Wednesday, October 10, 2012

[BOOK REVIEW] Fear Agent Volume 2: My War by Rick Remender




Title:  Fear Agent Volume 2: My War

Author:  Rick Remender

Artist: Jerome Opena


Genre: Action / Adventure / Sci-Fi / Horror


Year Published: 2007


Year Read: 2012


Series: Fear Agent #2


Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Strong Language and Gory Violence)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 
 

  
Brief Introduction:


After reading the first volume of Rick Remender’s memorable “Fear Agent” series, “Fear Agent Volume One: Re-Ignition,”  I was getting more interested in seeing more adventures from Heath Huston, the last Fear Agent of his kind and I will definitely admit that “Fear Agent Volume Two: My War” was much better written then the first volume!

What is the story?

After the events of the first volume where Heath Huston and his new friend Mara Esperanza time travel to the past to stop the Tetaldian Race from overtaking the world, Heath is injured extremely badly and it seemed like he was going to die until the “Jellybrains” aliens (aliens who look like giant brains in a huge container) gave him a new body.  Afterwards, Heath leads the alien race to battle only to see Mara killed before his very eyes and him taking a time jump before he could save her!  Unfortunately, in the present, Heath then realizes that the Dressite Empire is closer to Earth and he must do everything in his power to stop them while realizing some dark surprises awaiting him!

What I loved about this comic:

Rick Remender’s writing:   After reading the first volume of “Fear Agent,” I was actually intrigued to see what would happen to the characters next, especially after the heart-thumping conclusion of the first volume.  Now after finally reading the second volume, I was practically on the edge of my seat trying to see if Heath and Mara succeed in their mission to defeat the Tetaldian Race to save Earth!  Rick Remender’s writing is as usual hilarious and exciting at the same time as there are many action scenes of Heath defeating various aliens to accomplish his goal.  I also loved the way that Rick Remender developed the characters in this book, especially Heath Huston’s character as we finally get an insight about his life before the alien invasion and his relationship with his former wife, Charlotte.

Jerome Opena’s artwork:  When I started reading this volume, I was actually surprised that there is a different artist in this volume from the last volume as the first volume had Tony Moore as the artist.  But then again, when you read comic books for so long, you will notice that artists change in many storylines.  Jerome Opena’s artwork is extremely well done in this volume as landscapes of the alien worlds are done in vivid detail and I loved the way that the alien machinery is illustrated as they look truly advanced.  I also liked Heath’s Fear Agent suit as it is orange with blue stripes which makes Heath look so distinguished from any other hero uniform.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this book:

I was torn between giving this volume a four star rating or a four and a half star rating since I think that this volume was better written than the first volume since this volume actually does explain a bit about Heath’s back story before he became a Fear Agent.  But, due to the confusing plot lines in this volume, I had to settle for a four star rating on this volume.  One of the problems I have with time travel stories is that sometimes it is never mentioned about when one time period has ended and another time period has begun.  So, I have often gotten confused with the storyline because of the constant time travel that Heath and Mara had to do throughout this volume.  Also, the beginning of the volume was a bit difficult to get through because 1) it was a bit too wordy, so it took a long time to get to the full story of this volume and 2) there was so much going on such as Heath trying to explain to the “Jellybrain” aliens about why he came from the future and the battle with the Tetaldian Race that I found myself getting confused about what was happening at that moment.  For anyone who does not like strong violence or strong language in a graphic novel, this volume has strong language such as uttering the “s” word several times and also, the violence is much gorier in this volume as there are images of being cut open.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, even though there were many confusing moments in this volume, “Fear Agent Volume Two: My War” is a great volume to read more about the “Fear Agent” series and I cannot wait to read the third volume of this great series by Rick Remender!








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