If Garth Ennis is known for anything as a writer then it's surely his uncompromising approach to violence. Sometimes that has worked for me - like most teenagers reading comics in the late '90s I was very into Preacher - and other times it has left me entirely cold. The Boys, for instance, did absolutely nothing for me. Still, when you hear that Get Fury is a Marvel MAX series (ie. for adult readers only) that pits Frank Castle and the original Nick Fury against each other then Ennis makes total sense as the series' writer.
The first issue published this week, drawn by Jacen Burrows and colored by Guillermo Ortego. Ennis's long history of writing war comics is reflected in a book that offers a far more realistic view of the Marvel universe, one without a superhero in sight. Likewise, as one of the definitive Punisher writers, his love of Frank Castle shows through here. The comic is called Get Fury, but this first issue feels very weighted towards the young Punisher-to-be.
Spoilers ahead for Get Fury #1
The issue is mostly set in 1971, a few years before the end of the Vietnam War. We quickly discover that, following a helicopter crash, Nick Fury and two of his comrades have been captured by bandits and sold to the NVA (North Vietnamese Army). The C.I.A. cannot afford to let the many secrets Fury has access to leak if he breaks under torture, however, so they order Frank Castle to track Fury down and assassinate him.
From that description alone you can get a sense of the tone. This is cynical stuff with no clear heroes or villains, and that's fine - there's a long tradition of great comics that operate in shades of gray and with more nuanced morality than the mainstream Marvel and DC books. Likewise, it's apt that stories about war are clear about just how awful it really is.
The trouble for me is that, on the basis of its first issue at least, I don't think Get Fury is trying to be one of those comics. Instead, it seems to relish in its horror, wallowing in the darkness, following up one character being buried alive with another gruesome killing that feels straight out of The Walking Dead.
Then there's the dialogue, which is liberally laced with swear-words and even a racial slur, which just feels a bit gross and edgelordy. It's not that the book is hugely offensive, it's that it's honestly a little boring. Nothing much really happens in this first issue outside of: Frank gets a new job, Nick has a very bad day.
There's also the matter of timing... This may be a purely personal thing, but the world is quite visibly on fire right now. We're presented with very real images of horror on our TV screens and social feeds every single day and with good reason. Get Fury will have been commissioned and created months ago, of course, but I'm just not sure that we need a big comic in this present moment to gleefully and repeatedly remind us that war is hell and misery and death. We know.
Your mileage may vary, of course, and my view on the book may shift as it continues. I'll keep on reading Get Fury with an open mind, partly because it's my job to keep up with this stuff, but also because I want to see where this is all going. Still, much like Nick's journey in the issue, this is a grim old trudge.
Get Fury #1 is out now from Marvel Comics.
In another version of the Marvel universe, the original Nick Fury recently retired.
