Fear Itself #1
Written by Matt Fraction
Art by Stuart Immonen and Wade Von Grawbadger
Matt Fraction’s big event for Marvel kicks off with this issue, well, no, it kicked off in the Book of the Skull by Ed Brubaker, but this is where it really gets started. We have our villain set up, we have our main heroes set up, and while “The Worthy” are left off for the second issue, Fraction gets a lot of the way in the debut issue, if anything, a testement to his abilities. He also does a very nice job tieing real world problems into his script without it seeming like he’s shoe horning them in, as happens more often than not in comics. That is to say that real world events like the current recession, or what to do with Ground Zero, these come up and are done quite nicely. They aren’t sensationalized.
Steve Rogers, Iron Man, Thor, and Sin are the recepients of build throughout this issue, though it really pushes forward with Sin and Thor as the hammers are somewhat mythological in nature. Steve has to face villains he can’t fight as he deals with a scared and angry American public, one at the point of rioting. These aren’t villains, these are people speaking up for themselves and what they believe in, and he stands there, their former symbol, and these aren’t problems he can fix. Stark, on the other hand, finds problems that he can fix. Rebuilding Asgard with his company, putting it in Oklahoma, creating a need for jobs in an area effected greatly by the depression, Tony has inserted himself directly where he fits best. I like Tony here, but then again, Matt Fraction is the writer who finally made me a fan of Iron Man, so that’s truly no surprise to me.
I’m happy to say that Thor in this book is ridiculously more readable than Fraction’s work on him in his own solo series, because while he’s still kind of a whiny bitch, at least I can understand why. Thor is almost a secondary character behind his father, the recently returned Odin, and it’s nice to be able to say that this issue validates the characters return in way that just hasn’t happened in the solo title. Odin is a bitter old man who lives his recently returned immortal life by prophecy, for he does not want to die again nor does he want his people to suffer. Odin, being the horrible father he is, takes his frustrations out on Thor….which leads to the God of Thunder getting his ass kicked a few times. Odin’s an old bastard, and his actions this issue do not swing the story in the favor of our heroes.
Sin as an interesting creature; the daughter of the Red Skull, now the wielder of the Hammer of Skadi. Three identities in the body of one horribly disturbed individual, herself, her father’s legacy, and again, Skadi. I don’t know if it’s the inclusion of Skadi, or just Fraction’s own personal take on the chartacter, but I like Sin’s portrayal in this issue far more than I have in Captain America in a long time. There’s a focus to her, even through the insanity, she knows what her goal is; what she’s being sent to to do…she just doesn’t understand the why of it all, nor does she care. She unleashes her power on dragons deep below the ocean, and it’s pretty freaking cool, not going to lie. She has the early makings of an intriguing antagonist for this event.
I want to say that Stuart Immonen is breath taking, and that his style is amazing for this book, and that he is able to tackle all the different aspects of the Marvel Universe covered in this title with detail, respect, and an epic feel….but that should be covered by saying “Stuart Immonen”. He does emotion, drama, action, everything. The book looks great from start to finish, and while his style isn’t like Steve McNiven, or Olivier Coipel…in its own way, it’s far better. The art doesn’t pull you out of the story with giant splash pages to show you just what the artist can do, rather, it all fits perfectly with the story being told. Immonen is an amazing talent to have on hand, and if anything, I’m just baffled it’s taken this long to get him on a big event.
Marvel doesn’t tend to have a good track record with launching events in my book, not saying that the events aren’t good, but in the past few years Marvel’s ‘master of ceremonies’ has been Brian Bendis, and despite the different tones of the event he’s run (House of M, Secret Invasion, Siege) he’s created a common bond amongst them. Horrific pacing. So I’m happy to say that Matt Fraction has gone ahead in one issue and given us something that does feel like the launching point of a big event. It’s not a brick wall of continuity, it’s not unreadable if you haven’t been reading any of Marvel’s big franchise books, it’s….pretty nice, actually. This issue is set up, and what it sets up is something I can’t help but want to see the next part of. It’s such a relief to see an event launch like this, from either of the big two, because the issue is damn near perfect.
Overall?
9/10
