Uber Volume 9

Uber is an alternate-history military comic created by British writer Kieron Gillen and published by Avatar Press. The story begins in April 1945, as Berlin is besieged by the Soviet Red Army: Nazi Germany's secret research project finally succeeds and produces superhuman soldiers called "Über." They are physically formidable, able to withstand artillery fire, and can release a destructive energy called the "Halo." Relying on these living weapons, the Third Reich avoids surrender and drags the war into a war of attrition in which every nation races to expand its superhuman arsenal. The series does not follow the conventional superhero formula of easy victory; its focus is on what victory on the battlefield costs once human beings are thoroughly weaponized. To write the series, the author gathered extensive World War II material from 2008 onward, and real historical figures such as Hitler, Churchill, Turing, and Guderian play important roles in the story. This volume is the ninth in the series and an issue around the beginning of "Year Two." The narrative shifts to the Eastern Front: Stalin ruthlessly selects and transforms Soviet superhuman troops and throws them into frontal combat in the manner of a "Second Kursk," challenging the German battleship-class Über battle group led by "Siegmund." Around this confrontation, the volume focuses on the desperate situation and enormous casualties on the Soviet side and, after the battle ends, opens a new direction for the story; the book concludes with an explanatory essay by Gillen on this arc. The work contains extensive violence and brutal war scenes and is intended for mature readers.