Comic Info
Comic Name: Foolkiller (MAX Limited Series)
Publisher: Marvel Comics/MAX
Writer: Gregg Hurwitz
Artist: Lan Medina
# of Issues: 5
Release Date: 2008
Foolkiller (MAX Series) #2
Reprints Foolkiller (MAX Series) #1-5 (December 2007-May 2008). Nate McBride is a small time enforcer and collector for a company with a legal face. When he steals $20,000 from his employers, he family pays…and if he doesn’t pay back the $20,000 his sick daughter Janie will die. Nate hears of a man named the Foolkiller who wanders the streets making those pay for their crimes…Nate needs a prayer, and the Foolkiller could be his only hope.
Written by Gregg Hurwitz, Fookiller: Fool’s Paradise is a Marvel Comics anti-hero comic book collection. The volume was released under the adult Marvel Comics imprint MAX. It features art by Lan Medina.
I was weirdly a fan of Foolkiller. I had sought out the character even before the 1990s relaunch of the character and was even interested in this entry…but the MAX stuff can go two ways. It can be adult and smart or it can simply be adult and violent/swear-y. Foolkiller is closer to the second one.
The series is pretty simple. Nate McBride needs help and the edgy and deadly Foolkiller provides that help. The Foolkiller character is less crazy in this volume and more ruthless. The “fool” detection method is less sculpted than the previous Foolkillers and it seems more like Trace simply kills who he wants (and needs) to kill. The word “fool” is dropped a lot, but it doesn’t carry much weight in the story.
Foolkiller (MAX Series) #3
Foolkiller is an unapologetic killer but being crazywas part of his hitch. The original Foolkiller (or more technically Foolkiller II) attracted me simply because he was from Noblesville, Indiana (home state)…and was institutionalized there. The 2000s Foolkiller loses his originality and it hurts the overall product. Plus, it never feels like there is much of a threat to him.
The other problem is that the story is very predictable. As soon as they started talking about the daughter’s condition, you knew how it was going to end…and there weren’t really any twists or turns. It would have been nice if it played out differently.
Foolkiller: Fool’s Paradise is a rather bland read. The character is dumbed down and the plot feels like a Punisher comic without Frank’s self-doubt and melancholy. Foolkiller (since he is technically a secondary character in his own comic) doesn’t get to have much insight or direction beyond his origin issue. It is just a ho-hum ride. Foolkiller: Fool’s Paradise was followed by Foolkiller: White Angels.
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