Press Release
Sgt Mike Battle may have been fighting the enemies of freedom, democracy and capitalism for over 90 years but in November 2011 he appears in a new trade paperback entitled Sgt Mike Battle LAST ADMIN HERO. Writer/artist/publisher and all-round creative force Graham Pearce has collected issues #8-10 of the cult small-press comic Sgt. Mike Battle: The Greatest American Hero! into a brand new 160 collection of the LAST ADMIN HERO storyline.
Regarded by many Sgt Mike Battle fans as its story to date, LAST ADMIN HERO is both a tribute to and parody of Hollywood action movies. The story features a terrorist group called ACRONYM who takeover a US weapons facility and threaten to upset the balance of power in the world. The fate of the entire planet is at stake and not even Sgt Mike Battle can save the day. Everything rests in the hands of John Trojan, a simple office assistant who is more suited to filing paperwork and processing invoices than fighting bad guys.
“I’ve always described LAST ADMIN HERO as the greatest action movie never made!” explained Pearce. “Its a homage to all those 1980s/1990s action movies that feature a lone hero fighting a terrorist group in a confined location, the only difference is that John Trojan is a regular office worker with no military training. Action movies always have a hero with some sort of law-enforcement, combat or outdoor pursuits background but I wanted to do a story where the hero wasn’t a cop, an ex-navy seal or stuntman. To stack things against the hero even more, I decided to arm him with only the contents of the stationery cupboard so he literally has to stop ACRONYM with a heavy-duty stapler!”
The movie analogy continues with LAST ADMIN HERO in the form of some never-before-seen extra features that is included in the collection. “I’ve added about 60 pages of bonus material in LAST ADMIN HERO, including the preview “trailer”, an alternate ending, the abandoned original 24-page version and there’s a huge sketchbook section that explains how the characters and storylines evolved during the creative process!”
LAST ADMIN HERO represents a game-changing moment for Sgt Mike Battle. As Comics International described “The sharp wit and clever satire of previous issues is present and correct, but this comic is an improvement in that writer/artist Graham Pearce backs up the jokes with a solid and interesting plot, resulting in the most well rounded issue so far”. Small Press Big Mouth said ““Absolutely f***in’ hilarious!” and Redeye says “If this series doesn’t have a massive genuine cult following, the human race should hang its collective head in shame”.
Sgt Mike Battle LAST ADMIN HERO, a 168 page US-sized black and white trade paperback is out now for £6 from grahampearce8@netscape.net. It can be ordered via www.sgtmikebattle.co.uk, via SGT MIKE BATTLE Fan Club on Facebook or from Lulu (http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/last-admin-hero/18637258).