Avengers #14: "Fear Itself" so far has felt more like the ham-fisted attempt by Marvel to take advantage of the "Captain America" and "Thor" movies that it is than a creative way to introduce change into the Marvel Universe that it could have been. Fraction and Bendis are giving us a pastiche of previously-used tropes here, with a villain whose existence had been deleted from collective memory (the God of Fear here, similar to the Sentry in "Siege"), destroyed landmarks (the Capitol Building and Avengers Tower, just like Asgard in "Siege"), and a major death (seemingly Bucky-Cap, similar to Nightcrawler and Cable in "Messiah Complex"). The result is that no story with "Fear Itself" plastered on it has felt remotely original and this issue is no exception. From a structural point of view, Bendis gives us the interesting multiple-narrative technique from last issue, but negates its impact with yet another dialogue-less action sequence meant to convey import, which it would do if Bendis didn't seem to use it every other issue. From a plot point of view, I'm not entirely sure what Bendis is doing with Red Hulk here. He added the Red Hulk to the roster during the Infinity Gauntlet cross-over. But, since Bendis was moving so many characters through the title at that point, we've never really seen the Red Hulk as part of the specific Avengers team displayed in "Avengers." However, before we ever got a chance to see that, Bendis (more or less literally) discards him here, if Jarvis' comments are to be believed. Regarding Avengers Tower, I'm assuming that Fraction and Bendis have the Thing destroy Avengers Towers in order to set up him leaving the Avengers in guilt after "Fear Itself." I've never really bought his participation in the Avengers and, with Spidey joining the FF, it seems ridiculous to have half that team on the Avengers. At this point, I can't say I particularly care about either the Red Hulk or the Avengers Tower development. Increasingly, I just want to see "Fear Itself" end so we can adjust to the new status quo and start the process of forgetting it.
Captain America #619: OK, honestly? I have no idea what's going down in "Captain America" right now. We get a pretty satisfying ending to "Gulag." Brubaker didn't wrap up all the loose ends; for example, we never (as far as I can tell) really get the truth about the two KGB agents Bucky assassinated during the Cold War, the whole reason he's imprisoned by Russia in the first place. Also, given the fact that he's a fugitive when this issue ends, it's unclear to me how he suddenly appears in his uniform in "Fear Itself" #3. But, even if it's not a technically-satisfying ending, it's an emotionally-satisfying one. Bucky "remembers" training a series of super-soldier sleeper agents in America during the Cold War, and it inspires him to start hunting down the demons from his time as the Winter Soldier. You can tell he's found the path to putting the Winter Soldier behind him and it's exciting to see him ready to embark on that journey. He has a great moment with Natasha as they're fleeing, and it helps to contribute to the sense of awesome that you assume is coming. I mean, could you ask for a better premise for a post-Cap, Bucky-focused book? We'd get Steve as Cap and Bucky as Bourne. Cool, cool, cool. If you're not following "Fear Itself," I think you'd totally assume it's where Marvel is going. Instead, if you are (unfortunately for you) following "Fear Itself," you know that we've apparently killed off Bucky. Steve is going to take up the shield in a new "Captain America" series and "Captain America" is becoming "Captain America and Bucky," a series about the duo's early days. I can't complain too much about the latter, because I did after all ask for it in my review of "Captain America" #616. But, I can't help but feel like Marvel has squandered a long-term opportunity with Bucky for the short-term goal of making "Fear Itself" "mean something" by having a "significant death." I mean, Nightcrawler was never going to have his own series, so his death in "Messiah Complex" didn't really affect anything too much. But, Bucky was popular, from what I can tell. I think someone (not even necessarily Brubaker) could've really done something with him. So, despite "Gulag" bringing Bucky's emotional journey, which started with the "Trial of Captain America" almost a year ago, full circle, I finished this issue feeling disappointed. We're not going to see Bucky next month (except for his teenaged version). We're not going to get a chance to see him rise through the ranks of Marvel's superheroes, to become a hero fully in his own right. This whole, great era of "Captain America" -- one of the best I've ever read -- is going to be left behind and eventually fade into a distant memory. Marvel made a bad decision here and I find myself hoping against hope someone'll change it.
Fear Itself: The Home Front #3: The Speedball story is...whatever, you know what, I'm tired of pretending anymore. This whole "Fear Itself" story is a debacle. It's like a super-villain whose power is to make everything it touches suck. The Speedball story, which showed at least some promise, totally goes predictable and schlocky here. I still have no idea who John Atlas is, nor do I care. The "Moment with..." story is bizarre, and the best fourth story this issue manages is one about a fourth-rate Spider-Man villain I didn't like 15 years ago when he first appeared. The only reason I keep getting this series at this point is that I'm anal-retentive and I know, ten years from now, if I had a little money left at the end of the pay period, I'd wind up buying the rest of the issues just to complete the set.
Fear Itself: Youth in Revolt #2: We don't get a lot of Prodigy in this issue, which is a shame, because he was essentially why I liked the first issue of this series. Instead, the main story is focused on (ridiculously-named) Thor Girl, who has been incarcerated as a result of her involvement in the death of a police officer. She's tortured by shadowy figures with an unclear agenda, the first time in any of the "Fear Itself" books we've been given a bad guy other than the Serpent and the Worthy, which makes me wonder where that sub-plot is going. Elsewhere, the various Initiative teams are doing their best to maintain order. One of the interesting parts of this series so far is its depiction of reluctant heroes: Cloud 9 originally sat out the battle and Gravity quits halfway through it. We all know, intellectually, that some people born with super-powers aren't necessarily born with a desire to use them, and it's interesting to see what McKeever does here in terms of showing that.
