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FEAR ITSELF #4

The blockbuster Marvel event of the year continues!

AFTERMATH: the heroes reel in the wake of last issue’s shocking finale. Thor finds himself unwelcome in two homes. Steve Rogers makes the decision of a lifetime. And Iron Man prepares to make the ultimate sacrifice. Every move the heroes make just serves to make The Serpent stronger– and the feat he accomplishes in this issue will rock the Avengers.

Story by Matt Fraction
Art by Stuart Immonen & Wade von Grawbadger
Colors by Laura Martin
Cover by Steve McNiven, Stuart Immonen & Terry Dodson

Price: $3.99
iFanboy Community Pick of the Week Percentage: 0.3%
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Comments

  1. Avatar photo RoiVampire says:
    July 5, 2011 at 2:50 pm

    Really hope this thing picks up in this issue. the whole series has been up and down for me

  2. Avatar photo s1lentslayer says:
    July 5, 2011 at 2:55 pm

    Reluctantly still buying. Stupid ocd.

  3. Avatar photo MrFurious says:
    July 5, 2011 at 3:05 pm

    I am only buying this to complete the minis series now.  Although the end of issue #3 was interesting, this series is not nearly as intriguing as Flashpoint.

  4. Avatar photo WHATTHEDAST says:
    July 5, 2011 at 3:25 pm

    Definitely not as good as Flashpoint. Still following it. If this issue is the same as the last, I’m done with it.

  5. Avatar photo CaseyJustice says:
    July 5, 2011 at 3:31 pm

    Even though it’s all but impossible to get invested in a book with no story, I’m in as long as Immonen is.

  6. Avatar photo Minion says:
    July 5, 2011 at 3:41 pm

    Plot is almost nonexistent. Things happening, but nothing I’m invested in.

  7. dogprod says:
    July 5, 2011 at 4:00 pm

    I dropped after reading issue #2, comics are too expensive to keep buying stuff you dont enjoy…

  8. Avatar photo oscarsouth says:
    July 5, 2011 at 4:13 pm

    I’m enjoying this as a bit of over the top fun but if Bucky is actually dead then its a wasted throwaway ending to such a great saga.

  9. Avatar photo mrfrost says:
    July 5, 2011 at 4:37 pm

    I;m on the fence about this, I mean, I want to know what;s going on in the big event, but the story is all over the place. Immonen’s art saves this book.

  10. Avatar photo Jollyboy says:
    July 5, 2011 at 6:15 pm

    *spoilers*   This is the first “event” anything I have read.  And I am really liking it.  I have been reading the tie-ins and I thinks it’s great.  Superheroes cut off from each other, fear seeping into everyone, hammer swining bad guys,  Paris turned to stone, Prisoners running around making matters worse, Washington all but destroyed, what’s not to love.  I can see if this was the only thing your are reading this one book how it could seem less than awesome but with the tie-ins it feels very big and not lacking in story at all.  Plus I am getting to know a lot of charecters I would otherwise never have read (Thunderbolts, Journey into Mystery).  All in all I am very satisfied so far with this and am waiting every week for another Issue or Tie-in.  That’s just my two cents.

  11. Avatar photo misterckent says:
    July 5, 2011 at 6:37 pm

    The art is so great and the story is fun.  I’m getting as much Marvel as I want with this mini.

  12. Avatar photo spaceghost15 says:
    July 5, 2011 at 10:20 pm

    The arc seems a bit lesser then but it’s not horrible in any sense. I don’t feel Flashpoint is any better.
    Flashpoint is my first DC “event” and I find it HORRIBLE for a first time reader. Heroes you don’t know in a diffrent time line only make sense for people that ALL READY READ YOUR BOOK! It does nothing to help a new comer come on board and get invested in a story DC. Heres to hoping the reboot is better run then Flashpoint! 

