My favorite Fear Itself tie in so far...
The writing on this book's been REALLY uneven for me. It started out strong, then started to sag about 7 or 8 issues in, then REALLY picked up again at about issue 12. That said, Gage is handling the students situation in Fear Itself PERFECTLY. They're a bunch of scared kids that are gonna learn a lot about themselves, whether they want to or not. The students get deployed to handle civilian evacuation in Washington DC, and it starts to get a little hairy, with Tigra feeling(somewhat justifiably) horrible about what they've done to these kids. This issue manages something that no previous issue of this series has: it made me ROOT for Striker. Normally, he's an egocentric douchebag, but this issue made me feel real sympathy for him. Likewise Mettle, who is coming to terms with the fact that killing might be a bit easier for him than he likes. Something tells me he's gonna go down a darker road before all's said and done. The issue also solidified my love for Hank Pym and Tigra. They really care about these kids, and it shows in this issue. I'm glad for that bit of character depth. The art in this issue is standard for this series. It's not bad at all, but it's not anything noteworthy, either. All in all, this is not a perfect issue, but it's damn close. Also, not a great jump on point for new readers. That said, those familiar with the series, there's absolutely no reason not to buy this. Great stuff.
