Last month, we took a first look at Comixology Originals’ “The Whisper War,” created by Marc Guggenheim with artwork by Sedat Oezgan. This title followed the previous success of Guggenheim’s futuristic Comixology Original series, “The Adventures of Ulysses Monarch.” Once again, he captivates readers with his compelling storytelling and the masterful visuals crafted by the talented Mr. Oezgan.

Years ago, civil war raged across the Shattered Realm. The conflict claimed one-third of the population of the planet Imprimata. No one knows what the war was fought over. No one knows who the winning side was.

And no one remembers…anything.

Heard only through whispers, the past begins to reveal itself.

Now, in the capital city of Apperax, a murder has been committed. There are no suspects. No forensics. No theories. So when former Carabinieri cop Axel Jindari is brought out of retirement to investigate the murder, the only thing he has to go on is his intuition—and a nagging sense of déjà vu. Working alongside Officer Seeva Dessin, this murder will unravel everything he knows to be true—and maybe even history itself!

Issue #1 was released on February 10th, and we are proud to share this exclusive peek at some of Sedat’s art processes, accompanied by his personal insights into the creation of “The Whisper War.”

PAGE LAYOUTS

Back in 2023, when I received the script for Issue #01 of The Whisper War, I was stuck in
customs at Newark Airport, waiting to be processed. Since I was incredibly excited, I
started reading the script right away. From the get-go, I was bursting with ideas. Marc
established so much world-building within the first five pages that I could see the whole
thing playing out like a movie in my head.

As a matter of fact, the first few pages look almost exactly the same on paper as they did
in my imagination. I knew right away that, in order to do Marc’s writing justice, I couldn’tjust bring my “A game”—I had to come up with something like an “AAA+ game,” so to speak. The visuals needed to be compelling and match Marc’s terrific world-building.

A spaceship approaches a futuristic city on the moon, followed by astronauts landing and engaging in combat on the lunar surface.
Layouts Page 01

That’s why every panel on page one needed to be as unique as possible. I wanted to show
the variety and diversity of this universe. For example, in panel two you’ll see a gigantic
futuristic city being bombed, while elsewhere a ragtag army is being blown to pieces by a
massive explosion in a strange mushroom forest. At the same time, I needed to make sure
that the soldiers we see in the last two panels were as different from one another as
possible in terms of their weapons and outfits.

A black-and-white comic page shows a train in space, a futuristic cityscape, buildings crumbling, soldiers running under fire, and armed figures advancing in a rocky landscape.
Inks Page 01

When I talked to Marc about this, I explained that if you look at modern armies from
different countries, you’ll notice that—even though we live in a technologically advanced
world—not every army is equally equipped, and their uniforms can vary greatly. For
instance, if you compare the U.S. Army to militias in certain parts of the world, you’ll
immediately see that their levels of sophistication are vastly different.

A series of four comic panels showing spaceships near a planet, futuristic city warfare, soldiers in combat, and two figures fighting in a red-lit environment.
Colors page 01

Designing the Cover

For the cover, I knew I had to come up with something that would grab the viewer’s
attention while also capturing their imagination. The biggest challenge when creating a
cover for a creator-owned project is that you’re not working with a globally recognized
property like Batman or Spider-Man. With those characters, you can simply place them in a familiar situation and it will immediately resonate with readers. With a new story and new characters, however, you have to create a visual language that intrigues the reader enough to make them open the book and start reading.

A serious man with a ponytail and holding guns is depicted above a city skyline, with armed soldiers marching below in a stylized comic book cover illustration.
Layouts for Cover issue 01

Comic book cover illustration featuring a large man and a woman with a gun in the foreground, with soldiers and a futuristic cityscape in the background.

A man with long hair holds a futuristic gun, set against a cityscape and a group of armored soldiers below, in a black-and-white comic book illustration.
Inks for Cover 01
A man with long hair in futuristic armor holds a gun, cityscape and moon behind him; armored soldiers and robots stand in formation below, set against a red background with black vertical stripes.
Colors issue 01

This is something I learned from the late master of movie posters, Drew Struzan. Back
when there was no YouTube or mobile phones, movie posters were what made us think, I
need to see this film. They were so compelling and imagination-grabbing that you wanted
to find out what was happening in that story. Obviously, I’m not comparing myself to Drew, but this is the biggest lesson I took away from his incredible work.

FINDING THE RIGHT OUTFIT

Finding the right outfit for our protagonist was a completely different challenge in itself. His look needed to feel futuristic without becoming corny or boring, which is difficult when trying to avoid familiar sci-fi tropes. I offered Marc several different ideas, and in the end we agreed that outfit number three was the perfect fit.

Character turnaround sketch showing a male figure with long hair and a beard, wearing layered armor and utility belts, viewed from front, side, and back. Text notes label the design as a work in progress.
Unused Design
Black and white character design sketch showing a male figure with long hair and a beard, wearing layered clothing, armor, and pouches, depicted from front, side, and back views.
Unused Design
Black and white character design sheet showing a man with long hair in three poses—side, front, and back—wearing a long coat, shoulder armor, gloves, and boots. Notes are written on the left.
Final Design

As a side note to anyone reading this: when you create a character for a new comic series, you always want to make sure that the character is instantly recognizable—even as a silhouette. If that’s the case, you’ve done a good job.

Marc Guggenheim and Sedat Oezgen Announce The Whisper War

A Futuristic Sci-Fi Murder Mystery Set in the World of the Shattered Realm

The Whisper War Issue #1 by Marc Guggenheim and Sedat Oezgen is now available digitally from Comixology Originals.