Customer Reviews

Fire

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the seminal work by Brian Michael Bendis. Fire is an espionage/CIA thriller reminiscent of "Three Days of the Condor". Here Bendis tells the story of a young college student recruited into a dark corridor of the CIA and onward through his first several missions. Bendis uses flashbacks to pace the story, but it would have been just as effective told linearly.

The art is, well, just ok. It appears that Bendis assembled all of the elements via photo reference and traced them onto art board using an overhead projector, then embellished with Photoshop. That is just a guess, but I doubt that I'm far off. It gets the job done, but can be distracting at times. One of the characters is actually Candice Bergen (Murphy Brown), I know this because she is credited at the end of the story. Perhaps Candice is a family friend, because the role is less than flattering and I doubt she was used without permission.

While I may sound critical I am stunned that this was the work of a first-time writer. Bendis tells a simple story with a lot of subtext (loneliness, need for acceptance, government conspiracy). The story is obvious, but not terribly predictable. Anyone wondering if they should/could write a first short story or graphic novel should measure themselves against this work.

OK, the title of my review basically says it all. I've never read any Bendis book or comic that didn't entertain me enormously. "FIRE" may be Bendis' 1st work but you'd never know. It's filled with all the great dialogue and "speak like people speak" style of writing that Bendis is associated with. I've read in other reviews, people not being all that crazy about his artwork in this book, but if you're a fan of ALIAS from Marvel comics, the style is very similar to that books artist, Michael Gaydos. The only negative to speak of is the usual crappy editing and lack of spell checking that seems to go along with all of Bendis' independent works. I read somewhere that his wife is his "editor". He might want to start hiring out of the family:) I wouldn't call "FIRE" Bendis' greatest work (try ALIAS or his current run on DAREDEVIL) but it is definitely worth picking up if you are a fan of his.

I liked this graphic novel. The artwork was good, the story was decent, but based on the reviews I was expecting something more compelling with a more plausible story line. I found the story predictable, a bit dull, and completely implausible. That being said the writing was solid and the author is talented it was just not my cup of tea.

This story (as brought out in other reviews) is about a college student enlisted as a government agent...who is then double-crossed by his lover, working for the same people as he.

While this story has been done many time before, it was interesting for a first and last time read. The story doesn't really have a middle that goes into depth, we just learn that the main character dislikes his life as a spy, and suddenly he is marked for death; there is no drama, no mystery of who is going to do him in. Moreover, we don't really see the main character change. Sure, he thought he was going to be James Bond, but he 'wants out' since he feels the job is boring; and he only sees 'action' when it is clear he doesn't want to live the life of espionage.

I am a fan of 'Powers' and 'Torso' by the same author, Brian Michael Bendis. Unfortunately, this story needed a bit more to it.

To begin with this is not my first Graphic novel i read but i wish it was. Bendis is now my favorite writer and artist now. Fire looks like no other Graphic novel i read before. Its about a collage kid who gets beat up in a alley one night but instead of taking it he fights back. He goes back to his dorm thinking nothing of it and then a lady comes to his dorm, a lady he has seen before. She tells him shes part of the CIA and that they would love to recruit him. She tells him that mugging was just a test and he passed it. He joins and this is where Fire begins. You get to see what its like to be a spy and kill for your country but you get the feeling its like the US saying you can kill but we can kill you or Blackmail you for killing, like its okay but once were done with you its not okay. It has a whole bunch of twist and its not too long. Overall its a Graphic Novel that any bond fan or a fan of Graphic novels needs to have in there collection.