing and unfolding
in 4-issue story arcs."
CR: I'm really enjoying drawing this book so I hope it last
for a loooooong time.
Task
Force #1 PREVIEW
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