Secret Avengers #14: This issue is beautiful. I didn't necessarily buy it at first. I didn't really see where a story only involving Valkyrie was going. In fact, I'm still not entirely sure who Valkyrie is and why she suddenly appeared after "Siege." I thought she was a mortal but it appears she isn't. I can't say I'm really all that invested in her character, or at least enough to go rummage through back issues of "Secret Avengers" to see how she's previously been portrayed. However, Spencer gives us a beautiful story here about how she became who she is, and he weaves it equally flawlessly into the main story. It's one of the better "Fear Itself" tie-in issues I've read.
Captain America #619: OK, honestly? I have no idea what's going down in "Captain America" right now. We get a pretty satisfying ending to "Gulag." Brubaker didn't wrap up all the loose ends; for example, we never (as far as I can tell) really get the truth about the two KGB agents Bucky assassinated during the Cold War, the whole reason he's imprisoned by Russia in the first place. Also, given the fact that he's a fugitive when this issue ends, it's unclear to me how he suddenly appears in his uniform in "Fear Itself" #3. But, even if it's not a technically-satisfying ending, it's an emotionally-satisfying one. Bucky "remembers" training a series of super-soldier sleeper agents in America during the Cold War, and it inspires him to start hunting down the demons from his time as the Winter Soldier. You can tell he's found the path to putting the Winter Soldier behind him and it's exciting to see him ready to embark on that journey. He has a great moment with Natasha as they're fleeing, and it helps to contribute to the sense of awesome that you assume is coming. I mean, could you ask for a better premise for a post-Cap, Bucky-focused book? We'd get Steve as Cap and Bucky as Bourne. Cool, cool, cool. If you're not following "Fear Itself," I think you'd totally assume it's where Marvel is going. Instead, if you are (unfortunately for you) following "Fear Itself," you know that we've apparently killed off Bucky. Steve is going to take up the shield in a new "Captain America" series and "Captain America" is becoming "Captain America and Bucky," a series about the duo's early days. I can't complain too much about the latter, because I did after all ask for it in my review of "Captain America" #616. But, I can't help but feel like Marvel has squandered a long-term opportunity with Bucky for the short-term goal of making "Fear Itself" "mean something" by having a "significant death." I mean, Nightcrawler was never going to have his own series, so his death in "Messiah Complex" didn't really affect anything too much. But, Bucky was popular, from what I can tell. I think someone (not even necessarily Brubaker) could've really done something with him. So, despite "Gulag" bringing Bucky's emotional journey, which started with the "Trial of Captain America" almost a year ago, full circle, I finished this issue feeling disappointed. We're not going to see Bucky next month (except for his teenaged version). We're not going to get a chance to see him rise through the ranks of Marvel's superheroes, to become a hero fully in his own right. This whole, great era of "Captain America" -- one of the best I've ever read -- is going to be left behind and eventually fade into a distant memory. Marvel made a bad decision here and I find myself hoping against hope someone'll change it.
Fear Itself: The Home Front #3: The Speedball story is...whatever, you know what, I'm tired of pretending anymore. This whole "Fear Itself" story is a debacle. It's like a super-villain whose power is to make everything it touches suck. The Speedball story, which showed at least some promise, totally goes predictable and schlocky here. I still have no idea who John Atlas is, nor do I care. The "Moment with..." story is bizarre, and the best fourth story this issue manages is one about a fourth-rate Spider-Man villain I didn't like 15 years ago when he first appeared. The only reason I keep getting this series at this point is that I'm anal-retentive and I know, ten years from now, if I had a little money left at the end of the pay period, I'd wind up buying the rest of the issues just to complete the set.
Fear Itself: Youth in Revolt #2: We don't get a lot of Prodigy in this issue, which is a shame, because he was essentially why I liked the first issue of this series. Instead, the main story is focused on (ridiculously-named) Thor Girl, who has been incarcerated as a result of her involvement in the death of a police officer. She's tortured by shadowy figures with an unclear agenda, the first time in any of the "Fear Itself" books we've been given a bad guy other than the Serpent and the Worthy, which makes me wonder where that sub-plot is going. Elsewhere, the various Initiative teams are doing their best to maintain order. One of the interesting parts of this series so far is its depiction of reluctant heroes: Cloud 9 originally sat out the battle and Gravity quits halfway through it. We all know, intellectually, that some people born with super-powers aren't necessarily born with a desire to use them, and it's interesting to see what McKeever does here in terms of showing that.
Secret Avengers #14: This issue is beautiful. I didn't necessarily buy it at first. I didn't really see where a story only involving Valkyrie was going. In fact, I'm still not entirely sure who Valkyrie is and why she suddenly appeared after "Siege." I thought she was a mortal but it appears she isn't. I can't say I'm really all that invested in her character, or at least enough to go rummage through back issues of "Secret Avengers" to see how she's previously been portrayed. However, Spencer gives us a beautiful story here about how she became who she is, and he weaves it equally flawlessly into the main story. It's one of the better "Fear Itself" tie-in issues I've read.
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