The senator has a long monologue where he talks about the fallout from the Bay of Pigs. The whole issue is fallout, starting with Nick and his team, then with his lady friend and the senator.

Ennis approaches the ideology of the whole invasion. One of Nick’s team is very jingoistic, anti-Red; Ennis–and Nick–just lets him talk. The politics don’t matter, but the character’s mettle does. It contributes to an unexpected finish for the issue.

Most of the issue is either talking or the Cubans torturing captives. So the finish, which ties into what Ennis did with the first few issues, is a resounding success. Fury all of a sudden becomes a war comic, even though it’s an espionage story and there’s no war. It’s one of those moments of quiet in a war story.

Ennis’s choice to loose Nick Fury in the real world works great.

CREDITS

An’ Go to Your Gawd As a Soldier; writer, Garth Ennis; artist, Goran Parlov; colorist, Lee Loughridge; letterer, Rob Steen; editor, Nick Lowe; publisher, MAX.

Ennis tells a story set during the Bay of Pigs invasion. It’s not really a history lesson–there’s some details in the dialogue, but not enough to inform the reader. There’s a little more with the exiled Cubans in the States, but those guys aren’t real people, just stand-ins for them.

Instead, Ennis concentrates on Fury and his team in Cuba. They watch the result of the U.S. not backing its players. Parlov doesn’t actually so much death–there’s a lot of destruction, but the death is implied. Ennis gets the betrayal plays better off panel. Then there’s a comment from Nick every few pages about it.

The best thing is the attempt to assassinate Castro. Ennis doesn’t get political with Nick–he could care less about it–but there’s still some anticipation about whether or not MAX universe Castro is assassinated.

It’s good, but not particularly special.

CREDITS

Get Ready to Shed a Tear; writer, Garth Ennis; artist, Goran Parlov; colorist, Lee Loughridge; letterer, Rob Steen; editor, Nick Lowe; publisher, MAX.

It’s an unhappy issue. From the start, with modern Nick narrating his life story–and explaining why it’s all been wrong-headed–to the flashback with Nick’s love life taking a turn for the worse… it’s unhappy.

There’s no action, just conversation. It’s sort of a talking heads issue, but spread over a few days. Nick and his sidekick head to Miami after planning the Bay of Pigs, but before the incident itself. Ennis has a few great techniques for getting in exposition without going overboard.

The supporting cast–the girl, the senator, the sidekick–stays the same even though years have passed since the last issue. Even though Nick’s a man of action, Ennis is using him to show how little anyone–even a comic book protagonist–matters in the course of history.

It’s a depressing issue, probably because Nick’s so depressed throughout.

Some particularly excellent Parlov art too.

CREDITS

If We Was Meant to Be Cowboys; writer, Garth Ennis; artist, Goran Parlov; colorist, Lee Loughridge; letterer, Rob Steen; editors, Sebastian Girner and Nick Lowe; publisher, MAX.

It’s a disquieting issue. Disquieting is about the only word for it.

Ennis opens with a talking heads scene between Nick and his sidekick. They talk about the modern world, the Nazi, patriotism. Ennis does well with the sidekick. Nick needs someone to argue with over ideology. Makes for good dialogue too.

Then there’s the big battle scene. Except the big battle only last three pages; Ennis deals more with the lead-in to it. There’s a lot of detail in the lead-in. The battle is all for effect, to show how Nick experiences it.

The finish has a couple more unexpected turns. The bigger one comes at the end with the soft cliffhanger, but there’s the way Ennis brings in the girl and the senator too. He’s taken all the glamour of out Nick Fury and he still manages to strip off a few more layers.

Excellent work.

CREDITS

And Some People Left for Heaven Without Warning; writer, Garth Ennis; artist, Goran Parlov; colorist, Lee Loughridge; letterer, Rob Steen; editors, Sebastian Girner and Nick Lowe; publisher, MAX.

Garth Ennis probably missed his calling as a history professor or at least the writer of history books. He has an amazing small section where Fury explains what’s wrong with the French military approach to fighting in Vietnam. It’s short, concise and completely digestible.

He also has a great device–the visiting senator–for allowing Nick to do expository dialogue.

The first half of the issue deals with the overall plot, at least how it concerns all the supporting players. There’s the girl, who Nick’s shacked up with, there’s the senator (her boss), there’s the sidekick, there’s the former Nazi soldier.

Even at his most inventive, the first half is what one would expect. It’s excellent, but nothing surprises. The second half, when a French base is attacked, is astounding. Ennis and Parlov brilliantly choreograph the sequence–the sidekick being the reader’s point of view.

Ennis has ambitions for Fury.

CREDITS

Number One Fucky; writer, Garth Ennis; artist, Goran Parlov; colorist, Lee Loughridge; letterer, Rob Steen; editors, Sebastian Girner and Nick Lowe; publisher, MAX.

Fury MAX gives Garth Ennis the opportunity to do one of his favorite things–historical war stories–with one of the things he does really well, world-weary protagonists. Well, I suppose he takes the opportunity to use the series to do those things, not so much it gives him the chance.

This first issue is set in Indochina in the mid-fifties, while America’s involvement in Vietnam is just to monitor the French’s progress.

Ennis gives Fury a mismatched sidekick, he introduces a knowing dame–Ennis and artist Goran Parlov don’t turn the espionage genre on its head, they just tilt it quite a bit–and some hints at the supporting cast.

Reading Fury isn’t so much to see what happens next–he’s narrating from present day, so he lives and the reader hopefully knows how Vietnam turned out–but enjoying Ennis’s excellent storytelling abilities.

He’s in his element.

CREDITS

While All the Planet’s Little Wars Start Joining Hands; writer, Garth Ennis; artist, Goran Parlov; colorist, Lee Loughridge; letterer, Rob Steen; editors, Sebastian Girner and Nick Lowe; publisher, MAX.