  13. Avatar photo MrWrong says:
    July 5, 2011 at 11:27 pm

    @Jollyboy That’s interesting because I am just buying the main title and have found it a bit boring. However, I started back into comics with Dark Reign and I loved it and it was a great introduction back into the Marvel Universe and after it was completed I knew which books / characters I wanted to follow. People bitch about events but I can see how they are helpful for establishing a quick status quo…then you realize it doesn’t matter and just read what you want to read. The events are like a variety pack of cereal.

  14. Avatar photo TheRealVenom says:
    July 6, 2011 at 2:27 am

    I’m really enjoying this, However, It just seems like this series has been building and building and im waiting to get to the top of the rollercoaster and start the real ride. 

    Some of the tie-ins are nothing but cash grabs that have nothing to do with Fear itself which bugs me a little as im buying everything Fear itself to keep things complete, But, discovering Journey into mystery was awesome and Fear itself: Spiderman so far is been EVERYTHING i was hoping this event would be… if only the rest of the books were like that.

  15. Avatar photo JimBilly4 says:
    July 6, 2011 at 3:41 am

    I can sum up the problem with this event in three words: Too many hammers.

    Fraction can’t give any one hammer the time it needs to make it cool. Instead we jump from hammer to hammer, each given a page at most. Sometimes a panel. I bet this does read better if one grabs all the tie-ins, because at least then there is some character development. However A) No way I am reading that many mediocre event books to find the few gems and/or make the event work and B) It is really killing the central book and story, which can’t just ignore all the hammer guys but trying to touch on them lightly is eating up all the oxygen. Even just making it five hammers would have been more manageable. I am guessing it ended up so many so every major Marvel book got a hammer villain, but to me it just makes the whole thing too unfocused.

    I am loving Journey Into Mystery, though, which has been supercalifragi-awesome.

  16. Avatar photo Fvckstick says:
    July 6, 2011 at 7:37 am

    I just don’t care. Up until the last couple panels of issue 3, I didnt care. This will be my last issue because I want to see the fallout of that end.

  17. Avatar photo spaceghost15 says:
    July 6, 2011 at 8:08 am

    I have to agree with Jimbilly4 (for the second time today) that while I havent gotten into Fear, I will give it kudos for introducing me to Journey which I REALLY like.

  18. Avatar photo RoiVampire says:
    July 6, 2011 at 4:25 pm

    this is what i’m talking about
    kicking ass and taking names
    downing a bottle and forsaking your integrity to get the attention of the all-father. oh tony, you are full of surprises and i love you for it

  19. Avatar photo KenOchalek says:
    July 6, 2011 at 4:43 pm

    @RoiVampire I wonder if Odin’s last line went like this, “I’m listening… but dude, you totes could’ve texted.”

    I was a little ho-hum on Fear Itself until I re-read the first three issues  in one go a little while back. This issue just confirms that slow start or not, the ship is afloat and clipping along nicely. 

  20. Avatar photo toddkelley says:
    July 6, 2011 at 5:14 pm

    i still don’t know what the hell’s going on. The ONLY thing in this EVENT that interested me was the Thunderbolts. Come on, man. Pick up the pace!!!

  21. Avatar photo Vidman says:
    July 6, 2011 at 5:43 pm

    I am liking this event, but it does seem a little ‘meh’ so far.  The ‘Fear’ isn’t really coming through (with the exception of the spider-man story, that has been excellent).  I also hope it picks up…

  22. Avatar photo Vidman says:
    July 6, 2011 at 5:44 pm

    Oh, and the Journey Into Mystery is BRILLIANT!!

  23. Avatar photo ResurrectionFlan says:
    July 6, 2011 at 7:10 pm

    Does anything interesting happen yet? Clearly they should have gone with Parker for the big event. Dude eats epic stories for bfast and wraps it up in a satisfying manner while offering nuanced characterization and all without talking about iPhone apps in stories.

  24. dkpwv says:
    July 6, 2011 at 7:38 pm

    If it weren’t for Flashpoint this would be the best major comics event of the summer:)

  25. Avatar photo CaseyJustice says:
    July 6, 2011 at 7:39 pm

    Wow. Ok, THAT, my friends, is how you save an event book. Big action, awesome reveals, clever and powerful character moments… Where the hell has THIS book been?

