The series was published under Marvel's MAX imprint and featured much harder violence and explicit material than was common at the time.

Gargarin proposes they quietly invade a seemingly non political island and run it into an all out war for their own benefit to get that feeling back again.

[4] Writer-editor Stan Lee, a co-creator of Nick Fury, was critical of the extreme violence and gore of this new series: "I don't know why they're doing that.

"[5][6] According to reports, actor George Clooney similarly condemned the books, the macabre contents of which prompted him to drop out of talks regarding portraying Fury in a then upcoming Marvel film.

[7] Gus Lubin of the Business Insider stated that "Fury is a smart and enjoyable comic, which portrays the spy chief as an aging "cold warrior" who on some deep level wants nothing more than to get his hands dirty again.

He also praised his artist Robertson and expressed gratefulness to his editorial team which he felt let him do whatever he wanted with the work.