With art by the genius Juan Jose Ryp, no fan of The Authority or Wanted will want to miss this bleeding-edge eight issue masterpiece.

Issue #0 of Black Summer contains an essay by creator Warren Ellis explaining his motivation for The Seven Guns super team. Ellis takes a "Marvel Civil War" mentally and is allowed be more expressive with Avatar Press and brand-new characters that aren't subject to fan discord.

In the beginning, the team anti-hero Tom Noir had felt that the human five senses were simply not enough. He and several other science intellects created enhancements giving them the super abilities. When Tom's girlfriend Laura is killed in a battle, he quits the team and being a hero all together; he loses part of his leg and becomes an angry alcoholic. Ellis makes this character feel like a fusion of Frank Castle/Punisher and Captain America. I doubt that was his intention specifically, but it's a great time for it. With the death of Cap and rumours about the Punisher, readers could use some fresh American heroes.

Another Seven Guns team member is John Horus. We're told that he was the clear favorite to the American public. His enhancements include 360-degree perception through floating "eyes" that surround him. He is described as the strongest and most powerful of the Seven. In Issue #0, he is also the one that kills the President for starting and continuing what Horus believes is an illegal war in Iraq. Horus also believes the Seven Guns were directed to leave the United States on a wild goose chase so that the World Trade Center attacks could occur. His certainty of political conspiracy runs as deep as Mississippi mud.

At this early part of the team's origin, there isn't much information on their powers other than a lot of brains and political connections.