Customer Reviews

Fury: Peacemaker

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A couple years back, not long after Garth Ennis began his revamp of the Punisher, he and artist Darick Robertson took Marvel's mature MAX label to new limits with the Fury mini-series. A spectacularly bloody and vulgar action epic, Fury was a smashingly great series that showed just what Ennis and Marvel's MAX line were capable of. Once again, Ennis takes on Marvel's grizzled, cigar chomping war hero with Fury: Peacemaker. Robertson is back as well providing the pencils, with the MAX imprint long gone to boot. That aside, Ennis manages to tell a compelling yarn that finds a pre-eye patch Fury in the middle of World War II. After becoming the lone survivor of his brigade, Fury embarks on a secret, revenge fueled mission. There's some twists and surprises (along with a few nods to the future events in the aforementioned Fury series), and Robertson and Jimmy Palmiotti provide solid artwork as usual, but the lack of the MAX label does limit Ennis' creative freedom. Despite that, he still manages to provide a great war yarn (something else Ennis has always been great at telling) featuring one of Marvel's oldest icons. All in all, whether you're a fan of Ennis or Nick Fury, Peacemaker is definitely worth checking out.

Fury: Peacemaker provides the reader a slice of Nick Fury's history that is little explored in modern Marvel Continuity- Nick's WWII experiences. The first part of the story finds him a green Sergeant who almost meets his death in the desert and follows his evolution to the eye-patched Howling Commando/future leader of Shield he becomes. This evolution is fuelled by an interesting mix of characters, circumstances, general weirdness. Of course, the author, Garth Ennis is one of my favorite authors of all time and he is best known for his odd characters and sharp witted war stories. The artist Derrick Robertson delivers solid, if not extrodinary art, well suited to the overall mood of the book. Yet, all this being said, I left the book with a few reservations.

First, Garth Ennis is a genius, but he works best when he can write whatever he pleases, speckling his work with profanity, sexual situations, and occasional blasphemy. Fury: Peacemaker was created under the Marvel Knights banner, and is definitely PG-13 at worst. Much of Ennis's usual edgeiness is lost in this translation. It's the same "uhhh" I felt watching the Punisher movie after reading the Ennis comics the movie was loosely based off. Secondly, the story does provide a bit of backstory as to how Nick started being the bad tempered, cigar smoking super assassin that would lead Shield, but the whole story line here just had me a little cold. I don't know why, honestly. Maybe it was the lack of the Howling Commandos, or the lack of Shield. Maybe it was just that the story seemed a little trite and a lot less inspired than other of Garth's work.

I think in some ways I am much more critical of Peacemaker because I am such a fan of Ennis. For someone who isn't expecting something edgy and inspired, or someone who just wants a solid, not-to-naughty WWII comic, Peacemaker would certainly provide pleasing results. But if you're a Garth fan and you're expecting something in the vein of Preacher get Fury by Ennis and Robertson Fury TPB ("Max Comics"--Cover) insteadwhich is very hardcore and lots of R rated fun!

This is the origin story of Nick Fury, set in WW2 when he was fighting a one man war against the Nazis while America remained safely out of it. He nearly dies fighting a bright Nazi General in Africa but is saved by British forces and enlisted in helping them fight the Nazis in Europe by assassinating the same Nazi General. In the commando mission when they infiltrate the General's castle retreat they find that he is in Berlin and his second in command reveals the General's shocking plan - to assassinate Hitler!

Garth Ennis was a great choice to write this book. He's well versed in writing "superheroes" who aren't "super" but killing machines nevertheless such as the Punisher, as well as having written numerous "War Stories" volumes. This book is similar to those stories as it's a bombastic WW2 thriller with plenty of gun fights and dead Nazis but also very revealing of Nick Fury's character.

Most of the book is Fury and his team fending off Nazis while holed up in a German mansion, debating whether to hang around or leave, depending on whether the second in command was telling the truth about the General. This balance is kept up brilliantly by Ennis, building up the tension superbly. There's insight into his character where he wishes the war would continue forever and explains a lot of his actions years down the line when SHIELD is created. And then there's how he came to only have one eye...

Darick Robertson's artwork is exemplary as always, his fight scenes always have an energy to them that few artists depict well. Ennis writes brilliantly and bloodily as always, writing something that fits into the Marvel Universe but could easily be enjoyed by fans not versed in it. It's a fantastic read and a total shame that it's out of print. Here's hoping Marvel bring it back soon so more can enjoy it.