Fear Itself #4 – Review

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

The Story: The Serpent shows a massive growth in power, and Thor returns to Midgard to make plans with some old friends.

What’s Good:  While I’ve been fairly positive about Fear Itself thus far, I really did feel that with this issue, the plot has really showed momentum.  I think a good part of this development has to do with the fact that over the last three issues, Fraction has really spent a lot of time scene-setting and creating the status-quo for this event.  He needed to show that our heroes had their backs well and truly up against the wall against massive odds.  Last month, Bucky Barnes’ death was truly the final nail in the “shit just got real” coffin, and the scene setting was complete.

So when we see Fury, Thor, Black Widow, Steve, and Iron Man talking tactics and plans, there’s a really satisfying and comforting sense of the story becoming better defined and moving forward.  It’s as though while we’ve seen that things are bad, it’s this month where we start to learn what the Avengers plan on doing about it.  Hence, there’s more story and character than big action and explosions.

But there certainly are big explosions.  Immonen’s art is gorgeous and characterful as ever (and includes a couple of really cool layout decisions), but he and Fraction really hit the big notes well.  Thor’s literal fall to Midgard, Steve’s being back in the Captain America uniform, the Serpent’s transformation, and the holocaust inflicted on the Atlanteans all really hit home and come across as truly large and epic in scale.  There aren’t just blips in the plot, they’re the big occurrences that are the bread and butter of a successful comic book event.

Then there’s Tony’s sacrifice to Odin, which is certainly a surprise and striking in its own way.

Weekly Comic Book Review’s Top Picks

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Scalped #50 – It was a really close call between this and Detective Comics, but ultimately, this milestone issue did a fantastic job in encapsulating the overall spirit of what is among the very best ongoing series around right now.  It also made me reflect a bit on the series’ imminent ending, which was certainly bittersweet. Just a really heartfelt issue with excellent storytelling all-around…

Most Anticipated: Flashpoint #3 – Interesting how yet again, DC and Marvel are releasing their big events on the same Wednesday.With the quicker pacing, not to mention the recent shake-up at DC, Flashpoint is the book to get my interest, particularly with the way last month’s issue ended.  I’m really interested to see where this goes as we reach what should be something of a climax in this five-part series.

Other Picks: Fear Itself #4, Moon Knight #3, Secret Six #35, Sweet Tooth #23

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: American Vampire #16 – This was really a big week for quality comics and a LOT of comics could have won this “award”, but AV get’s the nod.  What is impressive about AV is that even though it is in the middle of a story arc, the issue didn’t get boring.  News Flash: Middle issues don’t have to be boring!!!!!!  Stuff happens and it still manages to set-up more plot points for the conclusion of the arc.  That’s really impressive writing.  Of course, having Rafael Albuquerque doing career-best work on the title doesn’t hurt your chances to be pick-of-the week.  The only “bad” thing about this issue is that it was the first thing I read all week and it was downhill from there.

Most Anticipated: Sweet Tooth #23 – In an attempt to stay spoiler-free, I pay almost zero attention to comic previews on the web and solicits beyond figuring out what I want to pre-order.  So, I don’t know for sure whether we have reached the climax of this particular story arc having to do with Gus and Gang finding a potential sanctuary inside of an old dam.  As with all things Sweet Tooth, you know there won’t be a happy ending and last month’s issue indicated that things were about to get very serious again!

Other Picks: I Zombie #15, That Hellbound Train #2, Blue Estate #2, Elephantmen #32, Fear Itself #4, Hulk #36, Thunderbolts #160