We’ve known for some time now that writer Kieron Gillen had two Avatar projects in the work to be released “eventually,” one referred to as “The Heat” and the other as Avatar Project 2. Well, wouldn’t you know it, but Avatar Project 2 has been revealed: “Ãœber” with artist Caanan White which, as explained on his blog, is about “Germany invents superheroes in WW2, prompting an arms race between them and the allies.”
Prospecting a potential 30 issues for the series (with seven issues currently done, as this project started in 2008), Gillen explains that this is anything but a typical war book:
As I said, I’ve tried to purge the majority of the tropes of the genre. This is a book that, if you run with its assumptions, takes itself seriously. It’s a book that is more concerned with large scale strategy and economic production. Technological advancement and R&D is key. The heroism tends to be desperate and futile. A tradition of the genre is that a weaker hero will overcome a stronger one. There’s none of that here, any more than a tank is anything but a target when a gunship pops over the horizon. It switches between those decisions between men poring over maps and the lives they’re ending as they push pieces around the board. As the size of the bible suggests, the world building is considerable and the plan is complete. I could end the series at any point by going into a documentary-style comic. While the title shows that the Wunderwaffen of the Germans precipitate the situation, this uses all the major players and all the major theatres. So far I’ve written everyone from Churchill to Hitler, from Guderian to Turing. Its scope is large, to say the least.
However, given that it’s at Avatar, you can safely assume that it will be pretty horrifically violent. One could probably also assume that there will be considerably less Kenickie references than usual, but I wouldn’t start placing bets on that just yet.
A Zero Issue of the new Avatar ongoing comes out in April. Here’s the solicit:
UBER #0
Retail Price: $3.99 US
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Cover & Art: Caanan White
MR, Color, 48 pages, ongoing monthlyPRODUCT DESCRIPTION: Kieron Gillen unveils his epic new monthly series, launching with a special double-sized issue! 1945. Germany is in ruins. The war in the west can only be days away from ending. Threats of “wunderwaffen” to be unleashed by the dying Reich have become laughable. There are no miracle weapons here. It’s over. It has to be over.
It’s not. There’s been stories which have mixed enhanced humans and World War 2 before. There’s never been one like this. See super beings in a whole new light as Gillen presents an epic new series that not only rewrites history, it redefines the genre.
- Superstar writer KIERON GILLEN (Invincible Iron Man, Uncanny X-Men) delivers a brutal alternate timeline tale of super humans first appearing during WW2.
- The Nazis have the Uber. The Allies don’t.
- Double-size first issue at a special price!
- Uber is a new ongoing monthly comic series!
- Available with Regular or Wraparound cover by Caanan White , Propaganda Poster cover by Michael Dipascale, and a special Blitzkrieg Incentive cover by Caanan White
