Fire

Jinxworld

by Brian Michael Bendis

(W/A) Brian Michael Bendis
YOUR GOVERNMENT DOES NOT WANT YOU TO READ THIS BOOK! Loosely based on events in the American intelligence community during the Reagan administration, FIRE tells the unique and powerful story of a young man's virgin journey through the complex world of international intelligence. This is a complete globe spanning thriller for fans of "Bond," pulp spy novels, and true world crime stories. This definitive presentation of Eisner Award-winner Brian Michael Bendis' first cinematic noir comic features re-mastered art, lettering, and a newly revised script. The design and format will match the Bendis line of definitive collections ( Powers, Jinx, Torso, Goldfish ) From the writer of Powers , Ultimate Spider-Man , and Daredevil .
    SC, 7x10, 112pg, b&w

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Thriller, Espionage, Fiction, Crime, Graphic Novels Comics

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

A comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim (including five Eisner Awards) and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics. For over eight years Bendis’s books have consistently sat in the top five best sellers on the nationwide comic and graphic novel sales charts.

Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.

Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.

Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.

Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.

Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.

He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book that put Bendis on the map originally printed under Caliber, then re-mastered for Image Comics. Loosely based on the CIA under Reagan; an average Joe, political science student, is recruited to the CIA; but at the back of his mind he has doubts about the CIA's real intentions for him, and as his missions pan out he gets steadily more paranoid. A solid read with great dialogue as ever by Bendis. 6 out of 12. Three Star read.

2011 read

[Sam Quixote · Rating 1 out of 5]

Who knew Bendis was an artist as well as a writer? Bendis’ first comic, Fire, is both written and drawn by him and the black and white artwork actually isn’t bad. It’s not great by any stretch either but I’m surprised that he started out drawing comics as I’ve only known him as a hugely popular Marvel comics writer.

Fire is rightfully little known because it’s really bad. An ordinary guy is recruited by the CIA on some hare-brained scheme to turn random civilians into James Bond superspies. The guy spends a couple of years being trained up, decides the spy life isn’t for him, escapes execution by the agency or something, yadda yadda yadda, the end. It isn’t worth detailing the feeble plot because, as anyone who’s read Bendis before knows, plot isn’t the guy’s strong suit. It’s interesting to see that right from the start you can see the kind of writer he’ll become – strong on dialogue and character interaction, utterly incapable of producing a paced story or coherent plot.

Bendis’ characters are in love with nattering to each other but rarely say anything worth reading. The main character is the dullest man alive and is the reason why ordinary people are ordinary and James Bond is Bond, plus the whole transformation thing is totally unconvincing. Most of the time I had no idea what was going on with the guy going from Japan to France to England on “covert ops” for no real reason. There is no story so the character’s movements are totally arbitrary and uninvolving. Fire is definitely the worst spy thriller I’ve ever read.

Art-wise, Bendis is capable but no great shakes. Some scenes look like he’s emulating Frank Miller’s Sin City books though doesn’t successfully pull off the light and shadow effect. Other times it just looks like the most forgettable comic book art with crazy panel arrangements for action scenes that confuse rather than excite. Often he’ll simply draw a silhouette and slap on a massive block of page-length text so it’s like you’re reading an illustrated novel, showing where Bendis’ strengths lie.

Bendis is a decent writer though that is something he becomes after a few years in the comics biz – here, with his first comic? He’s not very good at all. You can see the seeds of a good writer within but very little actual good writing, and it’s a good thing he left the art up to more talented artists. Fire is definitely one of Bendis’ most forgettable books and a complete mess of a spy story.

[It's just Deano · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fire by Brian Michael Bendis is a seemingly slow paced and low key take on Regan era spy recruitment. The book is from the Jinxwolrd Inc collection - a series of crime/spy comics and graphic novels all written by Bendis.

Having previously enjoyed another Jinxwolrd Inc book, Torso, I was looking forward to seeing what this one would bring. That said, I really didn't feel the same excitement for Fire.

It's quite slow (especially for such a short book), the characters don't really feel deep enough for you to connect with, and just like with Torso it tends to trip over its own stylistic choices.

Visually it's certainly quite unique - the black and white style is most definitely in keeping with the crime/spy genre and looks great, but the odd structure of dialogue boxes quickly becomes frustrating and quite a chore.

