I like Matt Fraction on certain titles. I’m not a fan of
Casanova, but I love his Iron Man. His run on Thor has been less than appealing
as it’s undone all the work and storylines that came before it. The reason
control+z was applied to Thor? For this storyline. Odin has returned after
being trapped in a purgatory/hell, Loki has returned after being dead for like
a minute and all because Thor missed his family. Since then it’s been shown
that Loki had planned to come back and wants to reinvent himself out of
boredom. Odin, who didn’t want to come back, has been pissed off ever since.
Fear Itself actually revolves around Sin aka the new Red Skull.
She’s found her father’s book made of Atlantean skin which has led her to the
secret location of a base in Antarctica. There a group of Nazi’s protect the
fortress waiting for Hitler and only Hitler’s return. Meaning she has to kill
them all even though they’re on the same team. Once inside she finds a hammer
much like the Asgardians. No one’s been able to pick the hammer up until now
when Sin grasps the hammer. She then becomes Skadi and leaves to free her
“Father.”
On the heroes’ side of the story, Iron Man is finally
announcing the rebuilding of Asgard. Everyone is celebrating and happy except
for Odin who is sulking above them. The Watcher shows up and Odin begins
yelling at him like a madman. When he’s pissed enough he decides to recall all
of the Odinson’s to world tree and leave Earth.
If you’re not reading Thor then you won’t catch this large
problem that’s presented with that last detail. In Thor, they just gave up the
world tree to the evil Red skinned bastards that were trying to destroy
everything attached to the world tree. By putting them inside of it they took
away their powers but essentially gave up their home… so now they’re going back
to it? Also if I understood the rules put forth by Matt Fraction in Thor the
red skinned bastards (who I’m sure had a great name that I can’t remember) only
lost their powers because they were the only ones in the tree.
That inconsistency aside the book was pretty boring. It’s
trying to put fear into the air, but it gave you nothing to be afraid of. Sure
Odin’s afraid of something and that’s why he’s running, but he comes off more
like a coward than anything else. Fraction and Marvel continue to make Broxton
their new dumping ground for “bad shit.” First it was Stamford and now it’s
Broxton. Fraction attempts to show the more human side of this story by having
a town that never locks its doors… lock its doors.
I thought this was supposed to be the “Heroic Age?” It
really seems that Marvel is going back into the dark world that was created
during Civil War when normal people were scared of the heroes because all they
bring is destruction. Fear Itself suffers from the same
thing that Final Crisis did where it just doesn’t feel like a big event.
Sure there are the tie-ins, but it really doesn’t have that earth shaking feel
like previous events.
All in all I wasn’t impressed and really have no reason
other than my own curiosity to bring me back. If you’re dying for a big event
then check it out. If you’re on the fence about the series then you might be
better off waiting for the trade or reading online about the outcome.
Overall Score – 5.0/10
*Fine for New Readers, but Better For Old*