Pick of the Week

August 20, 2008 – Fear Agent #23

What did the
iFanboy
community think?

134
Pulls
Avg Rating: 4.4
iFanboy Community Pick of the Week Percentage: 2.9%
 
Users who pulled this comic:


Size: pages
Price: 2.99

“What book should I be reading?”

“You should be reading Fear Agent.”

There it is. There are other books out there, and they’re plenty good to be sure, but really, if you’re in the mood for a book that’s just comic book action and thrills and chills, there’s really nothing to top Fear Agent. It is just ridiculous fun, and is as close as I can imagine, a book that is all things to all people. You’ve got Heath Huston, a tough guy from Texas. The world is invaded by aliens and humanity is basically wiped out. Then he cruises the universe feeling bad for himself for various reasons, and spends most of his time trying to pickle himself with as much liquor as he can. There has been suspense, horror, war, science, time traveling, sex, revenge, humor, hubris, regret, and lots of space blasters. The book doesn’t take itself seriously, but has been known, from time to time, to turn on you and make you care about these mostly ridiculous characters.

In this issue, Heath finds himself on a strange world (which is the start of most of the stories) and he’s been captured, and is being guarded by superhuman clones of his murderous ex-girlfriend. Even the explanations are ridiculous, as I will further illustrate. He has become hooked on cleroin, which is the most addictive drug in the universe. Heath escapes, is shot in the process, and finds himself rescued by the simple townsfolk of Heaven, and suddenly, the book is a western. There are, as always, more twists, surprises, and interesting bits of the story, but that’s the gist.

One of my favorite things about this book is that I believe Rick Remender is playing a game with Heath to see just how badly the main character can be abused and violated. It’s a very gruesome version of Wile E. Coyote in a way, and when you start noticing it, it’s hilarious. In this issue, Heath escapes the town, on horseback, bare-ass naked. He’s shot on his way out of town, and ends up bring dragged bleeding, dying, and still naked as a mole rat though a harsh alien desert, only to find himself in the care of puritanical teetotalers, with nary an alcoholic drink in town. If you’ve been reading the book, you’ll know that, to Heath, this is a fate worse than being shot, or even death. It seems to be Remender’s goal to put Heath through as much hell as he can sadistically dream up, but never let him just die. The fact is, that’s what all good writers should do to characters you care about, but Remender is just being upfront about it, and that lack of subtlety is actually refreshing, and I just love the shameless nature of Heath’s episodic torture.

Any time spent talking to me about artists will invariably include a mention of Tony Moore, a guy who I’ve literally been following since the beginning of his career. In fact, I’ve often said that I won’t buy books just because of the artist, but I will check out anything Moore hitches to his wagon. For whatever reason, his sensibilities cause him to pick projects that I just love, from Battle Pope to The Walking Dead to The Exterminators to Fear Agent. Where Remender puts words on the page to illustrate the horrors Heath must endure, Moore takes those words, and makes magic from them, elevating the work even higher. I don’t know how, but I truly believe I can sense Moore’s enthusiasm in his artwork on this book. Heath’s exasperated face and the horrific things that happen to him are not the renderings of a man bored with his work, but rather the art of a man who is truly committed to producing great comic book work. I can’t tell you how to spot that, but when I read these issues, it’s right there, plain as day. Because he doesn’t do photorealistic images, you can really immerse yourself in the surrealism of the worlds Heath travels through, and the cartoonish nature of Heath’s predicament is enhanced by the art. Take a look at the bottom (heh) panel of page one, to see Heath taking off naked, Benny Hill style. It’s just silly enough that it’s fun, but not so much so that it feels childish.

I also want to mention the phenomenal colors of Lee Loughridge in this issue. As you flip through it, you’ll see a different color palate for every scene in the book. The opening scene, where Heath is escaping is a sickly green, the flashback is a washed out tan/brown, the alien desert reminds me of pirate scenes from Watchmen, and the town of Heaven is the pure color of the American plains. It’s just fantastic, and helps the storytelling immensely.

Finally, after all is said and done, the “next issue” page is hilarious, as we see Heath standing over a giant fly, dressed in cowboy gear, covered in green goo, with a knife stuck in the fly’s face. How could you not want to buy the next issue? Then, as if it wasn’t all enough, there’s a backup story by Rick Spears about one of Heath’s random adventures through the cosmos. This book takes you right back to the greatest things about classic comics, but does it with a modern sensibility. I’d be hard pressed to name a better ongoing title for pure fun value for your comic book dollar.

Josh Flanagan
That cover says it all.
josh@ifanboy.com

 

Comments

  1. NICE pick Josh. I just picked up this series and I am loving it. Thanks for reccommending it to me through your podcasts!!