The dialogue itself feels wooden and clunky, which can make it often feel a little repetitive (again, especially for such a short book).

Overall, I just didn't feel excited by this. The concept was fine, but the delivery seemed dull and dry. If you're thinking of reading, I'd do yourself a favour - skip this and go straight to some of the other Jinxwolrd Inc books like Torso or Jinx - you'll have a much better time.
______________

My Score: 3/10
My Goodreads: ⭐⭐
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[John Elbe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a life long fan of Bendis going all the way back to the Calibar Comics days of the 90's where the original two issue series of Fire first saw print. Picked up this tpb a long while back but never read it. If you are a fan of Bendis like me, you will enjoy the story told at the end and what real life person inspired it. Otherwise this was serviceable for the most part. Bendis admits as much in his intro from 2001. It works in an old TV movie kind of way. I would recommend Goldfish, Jinx, and Torso for Bendis at his best black & white crime drama.

[RND · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's very dated, and despite it being basically entirely re-lettered, it was still done by Bendis so there are still typos. The art, as I'm sure he will attest, is not great. A lot of shortcuts and too many silhouettes. But it's still moody and noir-ish; it made me miss somewhat the high-contrast indie black-and-whites back in the day. The pacing is really messed up at times, especially when there's these huge chunks of expositional text that just kill momentum. History lessons and I guess what's supposed to pass for a montage... there is a great hook in here if you invest the time, though.

[Ale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una obra interesante, aunque no especialmente buena. Cumple, sobre todo teniendo en cuenta que es una de las primeras obras del autor.

Quizá sea más fácil ser benevolente sabiendo que Bendis también se encarga del dibujo, y no lo hace nada mal. En lo narrativo, se plantean ideas atractivas que nunca terminan de resolverse del todo.

En definitiva, una curiosidad para coleccionistas del autor. Una pieza menor, que queda como algo anecdótico.

[Will Cooper · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very boring and SO MUCH DIALOGUE. I didn't ever care about the main character who just seemed to be a random guy I didn't care about randomly getting picked up by the CIA (which seems to be Bendis's favorite plot?) and randomly becoming a great spy who randomly gets in trouble a bunch. Also bad art. Review over!

[Robert C · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting debut by Bendis, but much like the rest of his work featuring his art, sometimes it gets a bit muddled visually. I'm glad he eventually got other artists to work with and let them and his writing shine.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good early effort by Bendis, although the ending left a lot unfinished.

[Andy Febrico Bintoro · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didnt think this version and first edition have differences.

[Brian Mulhall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad for the brief read that it is! Some of the artwork and character motivations (such as the limeys) are a bit iffy.

[Carey Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a Bendis fan and was curious about his first big project. I don't recommend this if that's not your situation.

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

The more B&W Bendis I read, the less I like.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

A spy tale that ends up in betrayal which forces our hero to make a difficult decision which could alter the course of his life.

[Al Capwned · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brian Michael Bendis' breakthrough is highly influenced by Sin City when it comes to the art and the story is captivating enough despite some plot holes.

[Jack Wilsie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A spy thriller that's so secretive you have no clue what the fuck the point is.

[Kevin Duvall · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was Brian Michael Bendis’s first comic and it’s kinda rough around the edges. The premise requires well above-average suspension of disbelief. The pacing is pretty weird at times. But it’s a fun story and you can see why BMB had the potential that led him to stronger independent and mainstream comics work.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

#ThrowbackThursday - Back in the '90s, I used to write comic book reviews for the website of a now-defunct comic book retailer called Rockem Sockem Comics. (Collect them all!)

From the October 1998 edition with a theme of "Limited Series":

INTRODUCTION

One of the greatest innovations of the last two decades has got to be the limited series. My two favorite comics of all time, for instance, are limited series: WATCHMEN and BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS. Even my favorite independent title, CEREBUS, is a 300-issue limited series. In a field where comics like X-MEN can leave plotlines dangling for fifteen to twenty years, it's wonderful to come across the occasional story with a beginning, middle, and -- this is the best part -- an end!

