The Terror Assaulter

by Benjamin Marra

Drawn in a 1990s comic book style and starring the “Terror Assaulter,” this book satirizes American values in much the same way director Paul Verhoeven ( Robocop ) does. Cartoonist Benjamin Marra brilliantly satirizes America’s obsession with justice ― and disinterest in consequences ― via a highly stylized, hypermasculine style that gushes with violence, sex, and international intrigue, battering down the boundaries between psychedelia, political commentary, and aggressive expressionism. Terror Assaulter must defeat Terror at all costs, as long as it leaves time for steamy dates with hot chicks. The man’s codename is O.M.W.O.T. (One Man War On Terror) and he is the world’s greatest protector, and a villain’s worst nightmare. This is a hilarious satire of American foreign policy over the last decade, neocon philosophy, the state of American masculinity and sexuality, and male power fantasy in escapist entertainment. Full-color illustrations throughout.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Humor, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Satire

100 pages, Paperback

First published September 19, 2015

About the author

Benjamin Marra (born 1977 in Halifax, Nova Scotia) is a Grammy-nominated American illustrator and comic book artist. His work has been mostly self-published under his own imprint, Traditional Comics, and mainly consists of black and white comics, printed on low-quality paper for a relatively low price.

Reviews

[Jan Philipzig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chuck Norris Still Going Strong!

Book blurb: As a response to the 9/11 terrorist assault on America’s freedom, President George W. Bush ordered the creation of a top secret team of foreign service agents: THE TERROR ASSAULTERS. Operating with a licence to kill and a single mission - defeat terror - one such agent, codename: O.M.W.O.T (One Man War On Terror) will do anything to accomplish his goals. Is the price he pays too high? Let’s just say… “No.”

Is this the comic book Dick Cheney slipped George W. Bush to convince him that a holy “War on Terror” must be fought? Let's just say… “Maybe.” In its pages, “the terrorists” (that's what they even call themselves) take over the United States of America: blood runs down white-picketed fences, bodies pile up in gutters, the family dog is slaughtered... The only hope that remains: The Terror Assaulters! And that's when O.M.W.O.T. takes the cheapest thrills and sleaziest hyper-masculine power fantasies from the 1980s to their logical, terrifying, hilarious conclusion... You know, the one that kinda resembles our reality these days.

For the movie adaptation, Chuck Norris is a no-brainer as leading star... he's still alive, isn't he?

[Fraser Burnett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let's just say "I read it."
I'm writing a review now.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

The violence is over the top, it's full of excessively graphic sex scenes, plus it's all written and drawn terribly. But if you've ever watched a movie that was so hilariously bad that you suspected the filmmakers made it that way on purpose, you'll get the appeal of this book. It's stupid, cringey, obscene, hilarious and utterly nonsensical. So if that sounds like your kinda book, by all means dive on in!

[Bob Fish · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the finest comic book artists today !
https://youtu.be/_s8IvmI59V4
https://youtu.be/neY6ldoemI0

[Rahma · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is honestly the most disgusting story I've ever read.
I'd have given this zero stars if I could.

[Ifrah · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I see god"

[Aidan]

One Man War on Terror: queer icon🏳️‍🌈😘✊ trans ally🏳️‍⚧️💪🤝 clear communicator✋👉🗣️ fearless patriot🇺🇸🦅🔥

can you say the same? 🫵👁️👁️

[Vicente Ribes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un cómic muy cafre con él que te ries con ese dibujo naif y las burradas del argumento. El protagonista, una especie de agente del Fbi se maneja como en las pelis de Cobra, matando y desmenbrando villanos y tirándose a hombres y mujeres sin parar. Tanto las escenas de sexo como las de lucha son para partirse de risa. Lo mejor cuando se enfrenta a unos terroristas en un avión y en medio de su vorágine violenta se carga a terroristas y pasajeros por igual.

[Przemysław Skoczyński · Rating 3 out of 5]

Czego tu nie ma? Ostra satyra na Amerykę po 11.09. Mieszanka estetyki rodem z budżetowego kina sensacyjnego, gier komputerowych i pornosów, a wszystko jeszcze podkręcone do granic absurdu. Śmieszne dialogi, które komentują dosłownie co dzieje się kadrach, sztuczność całości i humor najniższych lotów… Całkiem niezłe

[Rex Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this case the acronym O.M.W.O.T. stands for “one man war on terror”, and is sort of a sixties throwback to the days of U.N.C.L.E. and S.H.I.E.L.D. where acronyms were all the rage. This story is one of the most bizarre send-ups of the terrorism, hyper-action genre that I have ever read. At first, I just thought it was ridiculous and stupid, but the more I read the more it grew on me - the humor stood up and waved and I was sucked in.

The plot goes that a group of disavowed ultra-violent agents, called Terror Assaulters, are unleashed on a world rife with terrorism. There are four tales here and they get increasingly bizarre. The first one almost seems standard, O.M.W.O.T. goes undercover to get some stolen information, ends up killing everyone and doesn’t recover it, but bangs a hot woman in the end. The ridiculous violence is everywhere in the story, but after this it goes off the rails.

