The Call of Duty series was developed to explore the individual stories of New York's rescue workers. The Brotherhood, the first title in the series, is devoted to firefighters, and sold out in a day. Shortly after, Marvel published The Precinct featuring the NYPD and The Wagon (EMS).

A firefighter rescues a trapped girl in The Brotherhood.

Since both Heroes and The Amazing Spider-man #36 were so successful, Marvel published a third and final tribute book, A Moment of Silence. This comic, written by Bill Jemas and illustrated by Mark Bagley and Scott Hanna, follows 72-year old Tony Savas, a Port Authority building inspector, on September 11. While Heroes mourned the fallen emergency personnel and The Amazing Spider-man showed an introspective view of the attacks, A Moment of Silence elucidated the tragic events through the eyes of a courageous, yet fictional, victim. Perhaps the best evidence for the public’s supporting Marvel’s September 11 tribute books is that then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani agreed to write the forward to A Moment of Silence. Although the comic also sold excessively high quantities, upwards of 50,000, it was the least successful of the three Marvel tribute books. However, when charity is concerned, there is no “least successful.”

Following the Call
At the beginning of 2002, the editorial staff at Marvel decided to start three comic book series devoted to the heroic exploits of those in New York who follow the duty of public service. Hence, three comic book titles under the heading The Call of Duty were created for each of New York City’s emergency personnel: The Brotherhood (firefighters), The Precinct (police), and The Wagon (emergency medical service). The Brotherhood, released in June, was the first title Marvel published; the others debuted in July and August respectively. None of the sales from The Call of Duty, however, go toward the Twin Towers Fund. The Brotherhood #1 sold-out on its first day of release though according to Quesada, it was “mainly due to comic book shops under-ordering the title.” Rather than go to a second printing of The Brotherhood #1, Marvel re-released a special collector’s reprint edition on standard paper rather than the original printing’s glossy stock, which also contained some supplemental material. The Call of Duty is also part of Marvel’s PG line of comics, so the language and content is less appropriate for young children. Nevertheless, the PG rating is necessary in order to aptly display the daily travails of the characters. Lastly, although the three titles are currently independent, rumors are already circulating at Marvel that a crossover will eventually occur, the culmination of which will be a unified series simply titled The Call of Duty.