  26. Avatar photo Fvckstick says:
    July 6, 2011 at 9:14 pm

    I agree CaseyJustice. I’m so glad to see steve back in the right spot and leading the Avengers. And being drawn by Immonnen makes it all the sweeter. Great issue that just got me amped for marvel again.

  27. Avatar photo dent309 says:
    July 6, 2011 at 9:29 pm

    @Jollyboy 
    here here! I couldn’t agree more, just have some damn fun.  What the hell else do you need from a damn comic 

  28. Avatar photo dent309 says:
    July 6, 2011 at 9:42 pm

    Also, I find it interesting that every time this book comes out this thread fills up with people shitting on it, but it’s always near the top of the list.  Even though flashpoint edged it out of the top spot on this site, when the numbers come out at the end of the month, this will have trashed flashpoint…..and probably every other book this month.  hate on haters

  29. Avatar photo Jediaxle says:
    July 6, 2011 at 10:12 pm

    I wish all media forms would agree to never use the “I think we need a bigger boat” line.  So over played. 

    I usually love Fractions work but I just can’t get into it.  Without reading the tieins, I know nothing about the hammers except who got them.  Seems like nothing is happening in this book, it’s all in the tie-ins which I’m not going to buy.

    That being said I did enjoy the Steve moments, Immonnen is doing a great job.

  30. Avatar photo DikBallistik says:
    July 6, 2011 at 11:05 pm

    One panel and two speech bubbles concerning Bucky. No time to mourne I guess? This series is good but not great. Something just isn’t clicking for me. Journey Into Mystery, however has been great. That should have been tweaked juuuust a bit to be the main event and the event book should be an Avengers title (but not in place of the main Avengers book, which has been pretty great lately, too). I’m still onboard with this because it’s doing ENOUGH to keep me reading and the art is good, just not enough to go down as one of the top events in my book.

  31. Avatar photo Conor Kilpatrick (@cskilpatrick) says:
    July 7, 2011 at 12:12 am

    @dent309  People don’t like to feel left out of events. Regardless of their quality they always sell pretty well.

  32. Avatar photo WHATTHEDAST says:
    July 7, 2011 at 9:29 am

    @conor Exactly

    It’s the same reason people read the newspaper. Fear Itself and Flashpoint are OUR newspapers. Not always a good read, but necessary because of the changes that occur during them.

  33. Avatar photo chop360 says:
    July 7, 2011 at 11:06 am

    I dont understand all the negativity about this event, so far Flashpoint and Fear itself both have there up and downs.  But i thought this issue brought everything together,  even answering a few questions along the way. and the art that Immonen is drawing,  is  definitely my favorite of the 2 events, flashpoint can sometimes come off to cartoonish for my personal taste.

  34. Avatar photo neftones says:
    July 7, 2011 at 12:14 pm

    this is so dramatically better than Flashpoint it’s almost shocking. i don’t know who these people are who feel otherwise, but try as I might to understand their opinion, it hasn’t happened yet. i’m normally all for alternate timeline/universe stories – still love AoA with all my heart – but Flashpoint feels so empty and plodding. Fear Itself is affecting real change in the Marvel U with every issue, with major action beats and character beats in every issue – and you can be reasonably sure that they won’t just be reset/erased when the series is over. FP, on the other hand… you’d already be taking a chance with “nothing matters” considering it’s an alternate timeline, but with the relaunch on the horizon, there is just a sense of “this is all treading water until September.” and there’s no plot, to boot. 

    FI and FP are basically tied when it comes to art – both are beautiful – so it comes down to plot for me and there it’s no contest. will never understand this community’s hate for Fraction, but hey, if people are really enjoying FP then more power to them. i’m jealous.

