How is Fear Itself Crossover

In going back and reading all the old stories... I have made some mistakes... or rather I have wasted my money

I am not doing this with Fear Itself.... FIRST

how is the crossover event?\

and second how are the Tie-ins.. because though I enjoyed most of what I read, I ended up with some tie-ins for Civil War and Flashpoint that were not that good.

Right now there is a sale on Comixology so specifically how is:

Black Widow, Deadpool, Spiderman, Fearsome Four, FF, Monkey King?, The Home Front, Uncanny X-Force, Wolverine, , Avengers, Ghost Rider, Hulk , ron Man, Invincible Iron Man,

EDIT: These titles I am No Longer looking into based on responses

Uncanny X-men, Youth in Revolt, Herc, Secret Avengers, Heroes for Hire, New Mutants, The Deep,

EDIT: I have now bought these based on responses

Main Arc,Journey into Mystery, New Avengers, Mighty Thor, Book of Skull ,Avengers Acadamey, The worthy, The Fearless,

bueller.... bueller.... bueller... I mean bump

Matt Fraction originally intended for it to be a relatively small event (centering around Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man), but the editors dicked around with it until it encompassed the entire Marvel Universe.

soooo.... does this imply that Mighty Thor,Journey into Mystery, and comics featuring Iron Man and Cap A are the comics to focus on??

@bierschneeman: the main event is not that good. I would not recommend it.

Some of the tie ins are pretty good.

@bierschneeman: Its one of my five favorite crossover. I recommend it.

huh, one recommendation, and one anti-recommendation

I Highly recommend it, one of my favorite comic series, just great cap and thor stuff based in and around there personal universes, SUPURB art by Stuart immonen.

Please don't worry about the haters, there are many of them, but the hate is not in anyway deserved. Judge for your self, even if you end up disliking it, you'll at least see some great art

@bierschneeman

A couple of months ago, I was in the same position as you are. I'd heard such varying responses to Fear Itself that I wasn't sure whether or not I should spend dime on it. Not to mention, I've never been very big on event titles, and the only event book I'd got up till that point was War of Kings. Eventually, one of those year-end warehouse sales came around, and I decided to check out Fear Itself on the cheap.

Speaking only for myself: Fear Itself is actually one of my favorite Marvel comics.

Now notice I say 'favorite'. Not 'best' or 'superb', but favorite. First off, I can understand all the complaints about the event. Most of it was due to event-fatigue; many didn't like the way the book concluded, and felt that it didn't do anything different from past similar events. Others were annoyed by the (spoilers) character deaths that would ultimately prove pointless. Many felt it was over-hyped, or that it was boring. Whatever the reasons, it was clear that the book had a less-than-lukewarm response.

But I think it has all to do with a matter of perspective. I read this years after it originally came out, and without the preconceived notions from the press releases or interviews. I'd never really read event titles before, so I wasn't overfatigued by them, and I went into this with realistic expectations. I wasn't looking for some innovative or revolutionary comic. I was going into this with expectations of a pretty-looking explosion-fest with lots of heroes and one-liners. Basically, a summer blockbuster movie. And in that respect, I was satisfied.

The book has a goofy superhero plot: hammers fall to the Earth and possess a bunch of villains, and the entire planet succumbs to the terror of an ancient fear god. Cue the Avengers uniting to save the day. Now all the talk about this book reflecting real-world fears? Rubbish. The event having meaningful consequences in the Marvel U? Bollocks. But it's mindless, entertaining fun. The entire book looks pretty-as-sht with Immonen's art, and Laura Martin is still the best colorist in the industry. Fraction peppers the book with all types of hell-yeah moments: from the Worthy's appearances, to Captain America leading the charge, and Nazi mechas invading Washington.

So I think it just comes down to personal tastes. The comic world has no shortage of flashy looking events, and Fear Itself isn't all that special or unique. But it's a fun read. And if you're down for a event book with gorgeous art and superhero action, then by all means, I do recommend it. As for the tie-ins, the quality varies depending on the book in question. Some are great (Journey), some are alright (Secret Avengers), and others blow (X-Men).

P.s. The only part I had a problem with was the Serpent breaking Cap's shield, because that moment was stupid as hell.

woo.... that was an eloquently constructed explanation of the quality of enjoyment I can expect from the crossover. I particularly like "explosionfest with lots of heroes and one-liners, summer blockbuster" I can name a few crossovers that are like that... and as far as one-liners, ill add my own.. "Catch Phrase- GO!" I expect the oneliners in big events, I expect NOT to see them in the normal comics because they are usually tired old hats if the character is already known for them.

looks like I have some comics im getting, (Journey) and some Im not even paying attention too, (x-men) thank you.

@veshark: Well, we are talking about a god, so why shouldn't it be capable of breaking his shield?

@bierschneeman Glad I could help.

I'm not speaking solely from the perspective of whether or not it was feasible from a powers perspective.

1) The whole 'Let's break Cap's shield' trope is already inherently overplayed and cheapened with every use. In this instance, it was obviously used to stress how 'powerful' the new villain was. Did it accomplish that? To an extent, I suppose - but I still found myself sighing at the moment.

