“Last Order given,” those words taken out of the UCMJ, was something I heard many times throughout my military career. It was something we lived by, though a good number of us rarely exemplified military bearing, most took heed when given orders. After I got out of the military, there were no “General Orders” to guide my daily actions, just me, and my moral compass. This rang true for many veterans I worked with throughout the years, as we usually worked differently than our non-prior enlisted counterparts.

As the veterans who used to be officers found out quick, nobody really follows what you say when you are a civilian. Most people who have never served, could not understand why we would blindly follow someone, and as I have transitioned to civilian life, that patience for incompetence has become slightly shorter. As military and veterans know the price for not following orders, as sometimes the death is the cost. In the second book of Black Powder, Red Earth: Yemen, we find Cold Harbor in a peculiar set of circumstances.

The first few frames show the damage an RPG does to building and bodies, as collateral damage includes innocent bystanders. We find the Cold Harbor crew as they clear houses, but before they could get their footing, they take fire from some insurgents but as usual, Cold Harbor has no problem taking them out, as the reader finds out, they were ISIS fighters. Cold Harbor’s actions ensured the Houthis were in control of Ma’Rib. Soon one of the operators gets his photo taken, as he becomes a high valued target on ISIS’s list. Also, the team finds Colonel Mubarak, a valuable intelligence asset as he seeks asylum with the company as the Iranians are hunting him. They also pick up a mysterious prisoner, one who may of some interest, not only to America but also to the Iranians. A chance meeting between Rovik and a Saudi General leads tee am to do an interrogation of a deserter who may have valuable information. By Book’s end, Rovik broke a deal which leads them into dangerous territory.

Overall, an excellent installment in this already remarkable series of how it is to operate in a war zone and the politics that command this part of the world. The story by Jon Chang is wall to wall action, well done character development and an honesty most writers don’t have. The art Josh Taylor is astonishing, vivid and when it comes to his line work, simply exceptional. Altogether, a comic book which provides a front row seat to the things people do to keep the world safe.

Story: Jon Chang Art: Josh Taylor
Story: 9.0 Art: 9.0 Overall: 9.0 Recommendation: Buy