Recnetly I’ve made some fairly pointed comments about Image Comics, and I’m not going to apologize. Their new site sucks almost as bad as their last one. I wish that Molly would review it like she did the UK Disney Store (I’m sure it would put my review to shame)… they deserve it.
But let’s set one thing strait: outside of their terrible website, I have nothing against Image. In fact, I would go as far as saying that they are my favorite comic book company. Take Fear Agent for example. I saw a preview on the internet a few months ago, it came out last month and I finally got around to reading it tonight.
If I were a high-budget Hollywood advertisment I would call Fear Agent “A Grade ‘A’, Edge-of-your-seat Thrill Ride, Jam Packed With Thrills and Thrilling Thrill!”. If I were me (and I am) I would call it pure gold (and it is). I was instantly excited about this title when I found out Tony Moore would be one of the illustrators (he’s taking turns with Cory Walker, 5 months on, 5 months off), and I made it to the comic shop just in time to pick myself up some other guy’s copy: they were sold out save for the copy which was being reserved for another customer… but he was late and I’m a regular so I got his copy!
Fear Agent didn’t impress me… ‘impress’ isn’t a strong enough word. It didn’t live up to my expectations either. Rather it blew me away and shattered my expectations replacing them with pure joy. Thanks to the title I was expecting to read an X-Files knock-off. A typical guy-working-for-government scenario. Oh how wrong I was!
The whole concept of this series is summed up perfectly by Rick Remender (author of Fear Agent) in the afterward. It’s a return to 50’s pulp sci-fi… the good stuff. The days of War of the Worlds and This Island Earth. The days when no explanation was necessary and “shocking excitment” would fill a theater. Remender is a genius, and Issue #1 is beautifully illustrated.
Fear Agent follows Heath Huston (nice misspelling of Houston seeing as he’s from Texas) who is an ‘Alien Exterminator’. Think of Huston as Indiana Jones meets Han Solo… addicted to whiskey… and a native of Texas. That’s all I’m going to reveal about the plot… you’ll have to buy the book for the rest, and trust me, if you like action mixed with 50’s movies you will love Fear Agent.
I do have one gripe (don’t I always?)… on page four, first panel, Heath’s narration box says “It’s now a direct violation of the Quintala Convention for any class A, B or C to consciously kill a class D intellect or lower.” Then in the second panel his self narration reads: “The Zlasfons I’m looking for are G class — so I’m in safe legal territory.” This is a mistake, right? The reading in the first panel should be: “…consciously kill a class D or higher… “, correct?
If the afore mentioned mistake is enough to make you shun Fear Agent, then you’re an idiot. Go to your local comic shop, if they don’t have it make them order it. If it’s in stock, purchase it, read it and bask in the warm pulp sci-fi goodness it provides.