The evolution of global conflict necessitates the evolution of warfare to rise and meet the call. The United States' latest, most advanced, and most secret special operations group is hidden inside the INTELLIGENCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY. They are tasked with fixing botched operations, wielding bleeding-edge tech, and planning and executing lethal action in the utmost secrecy.
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
By Jack Murphy
Format:Paperback
When I first read about The Activity in a USA Today article I thought, "holy ****, those guys have a comic book?!" Intelligence Support Activity is SOCOM's more secretive, and compartmentalized unit. To tell you the truth, even those of us in SOF knew very little about them or what kind of operations they had going on.
So what do those guys actually do? From what I've read they mostly gather intelligence for JSOC's Tier One elements, SEAL Team Six and Delta Force.
Remember that scene in Black Hawk Down where "Hoot" is chilling in the Bakaara market in Mogadishu while posing as a photographer? The movie has to simplify things for time considerations, but this is the type of work that ISA does.
The Activity focuses on Team Omaha, a fictional direct action team within ISA consisting of five operators who conduct snatch and grabs, surreptitious entries, surveillance device installations, figuring out how to help Delta Force achieve their objectives, and generally cleaning up the CIA's messes. The five-man (and woman) team is Danny "Weatherman" Locke who fought in Operation Anaconda as a member of the 75th Ranger Regiment before getting hung out to dry for political reasons, Francis "Speakeasy" Doyle, Luke "Switch Foot" Styles, a Delta operator who made the transition to ISA, Zoe "Bookstore" Dallas, and the newest member who came to the team from Civil Affairs, Leslie "Fiddler" Ryan.
Each issue in the new trade paperback edition of The Activity serves as a good starting point for new readers to the series. In issue #1, Team Omaha comes off a mission to kidnap a Mexican cartel leader and goes right into a second operations to sanitize an apartment in Europe where an informant hastily abandoned some sensitive intelligence information. This is also Leslie's first job with the team as their newest member.
Issue #2 takes the team back to Europe, where they have to deal with the fallout of one of their own turning to the other side. In issue #3 the team is almost torn apart by second guessing and accusations when a joint mission with Delta Force goes wrong in Afghanistan. Issue #4 is my favorite so far, where Team Omaha has to find away to help Delta Force figure out a way to capture a Colombian drug boss by disabling his helicopter and allowing a Delta assault team to move in for the capture. This is where Leslie gets into a sketchy situation trying to infiltrate the cartel's motorcade. Issue #5 gives a flashback to how Speakeasy joined ISA while Team Omaha allows themselves to be arrested as a part of their mission in Thailand.
The plots of the comic are realistic, but not too realistic, if you know what I mean. They kind of get you in the ballpark of real operations without compromising TTP's or providing the enemy with a how-to-book about avoiding American Special Operations troops. I've become acquainted with the writer, Nathan Edmondson, and know he is committed to getting it right, for the sake of realism and simply out of respect for the Special Operations community.
The art is well done and suits the material well. The small details, the weapons and equipment that soldiers use, is very accurate with a few minor exceptions. I'm very particular about comic book art. If an artist doesn't draw Batman the right way than I won't read it no matter how well written the comic is! In this case I'm glad that Nathan and the artist, Mitch Gerads, compliment each other well.
I'm excited about the directions that The Activity is going in, there really isn't anything else like it out there in military fiction. Issue #6, which has hit comic shops and newsstands, is about Leslie's back story in Civil Affairs during a mission to the Congo, again reflecting reality, and I'm told that future missions will bring the team to Uzbekistan and the Horn of Africa. While the first five issues are almost independent of one another, Nathan plans on bringing many of the plot elements together in future issues and the comic will have some larger story arcs.
If you're a comic fan, or just looking for a military thriller that is really well done, I highly recommend picking up The Activity.
-Jack Murphy, author of Reflexive Fire
So what do those guys actually do? From what I've read they mostly gather intelligence for JSOC's Tier One elements, SEAL Team Six and Delta Force.
Remember that scene in Black Hawk Down where "Hoot" is chilling in the Bakaara market in Mogadishu while posing as a photographer? The movie has to simplify things for time considerations, but this is the type of work that ISA does.
The Activity focuses on Team Omaha, a fictional direct action team within ISA consisting of five operators who conduct snatch and grabs, surreptitious entries, surveillance device installations, figuring out how to help Delta Force achieve their objectives, and generally cleaning up the CIA's messes. The five-man (and woman) team is Danny "Weatherman" Locke who fought in Operation Anaconda as a member of the 75th Ranger Regiment before getting hung out to dry for political reasons, Francis "Speakeasy" Doyle, Luke "Switch Foot" Styles, a Delta operator who made the transition to ISA, Zoe "Bookstore" Dallas, and the newest member who came to the team from Civil Affairs, Leslie "Fiddler" Ryan.
