The world of mercenaries is getting more dangerous and the competition is growing fiercer, and for the men that live and breathe this world, that means the paychecks never stop. This seems to be the central message so far in Book 1 of Echelon Software’s Black Powder Red Earth: Awbari, the latest of the BPRE graphic novels originally created by Jon Chang and Kane Smith. Awbari is the follow-up to Black Powder Red Earth: Yemen, and follows a unit of private military contractors called Scorch.

The general flow of the story will be familiar to anyone who has read previous BPRE installments: a lengthy and rather violent combat sequence followed up with post-mission shop talk at the base, friendly banter between the mercenaries, and a gradual setup for the next book. It’s a very systematic approach that eschews conventional storytelling, but as explained in my review of Yemen, it’s all in service of portraying the cold, calculating game of chess played by the series’ central PMC, Cold Harbor. This time, however, Awbari expands on things in a number of ways. Right off the bat, the artwork is astonishingly vivid and brought to greater detail thanks to the book’s larger size compared to other graphic novels. A great level of attention has been paid to depicting the operators’ gear and combat tactics with maximum accuracy, which should come as no surprise given the fact that BPRE’s unique brand of storytelling is informed by real-life accounts from special forces veterans. The use of colors deserves mention, too: instead of the deliberately limited palette in Yemen, Awbari is in full color and bathes its scenes in different hues depending on the setting, thus achieving a perfect balance between the grittiness of Yemen and the wider range of colors from an earlier series, Syria. For readers like myself who sometimes found it a bit hard to tell what was going on in Yemen because everything was depicted in varying shades of gray and red, this is a most welcome change.

On the storytelling front, Awbari expands on the tried-and-true BPRE formula in a couple of very interesting ways. During the opening raid sequence, Scorch cuts through the usual AK-47 wielding jihadi fodder with satisfying ease, but they subsequently encounter professional opposition wielding body armor and tricked-out modern AK variants. This necessitates the use of drones, but these aren’t your daddy’s Reaper drones. No, in the world of BPRE Awbari, drones have reached the next terrifying stage: instead of a lone missile-toting drone flying overhead, it’s now a swarm of smaller, explosive laden drones crashing into their targets like kamikaze fighters. In Yemen, the Cold Harbor contractors had to bail themselves out of sticky situations with the aid of QRF (Quick Reaction Force); soldiers and Little Bird choppers flying in at a moment’s notice. Now all it takes is a guy sitting in front of a computer and his army of suicide drones.

Technology is what drives change in the PMC world, and the point is made all the more clear when the protagonists learn that the jihadis are growing more sophisticated thanks to the arrival of cheap but effective signal jamming technology supplied by the 21st century’s evil empire, China. Instead of reacting with worry, the Scorch agents are delighted, as a more advanced opposition equates to more demand for their superior services, thus guaranteeing fatter paychecks down the road. In one particularly striking scene, the operators watch as an ISIS stronghold bursts into flames as a jet flies over it, bombarding the town not with explosive ordinance, but with all kinds of radio signals designed to detonate IEDs being stored in buildings. This is what the book’s glossary calls a Courtesy Burn, and it’s yet another fascinating display of BPRE’s brand of near-future military fiction that is rarely seen in other similar works.

Despite the dazzling tech display, Awbari spends more time humanizing its characters compared to previous series. Contrasting the faceless, red-eyed killers that move and kill with inhuman precision, the Scorch operators are shown in a much different light during their down time, after they’ve set down their weapons and washed the blood off their bodies. They are shown watching anime, assembling Gundam-like action figures, ordering customized rims for their cars, and enjoying a meal together filled with friendly banter. Nothing seems to faze the Scorch guys; these are veterans with a wealth of experience and are operating with a bigger budget, fewer restraints, and much higher salaries compared to when they were in the military. Of particular note is a moment when they watch a cable news report of their raid, which is falsely reported by the curiously named ANN (Asshole News Network?) as a “campaign of terror” in which Scorch apparently massacred children in their homes. The Scorch guys aren’t the least bit outraged and react with cynicism, because after all, they’re private contractors operating at the behest of their client, the Awbari government. It’s a rare moment when BPRE reaches outside of the bubble of clandestine operations, backroom deals and gear galore to show how the ordinary world sees and completely misunderstands them.

The incorporation of media malpractice, which has been happening with outrageous frequency over the past few years, along with the specter of China making inroads into a world formerly the exclusive hunting ground of the West, is yet another way this latest installment of BPRE reflects the world today. It’s remarkable that just in its first volume, BPRE Awbari manages to capture so many aspects of the private military world of the 2020s – the combat, the technology, the personal habits of its characters, and the media aspect. Although Scorch is off to a good start in this book, there’s no doubt that subsequent volumes of this amazing series will take them down an even deadlier path.

Visit the Black Powder Red Earth website for more info and to purchase.