Comic Book / Black Powder Red Earth

"History is done with Appomattox moments." - Mark Bowden

In the decade following the invasion of Iraq, Private Military Companies become the preferred instrument of foreign policy by Petro-Monarchies in the failed states of the Middle East.

Staffed with former SOF combat veterans, Cold Harbor selects, trains and leads armies of local nationals in conventional and unconventional warfare operations.

With access and placement to these resource-rich conflict zones, PMCs can serve multiple clients at once with overlapping objectives addressing the needs of private enterprise as well as Western Governments.

Combat actions conducted by the PMC are not considered acts of war...

They are matters of foreign internal defense.

Black Powder Red Earth is a Military And Warfare Graphic Novel series written by Jon Chang and illustrated by Josh Taylor. Set 20 Minutes into the Future in an alternate history where Iraq splintered after the US withdrawal, the story follows Cold Harbor, an American PMC, as it conducts operations within the Middle East on behalf of its clients.

Series 01: Iraq follows two Cold Harbor operators, Token and Grinch, on Cold Harbor operations within the splinter state of Basran, countering Iranian operations and influence on behalf of both the Saudi and Basran governments. While Cold Harbor balances serving multiple masters and interests, Token and Grinch are trying to stay out of trouble - but they may not have a choice in the matter...

Series 02: Syria picks the story six months later. Token now leads Cold Harbor special operations contractors running a kill-capture program targeting Islamic State jihadists and Syrian Republican Guard paramilitaries within the nascent Kurdish nation-state, and continues to juggle multiple masters and agendas, with threats are both within and without: competing Kurdish interests, Saudi intelligence, US Department of Defense, even Cold Harbor's own corporate infighting, demanding greater results from the Evergreen program...

Series 03: Yemen is a prequel, set months before the events of Iraq. Cold Harbor operators are on the ground in Yemen, guarding American corporate interests in the Yemeni oilfields, but Cold Harbor leadership have their eyes on a more ambitious aim: to enter the big leagues, conducting unconventional warfare operations on behalf of nation-state players, and they're going to show their chops by rolling up Yemeni terror cells.

Series 04: Awbari, is presently in development, shifting the focus from the Middle East to North Africa, where Cold Harbor finds itself on contract to assist the nation of Awbari rebuild its security forces in the wake of a violent revolution and civil war.

In addition to the graphic novels, a companion turn-based tactical videogame by Echelon Software has been released on PC, mainly focusing on Awbari, and is being developed for future release on iOS platforms, and a 28mm tabletop game is currently in development.

This graphic novel provides examples of:

