Fear Itself #2 – Review

by Matt Fraction (writer), Stuart Immonen (pencils), Wade von Grawbadger (inks), Laura Martin (colors), and Chris Eliopoulos (letters)

The Story: The Worthy are chosen and the world breaks into chaos.

The Review:  You know, it bodes well for an event when the second issue builds upon the first and is, in fact, possibly even better.  It’s all too common for series to have a slam-bang first issue, only to follow it up with water-treading and a loss of direction.  That’s not the case here.  In fact, Fraction’s focus is even tighter this time out and what we get is things getting taken up a level.  Events are bigger, the comic gets a little louder, and the tension gets higher.  Shit hits the fan this month more than the last, while promising even more in the issues to come.  In other words, it’s great pacing all around.

Also, Fraction takes what could be a boring issue structure (focusing on each character as he/she picks up a hammer and is transformed) and uses it to his advantage; jumping from Worthy to Worthy allows Fraction to emphasize the global impact of this event, making the story feel far more expansive.  This is paired with a truly excellent use of textboxes, which carry little snatches of panicked newscasts.  It leads to a sense of desperation and pandemonium, enhanced by the fact that we’re only getting fragments of broadcasts and not anything comprehensive.  Hence, a sense of chaos is created, helping to legitimize the threat of the Serpent and the Worthy.

In focusing on the Worthy, outside of the opening scene in Asgard (probably the only mediocre portion of the issue), Fraction makes the Avengers and the superheroes in general nothing more than a background presence.  Hence, when he has the newscasts, the world, crying out for the Avengers, or Steve Rogers calling for his comrades to no avail, it feels all the  more powerful.  The superhero community, reduced to such a minor presence amidst Fraction’s chaos of globetrotting and panicked fragmented newscasts, seems suddenly impotent.

Weekly Comic Book Review’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: The Walking Dead #84 – Winning this “award” really means something because last week had a TON of books (I had over 25 on my pull list), only a few outright sucked and there were 4-5 that were really strong and could have won any other week.  However, TWD was the book that had me cheering as it became kinda clear that the humans were going to beat the snot out of the zombie masses for once.  It was the same feeling that you get when you watch a running back break through the line of scrimmage and realize that he’s going to score a touchdown, but you still have to count down every single yard before he’s in the end zone.  I’ve often said that TWD isn’t really about zombies, it’s about the humans in the story.  But, to the characters of TWD, it was about the zombies until this issue.  Now (as Rick puts it), the zombies are a manageable problem.  Runner-up: Detective Comics #876

Most Anticipated: Moon Knight #1 – I really want to like Moon Knight, but he’s just never tickled me before.  So, Marvel is letting an A-list creative team that has worked very well together in the past take a crack at the character.  If Bendis and Maleev can’t make Moon Knight a character who can sell comic books, maybe they should just relegate MK to background status.

Other Picks: Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth #3, Sweet Tooth #21, Blue Estate #2, Annihilators #3, Fear Itself #2, Gladstone’s School for World Conquerors #1

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Captain America #617 – This title has returned to form in a big way, showcasing everything that Ed Brubaker does best, packed into a really, really awesome triple-feature format.  That structure alone garners it pick of the week for me in a stacked final Wednesday.

Most Anticipated: Moon Knight #1 – It may be a slim week, but there are still some awesome books out this week. That said, Bendis and Maleev teaming to write Moon Knight is something that just naturally makes too much sense.  I understand that many Moon Knight fans are wringing their hands over Bendis’ ideas for the title, but I’ll admit that I’m a Bendis fan with no prior commitment to Moon Knight and little reading experience.  As such, I’m pretty freaking pumped.

In the end, I’ll go with Action Comics #900.  Not only is it a super-sized anniversary issue, it’s also the grand finale of Paul Cornell’s Lex Luthor book, which has been among the finest superhero comics month in and month out.  It also features the return of Superman to Action, and with Superman still wandering around in Grounded in his own book, it also means that Action will be the first book to go back to giving us real Superman adventures.  I’m super interested to see how Cornell, one of my favourite writers, takes on the man of the steel.

Other Picks: Fear Itself #2, Uncanny X-Force #9, Secret Six #33, Sweet Tooth #21