The War
Writer: Garth Ennis
Artist: Becky Cloonan
Colors: Tamra Bonvillain
Letters: Pat Brosseau
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Publication Date: February 2026
Garth Ennis and Becky Cloonan want you to know: there are no winners in nuclear war. In The War trade paperback, out now from BOOM! Studios, the dream team of writer Ennis and artist Cloonan tap into the primal fears of the zeitgeist. The fiction tale follows four young couples in modern-day New York City as the war in Ukraine becomes the launching point for a full-on global conflict.
The story’s first section was published in the Hello Darkness anthology from BOOM! in 2024 and later serialized into a larger work. And as it turns out, the timing of this trade paperback’s release is a bit eerie. New Start, the nuclear treaty between the US and Russia just expired earlier this month, leaving an unnerving gap in its place.
According to a recent YouGov poll, 52% of Americans surveyed think nuclear war is more likely now than a decade ago, and 46% think it’s likely the US will get into a nuclear war in the next 10 years. In a prescient move, Ennis has taken our worst fears on the topic and spun them into a bone-chilling cautionary tale.
The acclaimed writer of Preacher and The Boys fame is no stranger to war stories or depictions of brutality, but he said in an interview with the Comic Book Herald that The War “might be the most horrific thing I’ve ever written.”
One of the most disturbing contrasts in the book is the normalcy of the intro. We meet the four couples, who are friends with each other: Nikki and David, Maggie and Spencer, Stefan and Luke, and Grace and Travis. They are discussing the state of the world in one of their apartments. We get enough insight into each of them to get a sense of their thinking, a little bit of identification. The situation seems tense, but still comfortably far away.
One of the characters, Nikki, is a pregnant woman from London who is married to an American man, David, a guy who seems to like the sound of his own arguments. Nikki provides a European vantage point on the events that unfold. Knowing that writer Ennis lives in New York and is an Irish-born American makes this story feel somewhat personal.
In the story, things are okay, fine even, until they suddenly aren’t. How the conflict crossed the line into all-out war is left perhaps intentionally vague. But when this story gets rolling, it’s relentless and holds nothing sacred. Make no mistake, this isn’t just drama or near-future sci-fi, it’s horror.
I would say it’s at least The Walking Dead levels of horror, but is likely to get under your skin even more because at the end of the night you can tell yourself, well, zombies aren’t real and nuclear conflict is. If you’ve read stories about the bombing of Hiroshima, it’s at that level too.
Prepare for a shocking descent. The pacing, structure, and dialogue by Ennis are controlled and designed for maximum suffering.
Why would you subject yourself to this onslaught? I think, most importantly, it’s because stories can serve as a powerful proxy for firsthand experiences. As such, worst-case scenario stories can teach us the visceral lesson of what not to do, without ever having to make the mistake ourselves. Such as: don’t escalate to nuclear war.
The tale is thought-provoking and haunting, and it might disabuse you of the fanciful notion that you’d have no consequences in nuclear war, that you’re better prepared or wealthier or more strategic.
I confess, I picked up this book because of my appreciation for artist Becky Cloonan, and she absolutely delivers. Her art (bolstered by Tamra Bonvillain’s gritty, oppressive color and Pat Brousseau’s expressive lettering) is beautifully human, painfully realistic, and by turns symbolic, leaving some events to be filled in while others are graphic almost beyond tolerance.
Some of the images—and off-screen images—are still seared into my brain and I held my partner closer the night I read the book. Maybe don’t read it at night.
No spoilers, but is the ending… mythological?
Cloonan mentioned in an interview about The War with Comicon.com that Ennis was more precise than some writers she’d worked with about what he wanted the art to look like, and she took care to execute on his vision.
In a separate interview with Forbidden Planet TV, Ennis mentioned that he had admired Cloonan’s work for a long time and that whenever she suggested trying a different artistic idea in The War, he was happy with it. Their collaboration feels mutually respectful and seamless, building on each other’s strengths.
I recommend this book if you have a strong stomach. It is gripping and skillfully constructed by two masters of the craft, and will likely leave you thinking about it long after.
And if, after reading it, you feel bereft and scared about the prospect of nuclear war, I also recommend checking out an organization like Back from the Brink or ICAN that advocates for better nuclear policies and taking some of their recommended actions.
Let’s not let The War ever become a reality.
The War is out this month from BOOM! Studios.
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