Of course, not all limited series start out with a limit. A series can become a limited series retroactively if it's canceled before reaching, say, #13. In this column, for example, we have FATHER & SON which only made it to issue #3. And the Marvel Knights group of comics have the potential to become Heroes Reborn-style limited series, what with 1) the one-year contractual commitment of Event Comics, 2) the poor track record for timeliness of artists like Jae Lee, 3) the multitude of distracting movie commitments of star writer Kevin Smith, and 4) Marvel's insatiable desire for new #1s. I hope I'm wrong, but I reserve the right to say, "I told you so."

A FLAME WITH NO HEAT

FIRE #1 (Caliber Comics/Caliber Press)

With A.K.A. GOLDFISH (Caliber Comics) and JINX (Caliber Comics and Image Comics), writer/artist Brian Michael Bendis has established himself as the hot young gun of crime comics. Five years ago that gun misfired with the spy thriller limited series, FIRE. It's a tribute to Bendis' skill as a storyteller that even this clunker has a few redeeming points.

FIRE is the story of Ben Firestern's life as an agent of the CIA. While still a college student, Ben is approached by a beautiful and enigmatic woman named D.D. D.D. uses her charm and intellect to recruit Ben for a special training program run by calculating CIA chief Linda Dagger (who incidentally is drawn to resemble Candice Bergen of TV's "Murphy Brown"). Ben is given an education that would shame the best colleges of the nation, but then is frustrated to find himself relegated to errand boy missions of no significance. Slowly he discovers that these missions are more ominous that he supposes and finds himself in the middle of a vast conspiracy that illustrates the evils of government bureaucracies and the danger posed by intelligence agencies to the citizens of their own countries.

FIRE has all the elements which Bendis would use to make JINX such a wonderful series. FIRE is peppered with smart, believable dialogue that could easily be turned directly into a movie script. The characters are all capable of committing both noble and evil acts, often within seconds of each other, making them believably human. The artwork is dark, edgy, and stylishly laid out -- though a little murky and scratchy at times. Bendis makes interesting use of retouched photographs for background scenery and character portraits.

The problem with FIRE, though, is the pointlessness of the story. The plot is a cheat, and several of the main characters have no readily discernible motivations for their actions. D.D. is so mysterious she becomes absolutely inscrutable, loving and killing apparently at random. Linda Dagger is so emotionally aloof and deeply involved in plots that the story actually cops out in the climax by literally saying her machinations are too complex to explain.

So the reader is left with a character who had an adventure she can never hope to understand. The reader is left with a story that the author tells her doesn't really matter. In other words, if she plays with FIRE, the reader gets burned.

Grade: D+

[Wes · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a kid, I became obsessed with Brian Michael Bendis as a writer. I LOVED his comics, especially his run on Daredevil. Do with that what you will. Anyway, this lead me down a rabbit hole and I tried to get my hands on as much of his work as I possibly could. Hence why I ended up with this particular trade in the 2001. I remembered reading it at the time and loving it, but couldn't remember one lick about it when I found it again in a buried box of comics about 6 months ago.

Not going to lie, I was a little worried because I have been going through a bunch of different items from my youth (movies, books, music, comics) and some of this shit is NOT holding up very well.
Well, I finished it and I have to say . . . . not bad. I had forgotten that Bendis was an artist at one point and was fairly impressed with the art and the page layouts, but understand why he choose the scripting route in the long run. I also understand why this particular comic helped put him on the map and make him and indie darling.

At the end of the day, you just can't please everyone and Bendis certainly has his fair share of haters. Some will point to repetitive dialogue (agree) and lack of plot (disagree) and a whole host of other problems, real or imagined. Chances are that you didn't stumble upon this in the dark with zero knowledge of who Brian Michael Bendis is and as such, if you enjoy any of Bendis' work in some way shape or form, you're probably going to enjoy this.

