Dave Lapham delivers the danger in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare comic
Posted by dailypop on November 11, 2009
The release of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 this week made some major news in the gaming community, but the impact is not restricted to thumb-twitching gamers as Dave Lapham will reveal in his upcoming mini-series for DC Comics’ Wildstorm imprint. The well known writer of Stray Bullets and several company books such as Batman and Punisher, Lapham will bring his usual sense of danger and tension to the series based on the hit game.
Ghost in Call of Duty Modern Warfare
Started in 2003, the award winning first-person-shooter game Call of Duty has been impressing gamers ever since. In a genre that was popular for the ‘lone man against impossible odds’ approach (such as Duke Nukem and Doom), Call of Duty stresses the importance of the entire squad rather than one soldier fighting a war on his one. Call of Duty also explored numerous settings in World War Two including the British, Canadian and Soviet forces. Initially set exclusively in WW2, the franchise later expanded into the current day with the Modern Warfare game released on next-gen consoles in 2007.
Historically, the successful WW2 FPS games have been split between two camps of Call of Duty and Medal of Honor with Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six games taking center stage on the modern front. To even attempt to compete with the Tom Clancy games was a bold move, but the die was already cast. The gamble paid off and the critical reception was overwhelmingly positive. Set in the near future where the world is in the grips of global terrorism, the stark realism that gamers had grown to anticipate with the WW2 setting was even more jarring and unsettling, but resulted in a genuinely immersive gaming experience.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 online multiplayer trailer
Not a tie-in to the story of the game, the new Modern Warfare 2: Ghost 6 part mini-series will nevertheless provide readers with a similarly invigorating experience as only Dave Lapham can deliver it.
Interviewed by ComicBookResources.com, Lapham showed no remorse over having to do some ‘deep research’ into the latest chapter in the Call of Duty franchise. A die-hard gamer and fan of the COD franchise, Lapham has been pouring his attention over the game in preparation of his new work.
“I love the game. I love all of these kinds of games. I can tell you which deadlines were missed because of this game or that game. I have to admit, regrettably, that since having kids my time for the 60-hour video game has gone the way of the dodo. As much to write the book, it was a good excuse to “have to” play the game – y’know, research.
“This plays in to why I wanted to do the job. You have an amazing game, and they wanted an amazing comic. At the same time, the game is a first person experience. You are a member of Task Force 141. In the comic we were going to be creating a character that the reader was going to follow, so there was a broad canvas upon which to create.
“There wasn’t pressure to recreate the game in comic form. The boundary was that a) they had to dig what we were doing, of course, and b) we had to give them a kick-ass experience to match the game, but it didn’t have to be the same experience. Comics aren’t video games. I can’t give you the vicarious experience of being a counter-terrorist soldier sneaking up and knifing someone. But I can give you a bad-ass character and take you on a journey through this guy’s psyche. A hellish, twisted, nightmarish journey.
“This is not your same old, same old, seen-it-before terrorist 101 story. Plenty of action, plenty of intrigue, yes. But I really wanted to get in this character’s head and let you see his transformation. It’s as much a psychological suspense story as anything.”
Modern Warfare 2: Ghost arrives today at comic shops.
