You don't find many spacemen like Fear Agent's Heath Huston. Hard-drinking, hard-fighting men who live in piles of their own filth just don't seem to fit in with what people think of when they think of science fiction. More likely than not, the words "sci-fi hero" will cause people to picture more polished types like Luke Skywalker, Captain Kirk, or even Flash Gordon. But Heath Huston isn't your average spaceman. He's something different, something special. Filled with regret, self-loathing, and booze, Heath serves as a better role model than Skywalker, Kirk, and Gordon combined--because he's more real than any of those guys.
Huston is a slob. A down-on-his-luck bum who can't catch a break no matter how hard he tries. Despite how bad things get, Heath always prevails by sheer power of will. And unlike the Force, The Starship Enterprise, or a ray gun, willpower is something that everyone has access to. Like Heath, we have a will of our own to get us through the day. We know that no matter how filthy our surroundings are, no matter how hung over we are when we come into work in the morning, no matter how bad things get--we know that when the lizard men come, we will be able to dispatch them with a steel-toed boot to their scaly heads, because like Heath, we have the WILL to make it happen.
It's Heath's realism that has drawn thousands of readers to Fear Agent month after month. Rick Remender's skilled storytelling, along with the exquisite art of Tony Moore and Jerome Opeña, have taken what could have easily become yet another sci-fi pastiche and turned it into something new and unique. Rick, Tony, and Jerome have taken their love of classic comic-book science fiction and spun it in a way that makes it relevant and entertaining for today's readers. Recently, EC and Mad Magazine legend Jack Davis got a chance to look at Fear Agent, and he told the guys, "The book is just beautiful. God bless him, I wish Harvey Kurtzman was around to see it." High praise indeed. (By the way, Jack Davis and fan-favorite Frank Cho will be providing alternate covers for Fear Agent: The Last Goodbye #1. Ask your retailer for details!)
If you're not already reading Fear Agent, do yourself a favor and pick up the first issue of The Last Goodbye when it hits the shelves in June (ASK YOUR RETAILER TO RESERVE YOUR COPY TODAY!) And if you can't wait three months, check out the Fear Agent preview at darkhorse.com, and make sure to pick up the two Fear Agent collections which go on sale May 9th and May 23rd respectively.
When the lizard men attack, you'll be glad you did.
--Dave Land