Fear Agent #31
Out of Step Part 4 (of 5)
Written by Rick Remender
Pencils by Mike Hawthorne, Tony Moore
Finishes by John Lucas
Colors by Lee Loughridge
Letters by Rus Wooten
Cover by Tony Moore
Dark Horse Comics
Released October 5th, 2011
Price: $3.50

Fear Agent has always been a series that I think would appeal to a lot of Geeks of Doom readers who maybe don’t read comics. It doesn’t deal with any of the standard superhero tropes of other comics, instead focusing on sci-fi action with smart writing and excellent art. Fear Agent has been chugging along for a few years, and is coming to an end next issue (at least for a while), so it is amazing to see that Fear Agent #31, part four of the Out of Step mini-series, is the best issue of the series so far.

Fear Agent is the story of Heath Huston, one of the last members of the human race, who have been largely wiped out after an alien invasion. Through the course of the series, Heath has found out what led to the destruction of mankind and has tried to stop it, only to be defeated at every turn thanks to damn dirty apes, I mean damn dirty time travel. And brains in jars. Now, Heath is an old man looking for one last chance to set things right, and it looks like he may succeed.

Now, that’s just a simple summation of the plot of this issue, but Fear Agent has always been so much more than just its plot, and that is particularly shown in this issue. Writer Rick Remender explains so much about Heath as a character that I had to set the book down for a minute. There are moments in this issue that will move anyone to tears, and what made it most surprising to me was how late in the series it was coming, but I guess Remender needs to do it now or never. There are so many beautiful moments, but Remender does not forget to pack the issue with action. That is one of the things that I am finding impressive about all of Remender’s books. If you look at his work on Venom or Uncanny X-Force for Marvel, all of Remender’s work finds a perfect mix between exhilarating action and heart breaking emotional moments. I don’t know what it was about this issue that threw that into stark relief, but it was this one that impressed me.

Tony Moore was the original artist on this series, and he returns to handle part of the art on this issue. He is joined by Mike Hawthorne, who came onto the series with this arc. Moore handles the more serious sections of the series, with Hawthorne handling the more sci-fi/action elements of the story, and that makes for a perfect mix. Hawthorne has a style that is similar to Moore’s so he has never felt out of place on the series, and is able to handle all the crazier elements of the story. As for Moore, well, Tony Moore is a fantastic artist, and puts so much into the characters emotions as well as any other element of the art. He is the perfect artist for this series.

I can recommend this particular issue as a good jumping on point, but if you have been reading Fear Agent all along, you are really going to enjoy this issue. If you’ve never read the series before, I highly recommend going out and finding the Re-Ignition trade paperback. This issue gets a 5 out of five from me. I will be sad to see the series end, but happy for the time I have spent with it.