If, for some reason, this is your FIRST Bendis comic, well, it actually isn't a bad place to start and will give you a pretty good idea about what his writing style is like.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This remake of Bendis' first notable work is interesting and good, but not great. The plot breaks down several times, including the difficult-to-believe resolution, both major parts of it. Also, the main character never really develops a personality that the reader could enjoy interacting with. I suppose that may be why he was recruited, but even so, it hurts the reading a bit.
Early Bendis art wasn't bad, and I can see why he got hired for bigger and better things later, as a writer. I've enjoyed his work the most when it involved big stories that were his own, but this is a much smaller one, and I kept feeling like things were left out, in order to keep the page count down.
Still, it's a bit of comics history, and not a bad story, just not a great one. If you like dark, grim spy stories, you may enjoy it. If you also liked watching reruns of The Prisoner [the original one, of course] to see if you could figure things out, then there are parts of this story that you will enjoy. Just don't hand it to newcomers to the comics field, to entice them to read more. It probably won't work for that.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ben is a college student studying political science and hanging out one night at an art museum trying to write up a critique when he sees a beautiful woman looking at a painting. After an awkward exchange, he walks away. On the way home, a mugger attempts to take his watch until Ben lays him out. A day or two later, he sees the woman from the museum and the mugger in a car together and that gets him wondering what’s going on. That when Museum Girl shows up in his dorm and tells him it’s all been a test and that the CIA wants to recruit him as part of a new class of secret agent. That’s when his life begins its descent into hell.

It’s a pretty decent spy thriller but I feel like it was just too quick. So much more detail could have been given and yet wasn’t. It was a story lacking enough story. But still a solid read from one of the comic industry’s best

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Benjamin is an ordinary college student, a bit of a loner, without family or many friends, until he's recruited by the C.I.A. This book tells the story of what Benjamin discovered and what happened to him, including his warning to the rest of us.

The artwork is black and white, with lots of black, and it's sometimes very stark, as is appropriate for the story-line. But in some ways, it seems to me more like an ordinary story with illustrations than a graphic novel. There are lots of words, both from the narrator and the characters. Only rarely does it feel like the art is advancing the story-line.

[L J Field · Rating 3 out of 5]

FIRE is the story of a young man, late teens to early twenties, who is enlisted in the CIA with the code name "Fire". The longest section of this 101 page tale is devoted to his enlistment and training. When details of his actions as an agent are presented, they don't amount to much. In fact we learn about only couple of such missions. The end matter leaves one feeling that the book was somehow cut short. It ends fairly abruptly without any clues as to the future. The writing is great with the dialogue particularly excellent. The artwork is in black and white and very engaging.

[Gregory Gay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, not bad.

Not amazing either. Bendis is one of the most talented writers in the comic biz. Fire, his first graphic novel, shows some of the potential that Bendis would grow into, but has a number of flaws.

For one, it's hard to have any sympathy for the protagonist, who is a bit of a jackass.

The book is also fairly short, and is over before it has really begun.

It isn't a bad spy tale, but it isn't as good as what Bendis has put out in the intervening years.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started to read this when it first came out, many years ago, but was so blown away by the opening I was always afraid to read the conclusion in case it didn't hold up.

It doesn't.

Twenty years ago, this stood out as a bright, shining example of what comics could be. Today it seems more amateurish. Still, this was the "birth" of an important comics writer and I'm glad to have finally read it through to the end.

[Clay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, believable story. College kid gets recruited by CIA to be a field agent. He thinks it will be like playing James Bond, but turns out to be more like George Smiley. It all had a good Le Carre vibe to it. Could have used a few more less-than-Thunderball missions and longer sense of dissatisfaction and boredom on the part of the protagonist.

Still not thrilled with Bendis's use of all the black ink that hide character faces in order to strike a mood.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally got a chance to read one of Bendis' earliest works. His voice has changed significantly but I see touches of the writer I've enjoyed for years. The story is interesting but it felt forced and needed to be fleshed out more. The art was fine. Overall, a decent 80s spy tale that didn't get enough room to grow.

[Peter Holz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Early Bendis, and it shows. It is still a solid story but lacks the incisive dialogue so characteristic of his later stories, and was a bit heavy and verbose as a result. The story felt a bit like a preliminary version of "Cover". The black and white art was fine, but leant a bit too heavily on the black.

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is first graphic novel that Bendis wrote. It may not be quite as good as Jinx or Goldfish, but it is still a very good book. Excellent dialogue as always, and pretty good artwork that matches the story. The plot does feel a little short and underdeveloped, but still, pretty good.

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's an interesting story buried somewhere in here, but Bendis wasn't able to get it out. What there is comes off as incomplete and disjointed, and I was left with the feeling of "What's the point?".