David Liss mostly writes mysteries set in different historical time periods, but in the early 2010s, he wrote a couple of things for Marvel. A stint on Daredevil where Black Panther took over as protector of Hell's Kitchen was the main one, but there was also this 5-issue mini-series.
Set in 1932, it involves Dennis Piper, reporter turned thief and vigilante, finding himself wanted by the cops for the murder of his girlfriend. As Piper (aka the Operative) follows the trail back to a desiccated-looking "General", he gains some allies.
Liss uses historical and societal trends to build most of the different heroes. The Operative was trained by his father to be a weapon, but chooses to use those skills to pull a Robin Hood to help out people struggling to pay rent in the Depression. His costume is a mask of the lower half of his face, while wearing his regular duds. The Revenant learned stage magic, but wasn't allowed to be the star because he's black, and wound up with the cops pinning an assault on him, even when the victim insists the The Aviatrix (also the sister of Piper's dead girlfriend) loved the idea of flying, but was barred from flying a plane after she stole and wrecked one. The Surgeon was a small town doc who went against the mine bosses by treating injured striking workers. His home was burned down with he and his family in it, so now he uses his medical knowledge to inflict pain on criminals.
So most of the book feels like it's a pulp heroes book, rather than superheroes. Zircher keeps most of the character designs to regular clothes, or at least those appropriate to the person's job. The Surgeon wears a red cloak, but hospital scrubs and gloves underneath. The Aviatrix has got the flight jacket and goggles thing going. Andy Troy doesn't make the colors too bright. It's not a happy era, and so things are grim and difficult. The General (Piper's dad) runs a mysterious "Board" of influential rich people that make decisions that ruin thousands or millions of lives like they're deciding what wine to have with the fish. Child abductions are fine, as long as the profit margins are big enough. It feels grounded in that way, everything driven by basic, petty human foibles.
But then you have the General working for "Nox", some sort of supernatural being that needs sacrifices - specifically ones that cause great despair - to reach their world. (The main sacrifice is to be the child of Charles Lindbergh, so Liss is working that historical disappearance into the story, but they also stole "the son of Stark", which I'm guessing means Tony's dad.) The General is supposed to get an amulet that supposedly gifted Achilles the power of the gods (in exchange for a year of his life for each day worn, though he can regain the year by killing someone.) Rather than just let the nerdy archaeologist hand it over, the General blathers on before trying to kill said archaeologist, prompting him to access the power in desperation instead.
(Even there, Zircher doesn't deck "Achilles" out in Greek warrior armor or anything. He gets a sword and shield, but he's wearing boots and jeans and a red sweater with a sword and shield emblem on the chest. Looks like the local college football star out on a brisk fall day. Again, very grounded, everyday sort of appearance.)
Minus the amulet, Nox gives the General a bracelet that. . .turns him into a werewolf. Maybe that kind of thing is normal for pulp stories. I never got much into the Shadow or Doc Savage. It feels like a big shift midway through from fistfights with bent cops and goons, to a guy with a magic amulet decapitating werewolves.
And with that, for the first time in over a year, we've finished a letter.
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