Books like Fury MAX: My War Gone By Volume 1

Garth Ennis picks up the character of Nick Fury, head of SHIELD, to write about what he writes about best - war. The framing device of the book is Fury sat in a hotel room, three prostitutes in the bed, a bourbon in one hand, a microphone in the other, talking into it with a cigar in his mouth about his battlefield experiences during the Cold War. The first three issues are about his time in 1954 French Indochina in the lead-up to Vietnam, and the second three issues are about his time in 1961 during the Bay of Pigs fiasco, trying to assassinate Castro. Having read it, I can say this is one of the weakest Ennis/war books I’ve read, and I’ve read them all. But then I thought some more about the stories he chose - two losing conflicts - and about what he chose to focus on in the stories. The most memorable part of the first story is about Fury and Hatherly (Fury’s idealistic sharp-shooting compadre) encountering an ex-Nazi now working as mercenary sergeant for the French and Hatherly’s reaction to a free ex-Nazi, so obviously proud of his time in the war. The memorable part of the second story is when Fury kills a fellow soldier after he’s saved from shark-infested water, minus his arms - an asked-for mercy killing, given emotionlessly. I think Ennis wanted to talk about the morals of war in this book and these events illustrated those points the best. The grey areas wars are fought in by the people who do the fighting and those who run them -and the harsh realities people must live with in order to survive. In truth, the book didn’t need to have Nick Fury in it - Ennis has done numerous war books published outside of the Big 2, and this one read like any story from War Stories or Battlefields - all Fury is, is a tough bruiser with a strong head for strategy and a taste for war, but he could’ve been substituted for any archetypal tough guy really. Goran Parlov does a fine job with the art, drawing the action perfectly and capturing the bloodiness of war in all its darkness. The extras at the end of the book show his dedication for historical accuracy as he drew the wrong type of planes in one issue and when Ennis pointed that out to him, he went back and re-drew the pages. Ennis and Parlov are a great pairing and if you enjoyed this book, definitely look for their work together on Ennis’ masterpiece, Punisher MAX. While “My War Gone By” is a thoughtful, smart book that brings to life military disasters from the Cold War, I wasn’t as won over by the book as I was with Ennis’ last Fury book, Fury: Peacemaker. Nor is this book as brilliant as War Stories which I highly recommend. In the end, the stories are somewhat forgettable and feel quite small given the vast canvas of opportunities Ennis had with this character.