The American

By Mark Verheiden

He's the ultimate all American hero. Since the Fifties he has been a symbol of hope and courage for the entire country; an indestructible one-man army standing up for freedom, justice and the American way all over the globe. But what's the real truth behind The American? When reporter Dennis Hough is assigned to cover a story about his boyhood hero, he begins to see the cracks in the legend.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1593074190
• ISBN13: 9781593074197
• Release Date: December 2005
• Publisher: Dark Horse Books
• Length: 367 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

"Cheaters never win...That's the American way!"

The American: "They needed a hero for America to rally around. They needed a killer to handle their dirty work. They created me." He's been around since the 1950s, has the American - a supersoldier who puts out fires for the government and who walks around in a costume celebrating the Old Glory. The American has superstrength, never seems to age, is always resolute, and, for many generations now, has been a patriotic inspiration for our country, the embodiment of the American ideals. But cut to the present: In Beirut, the American is riddled with bullets as he attempts to save hostages, one of whom is a little boy. Surprisingly, a day later, the American, alive and well, puts in a rare public appearance, this shocking the same boy so much he suffers a fatal heart attack. Not too long after, the American is the guest at a school dedication when he's promptly blown up by a terrorist. The day after that, the American holds another press conference, once again dispelling rumors of his demise. So what's his secret? Is it invincibility? Immortality? Or is there something else going on? Dogged and boozy newspaper reporter Dennis Hough, on the verge of being fired, sets his eyes on accomplishing what no one's yet been able to do: uncover the real story behind the American. But the American's secrets won't be easily disclosed. SPOILERS next. The weight of a powerful government agency falls on Hough like a ton of bricks even as his journalistic probes begin to unearth some very disturbing truths, truths involving a decades-long cover-up, an expert special effects crew who can fake super powers, and hundreds of specially-trained suicide commandos who undergo surgical reconstruction and voice alteration (you see where this is going?). Hough gets unexpected help from a rogue American, who tires of the party line, and from Kid America, a former sidekick now grown grizzled and grumpy but still walking around partly in superhero gear. Even more startling, an ex-president joins the fray. But is that enough to out the truth? And if the truth comes out, how will the public react? Maybe some lies are better off kept in the dark. But Hough is a newspaperman, and a story is a story. SPOILERS end. Some fun facts on this guy, Mark Verheiden: Nowadays Verheiden is doing it big as a Hollywood muck-a-muck. He's the co-executive producer/writer for SMALLVILLE and the Sci-Fi Channel's BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. He's been a screenwriter for THE MASK and TIMECOP (the TV series). But fans of independent comic books might know him best as the creator/writer of THE AMERICAN, a title which came out in 1987 under the Dark Horse Comics banner. THE AMERICAN was well thought of during its sporadically released run, but then it quietly went off into obscurity. Except I never quite forgot it. THE AMERICAN, coming in the wake of Alan Moore's dark and gritty WATCHMEN, offers its own deconstruction of the superhero as it takes and upends the venerable Captain America mythos. Verheiden

has anyone heard of this?

I can't believe this has been out for a year, and no one has written a review. Excellent miniseries that no one heard of the first time it was published either. Fun story about a Captain America clone, conspiracies, and how PR men are Satan.