Fear Itself #4 – Review

Personal Fear #4 – The Fear of Being Considered a Fraud. This is a pretty ridiculous fear because I personally don’t consider myself a fake, but there’s that lingering fear that someone is going to look at me one day and say “Hey, this guy’s a great, big phony!” Yeah, kind of like in that Family Guy episode. I consider myself pretty good at the things I do, and I try not to talk too much about things I don’t know, but people can be mean and cruel. So I’m a little nervous that a day will come when someone looks at me and tells me I’m full of horse manure… and then I’ll cry. 

Fear Itself 4: Worlds on Fire

Writer: Matt Fraction

Art: Stuart Immonen
Inks: Wade Von Grawbadger
Colors: Laura Martin
Letters: Chris Eliopoulos
Cover Art: Steve McNiven

Plot: The world is in turmoil. The X-Men are defending San Francisco from a rampaging Juggernaut who is possessed by Kuurth. The Hulk, merged with the powers of Nul, is fighting his way north from Central America, and Sin, infused with the might of Skadi, marches on Manhattan. The Serpent and Odin recap the events that have transpired.

Iron Man is meeting with Nick Fury and the Black Widow. They are mourning Bucky and searching for answers to the cause of the destruction spreading over the globe. Thor arrives and sheds some light on the heroes’ dire situation. He informs his allies that they are facing an ancient threat that his father Odin is familiar with and that Odin is prepared to sacrifice the human race to stop. Fury tells Iron Man to get Steve Rogers; the world needs Captain America and the Avengers.

Thor shares his knowledge of the Serpent with his teammates, including a prophecy claiming Thor will fall in a final battle with the villain. Captain America begins strategizing, but he is interrupted by Maria Hill. The Atlantean warlord Attuma, possessed by the power of Nerkkod, the Breaker of Oceans, is murdering a host of Atlantean soldiers. A young boy witnesses the bodies float to the surface of the water and runs away screaming for his father.

Once a frail old man, the Serpent has been turned into a younger and stronger being by the fear. He uses his power to raise his palace. His avatars of fear look skyward as the Serpent claims the world for his own. Captain America, Iron Man and Thor watch on a screen. The Big Three then head out in different directions to save the world.

Thor flies to Antartica to confront the Serpent directly and Captain America parachutes into the burning streets of Manhattan. Iron Man heads to Oklahoma where he calls on Odin and throws himself on his mercy. He sacrifices his dignity, integrity and even his sobriety to gain the attention of the Asgardian All-Father. Odin appears to Tony Stark and tells him he is listening to his pleas.

In New York, Captain America teams up with the rest of the Avengers to take on Skadi and the Nazi war machines. Skadi gets the drop on the heroes as she brings her mighty hammer down on the street with an explosive impact. Thor defeats several of the Serpent’s protectors before the God of Fear shows himself. The Serpent, not interested in battling the Odin-son at the moment, banishes Thor and sends him to the streets of New York. A disgruntled Thor comes to and comes face-to-face with two former allies in Thing and Hulk, now the Serpent’s deadly warriors Nul and Angrir.

*

What to Cheer: Steve Rogers is back in the Captain America uniform and leading the Big Three Avengers. Unfortunately it’s at the expense of one of his fallen brethren, but it’s good to see Steve calling the shots once again from behind the mask. I’m sure Steve will mourn Bucky in his own way, but for the sake of the story I’m glad to see that Steve’s decision to don the iconic suit was not drawn out. As a soldier in a time of war, he knows that it’s his duty to carry on the Captain America legacy and lead his teammates into battle.

Thor has a good role in this story as well. The Asgardian warrior is not only fearless in facing the danger that is his destiny, but he even has some funny moments. His bluntness when leaving the unappreciative citizens of Broxton to their own devices, and his remark that Tony smelled of garbage and rotten fish (Tony had thrown up in his armor in a separate story), were nice. Thor does not have the time for the common courtesies of normal humans, his main focus being stopping the Serpent.

Thor’s brief altercation with the Serpent’s minions was the majority of the action in this issue, but it was a nice display of his power. Thor is quickly becoming a favorite character of mine and I enjoy seeing him swing Mjolnir around and wrecking groups of bad guys. I’m really looking forward to seeing him take on not one, but two, equally large and powerful foes in the upcoming issue.

This issue was nothing more of a recap issue in the middle of the seven part story arc. Fraction does a good job, though, of making sure the story doesn’t lose any steam. He does a great job recapping what has transpired in the earlier issues, and does an even better job of setting up the final three issues. Immonen’s spread with both Odin and the Serpent telling the history of the bad guy were really effective. The heads of the two powerful Asgardians frame several panels which show events taking place around the world involving other characters such as the X-Men, Iron Fist and even the regular humans.

These glimpses of other events illustrate what is happening in the Fear Itself tie-in issues, of which there are several. I’m not following every story that is part of this event, so it’s nice to see a suggestion of what is transpiring in them. Even though I don’t get the full story of the Worthy’s actions without reading the various mini-series, I don’t feel as though I am missing out on too much thanks to this little montage.

*

What to Fear: I thought having Odin and the Serpent recap the story was a great narrative device in the beginning, and recapping the events is pretty necessary halfway through a series of this length. The problem I had was that I felt they recapped it too many times. I was okay with the first recap, but when Steve Rogers asked for a rundown part way through the story, it felt unnecessary and like a rehash.

That exhaustive exposition took some shine off of Fraction’s writing. There were some good highlights and humorous parts to the dialogue, such as the Jaws movie reference, but there were some less stellar lines offered up by Fraction. Most of the flat lines came from the Serpent who has a knack for stating the obvious apparently with lines like “mercy is for the merciful” and “my palace has arisen.”

My personal prejudice against Tony Stark may have prevented me from appreciating his display of humility, but I just didn’t really like his interaction with Odin. It seemed like a good character moment, but I just didn’t see how sacrificing his sobriety and yelling at the skies would be enough to sway Odin into helping man. I also don’t like Stark being the hero to represent mankind and ask for help, but I guess Stark’s arrogance and vices are a good example of how weak man can be.

*

The Big Picture: My predictions for this story went as far as Bucky’s death, so I am going into the last half of this series with big expectations. Hopefully anything can and will happen. Thor spoke of a prophecy, which kind of came out of nowhere, but I don’t believe this story will end with the god’s death as the prophecy claims.

With recent solicitations and preview images, we get an idea of what Tony Stark was begging for and how the heroes will win. It looks like Odin will answer Tony’s plea for help with mystical weapons of his own for some of Marvel’s mightiest heroes. The silhouettes of the heroes look like members of the Avengers so we have a pretty good idea of who will be endowed with Asgardian powers to combat this ever rising threat.

*

Rating: Good, art, story and writing; Meh, character development; Poor, action. 4/5 Frightened Marvelites.

“Remember that one time during the fight when it looked like you might actually win? No? Me neither.” – Marvel vs. Capcom 3
“Did I mention I beat up Firelord once? No, seriously. Firelord.” – Ultimate Alliance 2