The height of the Vietnam War and a terrible sequence of events have put two of Marvel’s greatest soldiers on opposite sides of a scope.  Your Major Spoilers review of Get Fury #1, awaits!

GET FURY #1

Writer: Garth Ennis
Artists: Jacen Burrows and Guillermo Ortega
Colorist: Nolan Woodard
Letterer: Rob Steen
Editor: Nick Lowe
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price:  $3.99
Release Date: May 1st, 2024

Previously in Get Fury: It’s 1971 and Nick Fury has been captured by the Viet Cong. The CIA realizes they can’t risk the enemy getting the secrets Fury has, so they dispatch Lt. Frank Castle.

SWEET BIRD OF TRUTH

Get Fury #1 begins with an elderly man speaking about his life since Vietnam and how his mind routinely goes to thoughts about two soldiers he faced, Castle and Fury.  Things then shift back to 1971.  Castle is approached by two MPs who are trying to round up all the dogs that soldiers have taken as pets, one of which is part of Castle’s unit.  The man refuses to give up the dog which leads to a confrontation with the MPs.  Another soldier arrives saying that Castle has orders to meet up with a high-ranking officer.  Elsewhere, Vietnamese soldiers have captured Fury and two other soldiers, with one of the other men in rough shape and in need of water.  In Saigon, Castle meets up with a Major and two CIA operatives.  They explain that any mission to rescue Fury would be futile and the only way to make sure he doesn’t blab to the enemy is to kill him via sniper rifle.  Back in the jungle, things get much worse for Fury and the other men.

COMPELLING FROM AFAR, CHILDISH UP CLOSE

Get Fury #1 has all the makings for an interesting title.  You get two characters who have deep histories that are tied to Vietnam and the 70s, both of them are soldiers without superpowers, you have a plot that allows for plenty of grey area and establishes antagonism not based on personal emotions, and you have a creative team that has shown the ability to handle mature and graphic content.  But, when you really get down into it, this whole issue comes off as simply immature.  To be fair, they don’t get a lot of time to expand, but all the characters in this are one-note caricatures.  Either it’s the stoic badass like Fury and Castle, or over-the-top hoorah blowhards like every other character in this book.  It’s mostly the dialog that does this issue a disservice.  While it’s fair to expect some swearing and colorful turns of phrases in a comic book set in The Vietnam War, what this ends up sounding like is more akin to when a kid first learns about swearing and lets loose with their friends when no adults are around.  This is then mixed with jargon and slang that feels like Ennis watched Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, and Apocalypse Now, back to back to back, and just started pulling lines from them. Also, the last couple of pages feature some shocking violence that is cheap and feels like it’s only there for shock value as it serves very little purpose in the story.  With all that being said though, I do think the setup for this story is legitimately good and worth putting up with some cringe-inducing writing at least for another issue or two.

VISUALLY DULL

There’s nothing that is overtly bad about the art in Get Fury #1, but there’s also nothing that stands out as being impressive either.  The whole issue feels trapped in an earth-tone prison, with the biggest variation in hue is light tan to darker tan, with a splash of drab green that manages to be both the color of the uniforms and the entirety of the jungle.  It’s the way light is handled though that really makes this a bland-looking comic.  Regardless of where the scene is taking place, the lighting never seems to change and in spaces where some shadows should be, it feels more like things are just colored grey as opposed to lacking light.

BOTTOM LINE:  RIDING ON THE STRENGTH OF THE CONCEPT

Get Fury #1 is not a comic I would recommend to most people.  Maybe hardcore Garth Ennis or Punisher fans.  But even then the writing and art in this leave a lot to be desired.  Where this manages to gain some points though is in its setup, which is undeniably interesting and makes me hopeful that some really engaging stuff is on the way.  But on its own, this opening issue just doesn’t cut it.  2 out of 5 stars.

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Get Fury #1

40%

40%

Not Worth The Price

Get Fury #1 dangles an intriguing setup with engaging characters over the readers head, but then hits them with childish dialog and lackluster visuals.

• Writing

  4
• Art

  4
• Coloring

  4
• User Ratings (4 Votes)
  7.9