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.

Get Fury #1 Review

 

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.