  35. Jdudley says:
    July 7, 2011 at 12:50 pm

    I might be taking crazy pills but this book actually reads like a story on its own right–even if it is kinda paint by numbers. Flashpoint is all over the map (makes for better tie-in issues though, as most alternate reality events do because the tie-ins can naturally be more self contained)

    I think the direct Flashpoint/Fear Itself release dates and the subsequent user reviews on this site pretty accurately illustrate the slight favoritism toward DC due to its underdog status. But regardless, I’m enjoying this event and definitely enjoying several of the Flashpoint tie-ins even if the main Flashpoint title has too many narrative issues to stand on its own in my eyes. 

  36. Avatar photo nukethewhalesagain says:
    July 7, 2011 at 1:41 pm

    I really want to like this event.  My favorite characters are Marvel characters, but that’s what this event is missing.  It has plenty of plot.  But theres no character arcs in this one.  When Ron interview Fraction just before the first issue, Fractin said that this event would focus on Cap and Thor and while we’ve gotten a small character arc with Thor, the Cap stuff has definitely been lacking.  In this issue we mourn Bucky and Steve puts on the costume again but we get no sense of what that means to Steve Rogers.

  37. Avatar photo Minion says:
    July 7, 2011 at 2:04 pm

    What was this supposed to be?

  38. Avatar photo ResurrectionFlan says:
    July 7, 2011 at 2:21 pm

    @Minion  They got halfway through the event and got the first three issues back and realized they didn’t have a story yet so they filled this book with exposition and pipe laying.

    Which is good…. but this could have all happened in book 1 or 2, and probably would have been a lot more potent if we had what is at stake and then HAMMERS FALL and everything goes to Defcon 1.

  39. Avatar photo ResurrectionFlan says:
    July 7, 2011 at 2:23 pm

    @neftones  Thanks Joe Quesada, but how could you possibly know any of that?

    What has actually changed so far. Bucky might be dead? He’s alive in Captain America still.

  40. Jdudley says:
    July 7, 2011 at 2:31 pm

    Disregard my above statement! Though I really liked this issue, I actually wound up enjoying Flashpoint #3 a bit more! Really didn’t like the first 2 issues of that event but #3 really set things off

  41. Avatar photo Funcrusher says:
    July 7, 2011 at 3:40 pm

    I’m not sure I’ve ever seen some of my favorite Marvel charachters act so corny. Especially Cap. Also, I liked the serpent story much better when Simonson did it.

  42. Avatar photo CaseyJustice says:
    July 7, 2011 at 4:56 pm

    @ResurrectionFlan – They laid out pretty clearly in the last Cap issue that the events in that book took place before FI. A rare bit of continuity sync in a big event.

  43. Avatar photo neftones says:
    July 7, 2011 at 5:24 pm

    @ResurrectionFlan  uhhh, know any of what? my point is that Fear Itself is taking place in Marvel proper and having consequences in actual titles vs. the alternate reality, just trying to get us to September Flashpoint. 

    And “Gulag” takes place before Fear Itself, I don’t know how Marvel could have made that any more clear yet you somehow missed that, which kind of tells me that I’m wasting my time even responding to you. The idea that someone would ask what has changed here is mindboggling to me, but hey, #comicfansontheinternet.

  44. Avatar photo Conor Kilpatrick (@cskilpatrick) says:
    July 7, 2011 at 5:36 pm

    @neftones  Despite the fact that he missed the timeline in Captain America, ResurretionFlan is right — not a lot has changed in the Marvel Universe because of Fear Itself. Yet. Whether anything will actually change… we’ll see.

  45. Avatar photo AquaPimp82 says:
    July 7, 2011 at 5:40 pm

    Steve returns as Captain America just in in time for the movie. What a coincidence. 🙂

  46. Avatar photo ResurrectionFlan says:
    July 7, 2011 at 6:03 pm

    @neftones

    I didn’t miss it. He’s alive in “Gulag”, here he’s maybe dead for a couple of panels.

    I mean there is literally a Bucky series coming out post Fear Itself that takes place in the past and today according to the solicits.

    The argument that one of these events has changed their respective universes forever at this stage is pretty silly also. No one apart from The Architechts have a clue about what is happening.

    At least in Flashpoint you can see how they are laying the groundwork for the new universe by putting together the new justice league roster as each issue passes. Plus the tie-ins have been introducing new characters and shading old characters in different ways that could lend themselves to new interpretations based on whatever happens at the finale.

