Get Fury #2 Review

 

Writer: Garth Ennis

Artist: Jacen Burrows

Colorist: Nolan Woodard

Letterer: Rob Steen

Cover Artists: Goran Parlov & Nolan Woodard; Dave Johnson

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Price: $3.99

Release Date: June 5, 2024

 

Letrong Giap devoted his life to protecting Vietnam. But when the retired North Vietnamese General observes his country, he wonders why he worked so hard. His country doesn’t uphold the ideals he fought for. So, Letrong Giap delves into history. Two Americans factor into the crucible from which modern Vietnam was born: Nick Fury and Frank Castle. What has Letrong Giap learned by studying his enemies? Let’s load our weapons, march into Get Fury #2, and find out! 

 

Story

Faced with increasing American opposition to the Vietnam War, the South Vietnamese and the US conducted a joint operation. In Lam Son 719, the US used overwhelming airpower to shield South Vietnamese ground operations. But how many realize that the CIA hastily organized the massive operation to divert attention from a fighter jet they sent toward Hanoi in February 1971? Why, you ask? Because Nick Fury had to die.

 

In Get Fury #2, the pilot transporting Captain Frank Castle curses as Surface-to-Air Missiles explode around him. He wants to know that the mission is worth their lives. But Castle gives him no satisfaction. "The mission is classified," he tells the pilot and ejects from the fighter. Frank spies a missile shooting toward the fighter jet as his parachute drifts downward.

 

At the US Marine base in Saigon, Dave comforts General Mackie. Both the General and the CIA officer have made compromises. But while Mackie wrestles with his conscience, Dave celebrates. His subordinate arrives in a panic. Steve explains that their assessment of Colonel Fury was wrong. And if the CIA guessed wrong about Fury, did they make the wrong choice in sending Captain Frank Castle to kill him?

 

In Get Fury #2, Garth Ennis delves into the politics underlying the Vietnam War. His story touches upon how moral judgments can lead to murder. He reminds us of the toll the Vietnam War had on American soldiers and citizens back home. Dave and Steve's dilemma also harkens back to the MP’s tirade against American special forces operations in Vietnam and helps us understand Frank Castle’s stoic response. The MP was correct about the cost of operations like Lam Son 719. But he pointed the finger at the weapons instead of those who wield them.

 

 

 

Art

Letrong Giap's mirthful smile grounds a map of South Vietnamese movements during Operation Lam Son 719. Jacen Burrows juxtaposes detailed panels featuring the pilot and Captain Frank Castle with less exacting shots of the plane and surrounding explosions. Yet Castle's descent toward an inked forest evokes the story by Joseph Conrad that inspired Francis Ford Coppola to film Apocalypse Now.

 

Silhouettes of soldiers ground distant explosions wrought by B-52s and US fighter-bombers. NVA troops transporting Fury look scared, then grim, as they behold the spectacle. Yet later, when the soldiers assess the devastation firsthand, their expressions evoke the name of their prisoner.

 

Nolan Woodard applies a limited palette on Get Fury #2. While orange and green dominate Castle’s entry to North Vietnam, the orange sky fades to brown, and the soldiers’ uniforms and the jungle merge in a sea of green. General Mackie’s green uniform opposes Dave’s blue shirt in a green-and-blue office where brown and black serve as buffer zones. Frank Castle organizes his equipment in a green alley as he shelters from the orange street behind a green jeep. But then Castle’s skin turns yellow in response to a streetlight and the North Vietnamese trooper who discovers him.

 

Rob Steen fires black uppercase letters into white dialogue balloons and colored narrative boxes in Get Fury #2. The large font grows bold for intonation and never shrinks. While no sound effects enhance Garth Ennis’ MAX-label story, the dialogue enlarges as tempers flare, making readers wonder if Frank Castle’s mission was necessary. Thanks to Marvel Comics for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

Corruption, compromises, and diversity in the military fuel a penetrating meditation on the costs of war in Get Fury #2.

 

Rating 9/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.