Writer: Garth Ennis
Penciler: Jacen Burrows
Inker: Guillermo Ortego
Colorist: Nolan Woodard
Letterer: Rob Steen
Cover Artists: Dave Johnson; Rogê Antônio & Marcelo Maiolo; Jacen Burrows & Nolan Woodard; Juan Ferreyra
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $3.99
Release Date: May 1, 2024
Letrong Giap devoted his life to his country. The retired North Vietnamese General’s body is failing. His future looks bleak. So he looks back on his life and what he’s done. After all the battles he fought, two people stand out. Nick Fury and Frank Castle were his enemies. He’s obsessed with them. So, Letrong dug into his records. He searched through public sources of information. He used his contacts in other governments to get secret documents. Now, Letrong wants to share his story with us. But can we believe anything this former enemy of the United States might tell us about two American soldiers? Let’s load our weapons, march into Get Fury #1, and find out!
Story
Captain Frank Castle reclines on the roof of his unit’s compound and reads his wife’s letter. Maria understands his commitment to his men. Still, she begs him to make this third tour in Vietnam his last. Two military police request his assistance in keeping the camp safe. But when Castle fails to enforce their orders, the sergeant lashes out, accusing him and his Force Recon company of inflaming the war and costing more American lives than they save. Then, a soldier drives up in his Jeep. The MP sergeant apologizes for his outburst, but it’s all water off a duck’s back to Frank. Everyone’s got a right to their opinions, after all.
In Get Fury #1, Frank Castle meets General Mackie and two CIA officials. They know Castle worked with Nick Fury in the past. But they’re bearers of bad news. Fury’s chopper crashed behind enemy lines. They’ve searched the crash site and conducted aerial surveys but can't find Fury, his crew chief, or his door gunner. So, Fury is likely a prisoner of the North Vietnamese Army. The NVA will transport Fury along the Ho Chi Minh Trail through Laos. Nick Fury is a valuable servant of the US government. They want to save him. But extraction doesn’t seem possible. So, they ask Castle to go in as a sniper and kill him.
Garth Ennis ponders the role of Government Intelligence and Covert Operations in warfare. He also contrasts idealism with practicality. Can heroes like Captain America win in war? Or does the nature of warfare force good people to get their hands dirty and become antiheroes like the Punisher?
Art
Get Fury #1 begins by visiting the aging mischief maker in his home. A Dictaphone rests beside a cup of tea. After showing Fury and Castle battling among the dying and the dead, we glimpse Castle reclining on sandbags as he reads his letter from home. Either it's a multipage message, or he's rereading several of his wife's letters. Beside him rests a skull wrapped in barbed wire.
Jacen Burrows and Guillermo Ortego show the MPs grow increasingly aggravated as one of Castle's Marines refuses their orders. What the Marine holds in his arm helps you understand his staunch demeanor. Like his subordinate, Castle's stony expression never wavers, although perhaps it grows grimmer as he listens to the CIA agents and his general. Intriguingly, a slim blond man named Steve suggests a road not taken had Steve Rogers sought to aid his country in the intelligence service rather than enlisting in the military.
Nolan Woodard shows Letrong Giap against a pink background in Get Fury #1 while he colors his double-page vision of Castle and Fury on the battlefield yellow and orange. Woodard applies beige, orange, and green to the MP's confrontation while he dapples yellow on Fury and his comrades in a forest beneath an orange sky. Yet when NVA soldiers pull out their machetes, another color stains the surrounding greenery.
Rob Steen fires black uppercase letters into white dialogue balloons and colored narrative boxes in Get Fury #1. The large font grows bold for intonation, swells for raised voices, and never shrinks. No sound effects enhance Garth Ennis’ MAX-label story about the brutal savagery of war. While little action punctuates this engrossing drama, a shout fills the final panel, and the immense To Be Continued leaves readers wanting more.
Thanks to Marvel Comics for providing a copy for review.
Final Thoughts
Like Thor’s brother Loki, Letrong Giap enjoys making mischief. Yet in Get Fury #1, the former North Vietnamese General shows Captain Frank Castle and Colonel Nick Fury protecting their men and avoiding unnecessary killing. By contrast, Letrong shows his NVA soldiers engage in heartless cruelty. Does Letrong want to get his government into trouble? Or will he turn the tables on American readers in future issues?
Rating 9.6/10
To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
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