The United States Army announced today that a free internet-based publication will be released in conjunction with their popular free-to-play online shooter, America’s Army 3. The America’s Army – The Graphic Novel is now available at the army’s website (www.americasarmy.com/graphicnovel/), with the full game it’s tied to set to release later this summer. The novel will tell the stories of deployed soldiers within various job classes (medic, UAV operator, intelligence analyst, etc.) as they carry out high-tech military operations. The first chapter “Knowledge is Power,” follows a long-range surveillance (LRS) team in the midst of escalating conflict between two fictional countries.
“Many America’s Army players are huge graphic novel fans so this is an excellent way to further explore today’s Army and the lives of Soldiers,” said Michael Barnett, Executive Producer for the graphic novel. “This is the most authentic graphic novel about the Army every produced. U.S. Army Special Forces Soldiers ensured the accuracy of every detail from the dialog to the uniforms to the placement of the glow sticks strapped onto the gear of an airborne LRS team as they skydive from the back of a C130. And by reading the graphic novel, players may find useful game tips that may give them an edge when playing AA3 this summer.”
America’s Army – The Graphic Novel comes equipped with a flash interface which allows several viewing options, including the ability to “grab and flip” pages as if reading a printed novel. The graphic novel was produced by Michael Barnett and written by M. Zachary Sherman, with Michael Penick and J. Brown on the art. Bill Howard designed the title’s unique web interface.