  2. I really like Fear Agent, but I’m not sure how much more of it I can take. I am reading the trades slowly, but… I care about Heath (and planet Earth, for that matter) and I am having a hard time watching him suffer. It actually really bothers me.

  3. At one point, insects impregnated his body!  It’s epic!

  4. Nice pick.  I read this in trades, so I can’t comment on the issue (nor did I read the review…for fear of spoilers).  It never hurts to give the F.E.A.R. Agent some love.

    So far, my POW is being fought by Incredible Hercules and Scapled.  Both rocked my body, soul, and mind.

  5. you pick this quite a bit, right Josh?  I’m gonna have to pick up the trades one of these days and catch up, I love Tony Moore.  Mine in Uncanny 501

  6. Haven’t finished my stack yet but Legion of 3 Worlds is on top so far.

  7. New Ways to Die pt 1 would of been my pick but I read Fear Agent, Cap, and Scalped in trades.

  8. So is Heath like Kenny from South Park? No matter how many times he thinks he’s safe, he just gets tortured in weird way? This title has always intrigued me so I should probably pick up the trades. Your right though Josh, looking at the cover it does have that Watchmen vibe to it in terms of the colors.

    My pick was Captain America, but if I read this series I could see myself picking this up too. (Shockingly Scalped isnt the POTW? 2 issues in a row, is that a record?)

  9. This pick shows and obvious Dark Horse bias.

  10. @horatio: Dude, the last offical Dark Horse POTW was June 6th for a Buffy issue. If it’s been over 2 months since a Dark Horse pick….I dont call that bias.

    If anything they’re Marvel Bias since 3 of the last 5 POTW’s were Marvel. But that’s fine by me cause they were all soild issues….Well maybe not Uncanny but you get the picture. This was a good pick, that’s the bottom line.

  11. @TheNextChampion – That sound you just heard was the irony in horatio’s post flying over your head.

  12. I’ve never picked Fear Agent before.  Ron did once.

  13. Argh.  So angry my store was out of this.  While I’d have to go with Legion this week…I can’t really argue against this because I didn’t read it.  But as a loyal (or supposedly loyal) Fear Agent fan…I’m sure this issue was just as good as the rest.  Thought it might be this or Scalped.  Not sure why everyone is so angry at your picks lately.  Isn’t the point to pick your favorite book of the week….

  14. @conor: I guess the jokes on my *hears drumroll and is pull away by a long hook*

  15. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    @Josh – I’m going to count this as retribution for the Remender/Frazetta slight of ’08.  

    Welcome back to our friendship.  I missed you.   

  16. Frak. Fine. You convinced me… Can I pick this up alone? I know that all arcs stand alone, but is this accessible if I choose to go pick this up tomorrow?

  17. I didn’t get through all the comics I bought yet but I’m pretty sure ‘Captain America’ is going to be the pick based on the fact that page one involves Bucky and Sam playing cards and bitching at each other in a one-star motel room. 

  18. @GungaDin… I’m with you. I’m going back to the comic shop and picking this up. 

    Want me to get an issue for you?

    Damn you, Josh for making me spend more money. Thank you Josh, for introducing me to a LOT of really great comics over the past year. I think you’re about to introduce me to another one.

  19. I picked 1985 as my POTW because I still think it should have been the big summer crossover event.

  20. Oddly, if I picked right now based on what I’ve read… my POW would probably be Uncanny X-men. I think because it surprised me by being a very entertaining mix of Claremont and Morrison. I wouldn’t have expected that going in. Legion of 3 Worlds was probably in second place… or maybe third after Captain America, which was fantastic.

  21. I haven’t been wowed by Fear Agent since The Last Goodbye. But this review has me salivating for the trade of I Against I.

    Also, what a cover! Western/Sci-Fi captured beautifuly! 

  22. Darn, another book on the ‘to read’ list.

    Glad you guys are okay, after the previous picks of X-Men, Wolverine, Final Crisis and
    Secret Invasion I was beginning to believe you guys were replaced with Skrulls.  I’m just glad I was wrong.

  23. My tiny ass comic book shop will never in a million years carry this book, so I obviously wasn’t able to read it.  I am glad you all enjoyed it.

    My pick (based on my meager stack) was Captain America.  It was a solid issue.   To anyone who is interested, but hasn’t picked it up yet you should read TheNextChampion’s review.  It is quite good.

  24. Great book…this is comics done right. Reminds us that a comic doesn’t have to be 20 pages of two talking heads.

  25. @stuclach Not carrying it is one thing, but if they won’t order it for you, you need to find a different shop, even if that means switching to online ordering.