This book is an absurdist reaction to the War on Terror from the early 2000s. The action is deliberately ridiculous and made to put the real world into perspective. Adding to the absurdity is all the expository dialogue. Many of the characters scream out what is being shown in the scene. “Ahh, you’ve cut my throat and killed me.” “You shot my arms off.”

[Виктор · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never laughed so much with a comic book.

After 9/11 Bush ordered the creation of a top secret anti-terrorist team, unlinked to the government, with complete freedom and license to kill. We watch the agent codenamed O.M.W.O.T. (One Man War on Terror) destroying terror with no mercy.

Following all the stereotypes from classic pulp stories (action, violence, explicit sex), Benjamin Marra exaggerates them to absurdity. The author's sense of humor is genius and brilliant, but at the same time, this is what you would draw in class on your notebook as a 12 year-old boy. And the best thing is that, behind all that non-sense and gratuitous violence, there's some good criticism on America's way to handle terrorism (I hope I'm not overanalyzing).

The art is admirable. It's based on traditional comics and old pulp magazines, with their low-quality, DIY style and color limitation (I think he only uses black, red, yellow and blue pigments, which he combines to create gradients and mixtures of colors). It's certainly some inspiration.

[Chad · Rating 1 out of 5]

Imagine how terrible a comic written and drawn by Napoleon Dynamite would be. This is that book. Terrible art, no story to speak of. All of the exposition is spoken out loud. And filled with graphic sex. Ugh!

[Cameron Currie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is crazy. Whatever lines you figure aren't gonna get crossed, forget about them. The 'terror assaulter' OMWOT is at least as much of a public menace as the terrorists he fights, and yet for some inexplicable, sick reason I found myself rooting for him. Give it a go.

[Justin Decloux · Rating 5 out of 5]

The greatest encapsulation absurd 80's style action films to ever grace planet earth. At once satire, deconstruction, loving celebration, and poison pill. It starts exactly the way you expect and then slowly twists its worldview into a full-on uncomfortable nightmare. Brilliant.

[Paula G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

cebao

[Rory · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surrealist comedy in comics has never been better than this to my knowledge. I am reviewing the book.

[Alexander Lisovsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Чак Норрис и Чёрный Динамит жыв! Крутейший трешак, написанный и нарисованный чисто третьеклассником, со всей суровой правдой о внезапных поворотах сюжета, маскулинных идеалах, о взрослой жизни и половых отношениях. Образ самого автора - вишенка на торте.

Открывайте небольшую галерею на свой страх и риск!

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

bizzare. really good commentary on the normalization of predatory male sexuality as well as the justification of violence for the sake of "antiterrorism".

[Brett · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best of Ben Marra I seen so far. Also bonkers good conceptually.

[Benny Morduchowitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This piece has an interesting pop art aesthetic, and its pretty good, but I think the stiff line work was my primary critique of it, but I think it fits with the whole jilted, stiff tone demonstrated by the hilariously absurd dialogue. Backgrounds are very sparse too, but another thing I noticed was an insane amount of attention paid to spacial placements of characters and objects here, everyone and everything laid out in a very clear physical trajectory, and I found it fascinating. Gratuitous sex and violence and blind ideology make this one of the strangest comic satires I've ever read, and I was on the fence at certain points, but the final send-up of the nuclear family dream really wrapped it all up perfectly for me.

[Andy Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nearly five stars! Author Marra breaks all the rules. He shows AND tells, his figures flaunt physical law, and it's largely hilarious genius, with every character wooden, and, except the protagonst, a cameo drunk down satiating. OMWOT is a massive in-joke on every action-genre comic, film or TV. There's excessive sex, not quite so effective, but resonates ponderings already. I enjoyed this immensely and I hope you do too.

[Emily McMullen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not for everyone. If you have dainty feelings this will offend your ass. The amount of killing and hard core sex is over the top like a good 80s action movie on extra strempth crack! This guy dead yet? Pump 100 more braps into his maw. Just killed all the terrorists on a plane and want to go balls deep in a passangers butt as ypu pilot a plane? Dooo it!
Too much fun. Get on this fun filled train, you won't regret it!

[Stephanie Tournas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A one-man terror fighter, code name O.M.W.O.T (One Man War on Terror) kills whoever stands in his way of fighting the bad guys. He fights and kills, and then has sex with whoever is attractive in the situation. The combination of extreme violence, sex and stilted self-reporting language is hilarious. ("You shot my arms off!)

[Mauritzvd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sucked.
Big time.
For about three or four pages.

Then I got it: it's meant to be shitty and ridiculous, the story is meant to be shocking and idiotic, the dialogues are meant to be completely on-the-nose.
I read this on the toilet at a friend's house and I have to say, I don't think he's ever had any friends who went more to the toilet than me.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

I shouldn't have read this on a plane. I was expecting (and hoping for) the graphic hilarious violence. I was not expecting the graphic hilarious sex. I was also not expecting the utterly confusing ending. Still, it certainly did what it said on the tin.

[Ruz El · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comic book of the year. A book so non-stop awesome that Marvel and DC might as well shut their doors.

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was *really* funny at first but then it got repetitive. And I'll confess, it was a bit too sexually explicit for my taste.

[Dominika · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the perfect read after you spend time with children and family

[Frank White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily the greatest comic of the last 20 years.

[Geoffwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is comic book. This comic book is very good for men to read.