2) Cap's shield has taken a blow from an enraged Odinforce Thor (a Skyfather himself), and it merely dented the shield. I feel like that's what makes Cap's shield stand out - it's a street-level weapon that can stand up to gods.

3) I take particular issue with the fact that the Serpent used raw strength to break it. In the past, it was done either through molecular manipulation or cosmic power (e.g. Infinity Gauntlet, Beyonder's power). The whole point of the shield is that it's made up of a once-in-a-lifetime miracle mixture that can even stand up to high-tier beings. I would've bought it more if the Serpent had say...used magic of some sort, as opposed to just tearing it apart with his hands.

I do want to stress that it's not a major issue I have with Fear Itself on a whole. To be honest, Serpent breaking the shield doesn't really bug me at all. But speaking from the perspective of a Cap fan, I do find it a 'meh' moment in an otherwise entertaining book. But hey, at least Cap's shield gets rebuilt with uru enhancements that supposedly make it 'stronger' so...it's all good in the end, I guess.

@bierschneeman: BTW, I liked the Avengers Academy tie-in.

And when you are done reading Fear Itself, you should get The Fearless, where Sin and Valkyrie compete to find the hammers of the Worthy.

sweet thanks, if you'll notice I have been editing the OP based on recommendations...

any that you recommend I avoid?

@bierschneeman:

I didn't really care for the Heroes For Hire, and I have herd that the Herc series in general was average at best.

I liked the Spider-man tie-in though. It was mostly about the people of NY and how they reacted to the whole ordeal. Surprised me.

I just want to say I don't think the whole hammers fall to earth was goofy at all, the book took it seriously it should be treated as such I like the air of mystery it added to the book for the characters

I liked it.

The universe needs to be balanced right? ^_^

if it becomes unbalanced, Ill just have a big crossover event called "crisis on infinite forums" where I retcon some threads, bring back some old abandoned threads, and jump start a whole new line of threads, and expect this to make everyone happy.

@bierschneeman: I'd recommend Marvel Unlimited. It's cheap and has a great selection. The reader isn't the best, but you get used to it. It's handy for dipping in and out of past events and storylines/runs. Its quality depends on whether you read digitally on phone or PC, though.

And all the members get totally nerfed into worse debaters?

The main book is alright but not great or bad just alright.

What he/she said.

Hey @bierschneeman, you read FI yet?

nope, sorry, I have been reading stuff in chronological order (things got waayy to confused when I tried to jump right on to Marvel Now without reading a bunch of older stuff) , I am currently on Dark Reign.

do you think I should jump ahead and read FI out of order?

Well... no. Not if it confuse you.

If you try to come up to date by going through the event-comics(I suppose that after Dark Reign then you are going to read Siege) it wouldn't be that bad since its in theory pretty simple story, but if you prefer reading the events before that, then do that. I haven't read Siege yet, so when you have, would you tell me what you think about it?

it might not now, I only just started reading comics not long ago, tried to jump in, and found a few comics with references going back more than a decade, unexplained, so I started reading avengers x-men, and a few real good runs to get my backstories straight.

but if the stories that simple Ill go ahead and read it this week.

thanks

@bierschneeman: One thing though, before you do that:

Do you know about Bucky?

Bucky.I r4oughly knoiw about his returnin the ed brubaker arc, b

but other than that not a lot. Im hoping for some massive Cap A sales as we get closer to the movie, and im going to read them all

@bierschneeman: But that is all you need to know, really.

In Fear Itself,Bucky is Captain America, while Steve is top-cop of America.

that's not that bad, again ill give it a go this week

@bierschneeman: What was it like?

I gave it the full nine yards. starting with a few of the comics that come immediately before (that I already owned but haven't read yet) standing out was The Mighty Thor 1-6 by Fraction.... WOW, that was the worst thor storyarc I have ever read... Ohh the art was good (though Loki looked like a four year old), the Layouts were REALLY good, the dialogue was just plain awful, there were two or three empty speech bubbles even. and the major plot seemed forced and well, weird and stupid. at least it gave me the setup for why Asgard lays in ruins on Midgard, but mostly I wished I never spent money on it.

getting into the Fear Itself I followed the recommendations, I read a few Iron Mans, ive never really enjoyed Iron Mans so I only got a few so I can see if I might want more.. the Avengers tie ins were good, the JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY tie ins... Frikkin Amazing. this is THE storyline to follow for Fear itself, I would even be ok with not reading the Main arc if you only read JIM. The Main Arc starts out kind of okay, but seems to get better and better its at good where I am now, (only a few more left to read)

Ohh yeah Book Of skull I would sya is REQUIRED READING for Fear Itself, ok you can easily skip It, Its mostly Like "Captain America/Iron Man Casualties of War" for Civil War. easily skip it.... definitely your loss, as the best one shot tied to the arc.

and I forgot to buy the fearless

PS Ohh yeah, I did the whole Deadpool tie ins.... contrived and pointless with a ridicules plotline. This is what I expect from anything Deadpool, and done right its hilarious and enjoyable. It was definitely done right, complete with stupid and pointless Walrus to Werewolf interaction. best line "your body feels like a bouncy castle for my fists"

so not the best crossover I have read... FAR from the worse. and Journey into Mystery OWNED the arc as par for the course of the best of Thor comics.