  26. @cormano – It is really more a problem with Diamond than the shop.  They have minimum order sizes and he simply cannot afford to order the minimum if I am the only one who is going to buy it.  That is the problem with small town comic shops.  I don’t think those of you who go to larger shops with large customer bases have seen how damaging Diamond’s monopoly can be.  The small town shops would go out of business if they tried to carry much variety.

    The next nearest shop is an hour away.

  27. The shop I go to is pretty small as well. Dont get me wrong, the guy who runs it tries to get as much stuff as he can…..he got the Exterminators for the longest time….But I dont think he carries it either. Oh well looks like I’ll have to order this on amazon if I need to catch up with it.

    @stuclach: *puts a twenty in his pocket* Keep up the good work 🙂 lol

  28. Blast! Double blast! My store was out of FEAR Agent but I was okay with that, figuring I would just get it later or at another store sometime. the guy in line in front of me was chatting with the shopkeep and pulling out books from his pull stack he didn’t want. Their actual conversation was about how Good FEAR Agent is, but it seemed to me that this other customer put Fear Agent in his "Don’t want" pile. I was on the verge of saying, "Wait…is that your ‘Don’t want’ pile? If so, I’ll take that copy of FEAR Agent." But timidity got the best of me, dagnabit! I actually paid before this guy, as he continued to talk to the shopkeep, all the while thinking, "Man, just claim that issue!" But I didn’t. Now I hear it was the subjective book of the week! Why do all the bad things happen to me!

  29. My effing LCS didn’t have this for me even thought I specifically remember adding it to my pull list, AND they don’t order any for the shelves. This isn’t the first time that a book I’ve ordered hasn’t shown up, and now I plan on conducting my weekly shopping elsewhere. I’ve had enough! There’s another shop across town that has a MUCH better selection, and from now on I’ll be going there every week. There are several other reasons why I’m leaving my current LCS, but I won’t go into details…suffice to say, I’ve tried this place out for nearly 2 years, have repeatedly had problems with their service and selection, and I’ve finally decided to go elsewhere.

  30. @Paradiddle- I would suggest maybe an online shipping service to get your indie comics.  I’m thinking of trying it because it can be cheaper.

  31. I need to go to the doctor because the best book I read this week was Guardians of the Galaxy.

  32. So… I read this (finally, and the one before it cuz this was part two) and this was good… But I gotta give it up for Ghost Rider, because it was awesome…

  33. People who read this book in trades only are jackasses.

  34. @mitchster – There are likely more diplomatic ways to get that point across.

  35. @mitchster– I don’t read this book in floppies or trades.  What does that make me?  Superjackasshole?

  36. @michster, josh, sizzle: I havent read this series at all…..so does that make me a god of the jackass? 🙂

    Sorry I havent read this, but it never hit my radar really. But I’d love to read it in trades…but I have a big feeling this is gonna be canceled waay before I can find the trades and issues.

  37. This book’s not going to be canceled.  It sells find in trade, and Dark Horse is behind it.  I can’t imagine this won’t be made into a movie sometime soon.  That’s a lame reason to not read a book.  There are 4 trades out already, and they’re awesome.  You deny only yourself.

  38. @josh: I’m not trying to make excuses, I cant find any of this series in trades or issues. Both my LCS, Borders, and Barnes+Noble doesnt carry any of this….So it’s hard to read this series when you cant find it. Which could be the problem with this whole ‘new readers’ problem with being having lately…

    I’ll try and order the first trade and read it….Dont need to get defensive about it….Your the one who said in the mini ‘it’s not getting enough pulls to begin with’.

  39. @NextChampion- Amazon has it in stock, and I just ordered it.

  40. @Kory: Yeah and it’s pretty cheap too, guess this will be my first ever purchase from Amazon…..

    Not like we’re advertising for it or anything. 🙂

  41. I know Josh reads Scalped & if he enjoyed this issue of Fear Agent more? Wow, I really need to catch up with this book. I have had the first trade sitting next to my bed for about a month & havent read it yet.

    As for my POW, I havent read all my books yet, I’ve had a busy few days (remember the drunken black out panels in Criminal a few issues back? That kinda "busy") but I don’t think anything will beat Scalped for me, it was AWESOME.

     

  42. My wife says you are not a superjackasshole, just an asshat. (I kid) But if your LCS doesn’t have this book, tell them to order it, and if they won’t find a new LCS.  It is ok to read this book in trade, but creator owned books like Fear Agent need monthly support.  Rick Remender will tell you this straight up. I just hope everyone will go out and get this book in some form Trades, Issues… hopefully some day the giant oversized hardcover.

    So sorry for Jackass thing…. but read FEAR AGENT!

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