• All There in the Manual: The special edition releases of the graphic novels and Hypernotes available for Patreon supporters contain many details for the series, for example organisation layout for the Ember assault troops in Yemen.
• Alternate History: The series takes place following a messier end of the Iraq War, with the country splintering into warring factions following the US withdrawal.
• Anyone Can Die: Cold Harbor racks up quite the body count throughout the series while taking some losses of their own but at the end of Syria, IRGC Quds Force commandos posing as Kurdish SOF attack the Evergreen compound and kill everyone inside.
  • Yemen starts with three viewpoint named characters; the story ends with only one of them still alive.
• Balkanize Me: In the years after the US withdraws from Iraq the country splinters into Basran in the south, Kurdistan in the north, and the Islamic State in central Iraq.
• Black-and-Gray Morality: Particularly in Yemen, where Cold Harbor takes the fight against ISIS with ruthless efficiency. They also do not hesitate to employ torture, kill unarmed witnesses of covert capture missions, and slaughter detained ISIS recruits.
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • Cold Harbor tags all its contractors and important local assets with GPS locator chips; it's brought up as a throwaway line in Iraq, but gains significantly more importance in Syria.
  • Early in Iraq, in a meeting with a representative of Basran's government, JR upsells the services Cold Harbor provides, "up to and including regime change." At the end of Iraq, Cold Harbor executes a regime change, deposing the Ayatollah of Basran in favor of his number 2.
• Colour-Coded for Your Convenience:
  • Beginning with Yemen, Cold Harbor starts using color coded patches to differentiate different subunits. As an example from the upcoming Awbari setting, Grey is used by the Advisory Partner Unit, while Croc is used by MIKE Force, and Red is for the Crisis Troop.
  • In Hypernotes Ember and Hypernotes Scorch, Cold Harbor advisors wear red t-shirts to distinguish themselves from the local nationals they lead.
• Combat Pragmatist: A general trait of all Cold Harbor operators. As time goes on, the opposition also learns this, with tactics like ambushing reinforcements with heavy machineguns, or wiring houses with bombs to take out Cold Harbor teams.
• Cool Car: Customised Toyota Hiluxes and Land Cruisers are favored vehicles for Cold Harbor in Yemen and Awbari.
• Cool Old Guy: JR in Iraq and Syria, a veteran oldtimer CIA officer who's now the program manager for Cold Harbor's operations in Basran and later Kurdistan.
• Death from Above: On several occasions, Cold Harbor, the Saudis, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards all employ air power as a force multiplier.
  • Hypernotes Scorch reveals that Cold Harbor now employs loitering kamikaze drones for surveillance and close air support for cross-border raids where air support is not available.
• Elites Are More Glamorous:
  • Cold Harbor contractors are typically former US Special Forces. This leads to friction between JR and Crow in Syria, as Crow, a former Navy SEAL, is unhappy about being demoted and replaced by JR, who has no special forces experience, and whose last job was at the World Bank (albeit after retiring for the CIA).
  • Cold Harbor's activities in Awbari are primarily training and advisory services; Series 4 focuses on Crisis Troop Ember, the Tier 1-equivalent Special Missions Unit, as it conducts raids against high value targets, and on Crisis Troop Scorch, an outsourced Ranger Battalion conducting cross-border raids into Qasra.
  • Also goes for the inverse. Corporate leadership and the Saudis paying most of the bills are less interested in rope a dope mooks and more interested in intelligence and spec ops contacts like Quds Force.
• Defiant to the End: While many prisoners are prone to crack or sell out, many others go down fighting. At the end of Syria this happens with Grinch. In spite of being the Sole Survivor of the Evergreen massacre and being interrogated by Iranian Special Forces, he refuses to give anything but promises that the company will obtain revenge.
• Enemy Mine:
  • How Cold Harbor initially catches the eye of Saudi intelligence, and gains the Saudis as a patron: since Cold Harbor was going after Saudi targets, the Saudis decided to exploit that and pay Cold Harbor to execute their interests in Iraq.
  • In Syria, Cold Harbor cooperates with Iranian operatives to act against the Islamic State.
• Highly-Conspicuous Uniform: Crisis Troop Ember in Awbari rolls up to targets wearing red shirts and jeans, eschewing camouflage. This is a deliberate choice, as Ember is traveling short distances within the capital city to raid targets, and uses the distinctive attire as a psychological warfare tool.
• Hope Spot: These appear from time to time:
  • In Iraq, a Cold Harbor asset has been burned by the Iranians, who're holding his family hostage. Token and Grinch follow him to his house to try and rescue his family, but are unsuccessful.
  • In Syria, the company department head Balakin is threatening to shut down the entire operation in Syria if they do not get more bounties, but an unusual connection with Iranian intelligence gives Cold Harbor a quick find on Baghdadi that more than cleans the books. Unfortunately it leads immediately to the next point.
  • Also in Syria the Evergreen compound is under attack by Quds Force. Crow manages to bundle JR into an SUV, Token and Grinch have returned with their helicopters and are covering Crow's retreat... and Crow's SUV immediately eats an RPG and all helicopters are shot down, ending in the deaths of Cold Harbor's entire Kurdistan operation.
• Everybody's Dead, Dave: The culmination of the Syria arc sees virtually all the characters we've gotten used to over the course of Basran and Syria get killed by Iranian SOF in the span of a few pages.
• Greater Scope Villian / The Empire: How the Islamic Republic of Iran is usually portrayed.
• More Dakka: Generally seen more on the side of Jihadis. Machineguns are sparingly used by Ember, due to the emphasis on close quarters battle and mobility.
  • In Hypernotes Scorch, Scorch uses .338 NM machineguns on their jeeps and automatic grenade launchers on their MRAPs.
• Private Military Contractors: The protagonists of the series. Cold Harbor is an American PMC, but is substantially funded by Saudi Arabia to further Saudi interests in Iraq.
• Proxy War: Cold Harbor and other PMCs are used by various Middle Eastern powers, such as Saudi Arabia, as proxies to fight insurgents or advance regional interests.
• Qurac: Awbari takes place in the namesake fictional country situated in North Africa, with Cold Harbor contracted to help the struggling government clap down on Islamists and other insurgents.
• Rank Up: Token starts Iraq as just another one of Cold Harbor's contractors, and is later promoted to Evergreen's operational commander in Syria.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Cold Harbor contractors favor red-tinted eye protection and red-lensed night vision goggles.
• Those Two Guys: Hesher and Crane in Yemen, and Token and Grinch in Iraq, who maintain this dynamic in Syria, even with their promotions and different assignments.
• 20 Minutes into the Future: The series is set around the 2018-2025 era, in an alternate history where Iraq splintered after the US withdrawal of forces.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: A common event in the Middle East. Most notably, in Syria the Iranian Revolutionary Guard seems to do this to the entire Evergreen team after feeding them intelligence on Baghdadi and ISIS.
• War Is Hell: Shown in each series, but most prevalent in Yemen, where readers are given a first hand look at how the civil war is affecting the civilian populace. One example is seen in the second chapter where the aftermath of a rocket artillery strike is shown in vivid detail.
• We ARE Struggling Together: A recurring thread throughout all three series is Cold Harbor's need to balance the competing interests of its many masters. As an example, in Syria, Cold Harbor's Evergreen program is under contract with the Kurdish government to provide training and advisory services to the Kurdish military, is running kill-capture missions against the Syrians and the Islamic State on behalf of the Saudis and the US respectively, and has to justify its massive financial expenditures to corporate HQ, which is demanding more results (i.e. killed targets) and higher profits.