FURY #1
"1: Be Careful What You Wish For"
Mildly Recommended (6/10)
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Marvel Comics/MAX Comics
Writer: Garth Ennis
Pencils: Darick Robertson
Inks: Jimmy Palmiotti
Colors: Avalon Studios
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Axel Alonso
Price: $2.99 US/$4.50 CAN |
Garth Ennis was an excellent choice as writer for a new limited series about Marvel's best-known military man, Nick Fury. Ennis seems to have a deep understand of what it means to be a soldier, a keen appreciation of the nature of war. He presents the title character as a son of a bitch, and while the new take on the character makes sense, Ennis goes a bit too far in his exaggeration of Fury's personality.
Nick Fury was once one of the key players in the realm of war and espionage. The fate of the planet hinged on decisions he made. Now, the list of his enemies has changed radically. Instead of HYDRA, Nazis and Soviets, he must contend with politics, budget cuts, boredom and his idiot nephew. Nick Fury is a soldier without a war to fight, and an old friend -- or is it an enemy? -- approaches him and suggests a return to the good old days of the Cold War.
Robertson was an excellent choice to collaborate with Ennis. His detailed style suits the brutal and unflinching tone of Ennis's script. The penciller approaches the story here with the same intensity and eye for gruesome but powerful detail as he does on Transmetropolitan.
Ennis's Nick Fury is much rougher around the edges than other takes on the character that have come before. Trying to reconcile this Fury with other versions just doesn't strike me as a good idea. One's best bet is to sit back and enjoy the brutality and powerful appetites of this very different Agent of SHIELD.
I've been a fan for Ennis's outrageous storytelling for some time now, but this first issue didn't quite work for me the way others have. I think the turning point came when I saw Fury's disgust for his nephew. I can deal with Fury killing terrorist scum without a seocnd thought, but his attitude toward Wendel seemed to cross a line for me. All of a sudden, Fury became a hateful, intolerant old bastard, and I suddenly stopped caring about the character.
The idea at the core of this book is an examination of a soldier without purpose, and the notion just doesn't come off as fresh. The whole idea of soldiers feeling lost in the post-Cold War era is a strong storytelling concept, but nothing in this book struck me as particularly new, save for Wendel's role in Nick's life.
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