Each issue in the new trade paperback edition of The Activity serves as a good starting point for new readers to the series. In issue #1, Team Omaha comes off a mission to kidnap a Mexican cartel leader and goes right into a second operations to sanitize an apartment in Europe where an informant hastily abandoned some sensitive intelligence information. This is also Leslie's first job with the team as their newest member.
Issue #2 takes the team back to Europe, where they have to deal with the fallout of one of their own turning to the other side. In issue #3 the team is almost torn apart by second guessing and accusations when a joint mission with Delta Force goes wrong in Afghanistan. Issue #4 is my favorite so far, where Team Omaha has to find away to help Delta Force figure out a way to capture a Colombian drug boss by disabling his helicopter and allowing a Delta assault team to move in for the capture. This is where Leslie gets into a sketchy situation trying to infiltrate the cartel's motorcade. Issue #5 gives a flashback to how Speakeasy joined ISA while Team Omaha allows themselves to be arrested as a part of their mission in Thailand.
The plots of the comic are realistic, but not too realistic, if you know what I mean. They kind of get you in the ballpark of real operations without compromising TTP's or providing the enemy with a how-to-book about avoiding American Special Operations troops. I've become acquainted with the writer, Nathan Edmondson, and know he is committed to getting it right, for the sake of realism and simply out of respect for the Special Operations community.
The art is well done and suits the material well. The small details, the weapons and equipment that soldiers use, is very accurate with a few minor exceptions. I'm very particular about comic book art. If an artist doesn't draw Batman the right way than I won't read it no matter how well written the comic is! In this case I'm glad that Nathan and the artist, Mitch Gerads, compliment each other well.
I'm excited about the directions that The Activity is going in, there really isn't anything else like it out there in military fiction. Issue #6, which has hit comic shops and newsstands, is about Leslie's back story in Civil Affairs during a mission to the Congo, again reflecting reality, and I'm told that future missions will bring the team to Uzbekistan and the Horn of Africa. While the first five issues are almost independent of one another, Nathan plans on bringing many of the plot elements together in future issues and the comic will have some larger story arcs.
If you're a comic fan, or just looking for a military thriller that is really well done, I highly recommend picking up The Activity.
-Jack Murphy, author of Reflexive Fire
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By DougAM
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Call Of Duty and Mission: Impossible had a baby. It's a comic book and its called The Activity.
Mitch's art is perfect for this genre of comic.
Nathan uses too much hair gel.
Mitch's art is perfect for this genre of comic.
Nathan uses too much hair gel.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Take one of the most secretive and mysterious units in the entire United States military, put in the time to do the proper amount of homework, seek out the opinions and advice of the right people, and use all of that as a springboard to tell fictional stories tied intimately to reality... Yeah, not a bad way to assemble a compelling new title.
Most impressive writing, research, and characterizations on the part of writer Nathan Edmondson, while an equal amount of credit has to go to artist Mitch Gerads for his storytelling chops, attention to detail, and absolutely killer design sense.
Most impressive writing, research, and characterizations on the part of writer Nathan Edmondson, while an equal amount of credit has to go to artist Mitch Gerads for his storytelling chops, attention to detail, and absolutely killer design sense.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book
These two volumes are indeed more factual than the average reader would ever know. We need to have units like the ISA and now the DCS, but we need them to be highly SECRETIVE.
Published 14 days ago by Scott Barnes
3.0 out of 5 stars
no real story
ive just read volume 1. And its not very impressive. Each mission is just a few pages and it seems like its over before it began. No real story telling. Graphics are good. Read more
Published 24 days ago by D. Olesky
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great start
This is what comics have been missing for several years now a gritty look into spook filler world that many of us know nothing about.
Published 28 days ago by E. C. Naville
4.0 out of 5 stars
UNDERCOVER OPS
UNDERCOVER OPS
I bought this book "The Activity (Volume 1)" by Nathan Edmondson to read more information about the United States Army Intelligence Support Activity... Read more
I bought this book "The Activity (Volume 1)" by Nathan Edmondson to read more information about the United States Army Intelligence Support Activity... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Troy A. Lettieri
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great art work, poor story
I was hoping for something based on actual events or at least some realism. I found the art work for The Activity to be really good but the story was slow, sometimes pointless,... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Robi Sen
5.0 out of 5 stars
Crackerjack Modern Spy Thriller
All too often spy thrillers get out of control pretty quick with the spy craft, and leave the characterizations in the background. Read more
Published 4 months ago by C.B. Derrick
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Activity
I haven't read comic books in years, but this held my interest and was very well written and drawn. Good Job!
Published 7 months ago by Dean
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must read for comic or military fans!
I picked up this book from the writer himself at a recent comic convention and I was blown away by both the art and storytelling. Read more
Published 7 months ago by LeoJackman
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic, beautiful and thrilling!
In a world of fantasy dominated books this is a fresh break from the mundane. A great fictional tale of an actual secretive government agency. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Jonathan W Eadler
3.0 out of 5 stars
It's interesting, but disjointed and slow-paced.
I'm familiar with the ISA and what they do, and was kind of surprised that there's a series of comics related to it. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Jose Sierra
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