“Fear Itself: Book 4”, by Marc Alan Fishman – Snarky Synopses #12
July 17, 2011 Marc Fishman 0 Comments
Snarky Synopses #12 “Fear Itself: Book 4”
Fear Itself: Book Four
Written by Matt Fraction
Art by Stuart Immonen, Wade Von Grawbadger and Laura Martin
So, after pissing and moaning about Flashpoint for the last month or two or twelve (I’ve lost count), I decided it might be apropos to see what it was like on the other side of the fence. So, when no one was looking, I went over to my brother-from-another-mother’s house (Hey Matt!) and borrowed his copy of Marvel’s current epic-crossover-don’t-miss-it, Fear Itself. Matt, you see, has generally taken residence at the House of Ideas more than I, and as such, is picking up said series. So, I nabbed Book Four (with little knowledge of books one through three…), went into the can (is there a better place to read, I think not!) and proceeded to read. I was patiently waiting for my blood to boil as I flipped page after page. Gentle reader, after dumping so many hard earned shekles on DC’s Flashpoint, I was certain that Marvel must have been following suit with its own bloated, bile-filled and bewildering excuse to sell 100 tie ins. Much to my chagrin though, the book (while not perfect) is exactly what I’ve been looking for in dumb-but-epic crossovers.
As far as I can tell, the basic gist of Fear Itself is simple enough; Odin’s brother (oops, spoiler alert?) is a big mean so-and-so, who lives to cause fear and terror. It makes him fat and happy. After freeing himself (I assume because without him, this wouldn’t be so epic) he sends out some early Christmas presents to a few folks around the Marvel universe. Hulk, Juggernaut, The Thing, Titania, Grey Gargoyle, Absorbing Man, and Attuma (he’s a Namor villain, cause hey, Namor needs someone to fight every now and then, right?) all get some nifty Asgaurdian hammers and start tearing up the place. Odin basically figures it’s easier to cut ties and run, rather than wage a war to save mankind. As Nick “Squinty” Fury puts it? It’s easier to cut off the finger to save the hand. Thor gets pissy at his pops… Pops don’t care… and here we are!
I got all of that, seriously, on the prologue page. How accessible! And with that, the book is off to the races, Matt Fraction, who I have enjoyed quite a bit on Invincible Iron Man, does a good job doing his best Mark Millar impression. This book oozes “widescreen comic” to the nines. Maybe even the tens. We catch up with a rebanished Thor, who himself catches up with his Avenger bromances, Cap and Iron Man. Oh, and Bucky Barnes (yeah the kid who died back in WW2, but didn’t, became a Russian super spy, reformed, and took over the mantle of Captain America when he was blasted by the Omega Sanction, err… Time Bullet) died. Seems Red Skull’s daughter, Sin, done tore his ass up. And make no bones about it. We see Bucky on the table, decomposing faster than my leftover Chinese food from last week.
Anywho… Thor meets up with his mates, Steve “Cap Classic” Rogers, and Tony “Robert Downey Jr.” Stark, and the quintessential Avengers assemble for the big throw down. The plan is set, and seemingly simple enough; Steve Rogers goes to New York to battle Nazi robots and Sin. Thor goes to meet his destiny, and fight Odin’s spiteful sibling. Tony heads over to the Asgaurdian video chat wall in Oklahoma, and drinks some wine. Did I snicker a bit? Surely. Fraction leaves so much of the witty characterization he’s so damned good at here, in order to serve the “move the plot at any cost” pace of the book. But, unlike Flashpoint, which revels in its sadness and confusing nature, Fear Itself is a book that knows exactly what it is; a summer blockbuster with nothing more to do than blow shit up, and let us enjoy the fisticuffs. While Barry Allen electrocutes himself, and teams up with Cyborg and The God-Damned-Not-Batman to fight … something… (we’re 3 books in, and well, no villain is really around to punch), Fear Itself knows well enough to play this one by the books, with a wink and a nudge. Yes, it’s completely predictable, but hey, Thing is a villain. That’s cool, right? Right.
The art chores are tackled by Stuart Immonen, and a list about a mile long of others. The book is slick, and sharp, and pretty much what we’d expect. A few unneeded computerized blurs dot the book during epic sequences, which are completely distracting, but the book (again) is playing to the strengths of the genre; Big guns, big muscles, and big expressions. Flashpoint seems to want to bring back the worst of the 90’s (either splash pages, or 16 panel exercises in move-the-plot-now-so-we-can-get-to-that-big-splash!), Feat Itself doesn’t try to reinvent what already works. There’s a few oddly choiced designs here though, that does scream “Let the artist do what he wants”. The “Worthy” (that’s those hammer wielding now-villains like Thing, Hulk, etc.) all feature odd pseudo Tron-like piping. It’s less “wow, cool!”, more “I know, glow effects in Photoshop ARE cool”. But, consider that a minor issue. When I say this comic is “widescreen”, Immonen knows it, and the art is better for it.
Ultimately, Fear Itself is pretty darned cool. As I flushed the potty beneath my now warmed thighs, and I pulled up my trousers, I had that slight smile I get from time to time, when I got what I was really looking for in a comic; Big fights, big moments, cool things to discuss at the water-cooler (aka, message boards, and work-night at Unshaven Comics), and a story that took a predictable notion, but kept it creative. Have we seen new Mega-villains pop up and change the status quo? Sure, 100 times over. Hell, I think Thor gets banished or killed almost yearly these days. And a major death of Bucky Cap, a month before Steve Rogers gets his close up on the big screen? It was bound to happen. But unlike Flashpoint, here’s an epic that knows when to ramp up the melodrama for FUN, not because they feel the need to starwipe the universe. Good on ya, Marvel.
Hmm… I probably shouldn’t have used my copy of Flashpoint #3 as toilet paper. This toilet is not flushing right. Anyone know a plumber?!
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Marc Alan Fishman is a digital artist, writer, and co-founder of Unshaven Comics. When Marc isn’t knee-deep in graphic design, he’s also a contributor to ComicMix.com, an occasional stand-up comedian, as well as freelancer extraordinaire.