THE COLLECTOR - UNIT 731

Through his longer-than-usual lifetime, Michael appreciates artifacts and knowledge, and he gathers allies, enemies, and memories. A recent obituary has him reflecting on his time imprisoned in a POW camp during WWII . . .

A man can go by many names, and when someone has been around as long as Michael, he can gain more than just a few aliases. In the present he's Michael Smith, but back in the 1940s he went by James. When the obituary for John, an acquaintance of James's from WWII, comes up in the paper, Michael finds himself ruminating on an experience he thought he'd left behind: the horrors and human experimentation he, John, and others, endured at the infamous Manchuria-based Japanese prisoner of war facility known as Unit 731. For other POWs, their experience at Unit 731 concluded there and then, but for Michael, his encounters with the Axis powers garnered interest that went beyond the end of the war. Michael is more than a simple body to use for target practice or as a research test subject, and both Germany and Japan wanted to have him.

From Will Conrad (Justice League, Serenity) and Rod Monteiro (The Midnight Witch) comes a tale of historical fiction that visits some of humanity's darkest moments.