Reviewed by Scott J Grunewald.
Written & Illustrated by Brian Michael Bendis
Reprinted in 1999 by Image Comics
Super spies, double-crossing secret agents, and Candice Bergen, oh my.
Ben Furst is a college student with no family, and no real friends to speak of. He's nobody really; one of those hapless people who just go through life living, simply because it's all they have to do. Enter a mysterious woman named D.D., who tells Ben that he can have a better life, an exciting life, and all he has to do is say yes. Enter Linda Dagger, the cold, methodical woman who turns Ben into a spy. Enter Ben again, but this time, he's deadly, crafty, and trained to kill for his country.
This is FIRE, an original graphic novel by Brian Michael Bendis. FIRE is now available in a new reworked trade paperback by Image Comics, which is akin to the Special Edition Star Wars Movies released a few years back. It contains reworked art, new dialogue, extra fancy paper (due to a printing error, FIRE was printed on DC Archive quality paper) and new lettering. Bendis even went so far as to change Ben's hair cut for the new edition.
Despite all the changes, I can't help but feel cheated by this. For me, one of the best parts of getting collections and trades is seeing where your favorite writers and artists came from, and you can hardly do that with a reworked book. None of this has stopped me from enjoying FIRE. It is well written, well paced, and often times delightfully unpredictable. Bendis' trademark dialogue shines through from beginning to end. Few people know how to write real dialogue within the confines of comics, and Bendis is one of those few.
A touch of realism is brought to the book by Bendis' use of models for his characters. Through their facial expressions and body language, even at this early stage of his art career, Bendis has managed to capture the personality of his creations by basing them on real people. It's so effective at times that I found myself wondering why it is that more artists don't use photo references (and I have to admit, seeing Candace Bergen (Murphy Brown!) as the devious Linda Dagger was quite a hoot).
FIRE isn't perfect. Bendis' art is inconsistent in places, and with his new touches, it almost seems over-produced. Lots of computer effects and fancy lettering take away from the gritty look that we should have seen, or I at least felt that I should have been seeing. Maybe it was there originally, but I've been unable to find back issues to compare the trade with. The "In Media Res." style of storytelling that FIRE employs is also something that I've never been fond of, but luckily, it's overshadowed by a creative and original story. Overall I really enjoyed FIRE, it was a fun and quick read. I recommend FIRE, but with reservations. This is pretty much for Bendis fans only, if you have never read anything by him, I'd suggest you start with JINX or GOLDFISH first to see if his writing style if for you.
Recommended for Bendis fans.
Trade paperback available from Image Comics.
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