  47. Avatar photo CaseyJustice says:
    July 7, 2011 at 7:30 pm

    Two summer crossover events enter…

  48. Avatar photo NathanNicdao says:
    July 7, 2011 at 8:59 pm

    ERhh, OK.. The art was the only thing good in this series, and it’s off in this issue. I don’t know about the story, they’re building it up to be EPIC, but to me it came as LAME.

    Also, geographic problems.

  49. Avatar photo NathanNicdao says:
    July 7, 2011 at 9:14 pm

    How can Flashpoint not change anything? There will be 52 #1s after it.

  50. Avatar photo dent309 says:
    July 7, 2011 at 10:31 pm

    @NathanNicdao  

    Lest we forget that the only reason there is 52 #1’s and such change coming is because dc is getting its ass handed to it every month.  Call it what you want but all it really is is desperate 

  51. Avatar photo BuckyCap says:
    July 7, 2011 at 10:46 pm

    I’m willing to bet that Brubaker will go into Steve’s reaction to Buckys death in the Cap monthly.

  52. Avatar photo mgriffith says:
    July 8, 2011 at 12:12 am

    Waiting for the TPB of this one.

  53. Avatar photo Franktiger says:
    July 8, 2011 at 12:14 am

    Best issue of the series so far, glad Steve’s back as Cap, really got a feeling of the magnitude of the situation when Black Widow hugs Fury as Thor explains that this is an Asgardian war on Earth.

    Think Thor’s gonna need a lil help there. 

  54. Avatar photo NathanNicdao says:
    July 8, 2011 at 1:03 am

    @dent309  well, I also think it’s desperate, but as far as changes go, Flashpoint changes more stuff compared to this. Flashpoint, at least for me, would provide a bridge to this continuity and the new one.

  55. Avatar photo Jim Mroczkowski (@jimski) says:
    July 8, 2011 at 10:37 am

    In my experience, the Marvel events of the 21st century all follow a familiar pattern. Thinking back to House of M, World War Hulk, Secret Invasion, or Siege, all the comments I remember are along the lines of “where is this going?” or “they’re still in the Savage Land?” or whatever it is. In the grand scheme of things, one or two changes came out of them in the end, but not nearly as many as people expected. Mostly– and again, this is just my experience– they all turned out to be much better books when I sat down and read them in one sitting without the hype and tie-in nonsense a year later. This just looks like par for the course to me.

    By the way, Civil War was the only one that really gave me a wow a month, and reading it in one sitting years later, it was awful. 

  56. Avatar photo SirCox says:
    July 8, 2011 at 10:59 am

    @CaseyJustice  Agreed. This issue was pretty solid. Really looking forward to 5 now.

  57. Avatar photo KenOchalek says:
    July 8, 2011 at 2:10 pm

    http://marvel.com/news/story/16242/fear_itself_the_worthy_vs_the_mighty

    Ooooooh, this looks like fun. I had a feeling that Odin was going to make some hammer bearers of his own.

  58. Avatar photo s1lentslayer says:
    July 8, 2011 at 3:33 pm

    Decent issue that actually told what was going on. This should have been issue 1.

  59. Avatar photo pyynk says:
    July 8, 2011 at 7:05 pm

    Buying it for the art at this point.

  60. Avatar photo wallythegreenmonster says:
    July 8, 2011 at 8:39 pm

    meh….stuff happened but it wasn’t very interesting to me. Dunno if its because i’m not into the  Thor-verse very much or its just so epic its kinda bland. Time to save some cash and drop. 

  61. Avatar photo cubman987 says:
    July 9, 2011 at 6:23 pm

    I’ve been enjoying Fear Itself and the tie ins that I have read, and this was by far my favorite so far.  Great to see the big 3 of the Avengers back together and looking forward to the rest of this story. 

  62. Avatar photo thehangman says:
    July 10, 2011 at 3:13 am

    Glad steve’s back as cap.
    Main reason for buying. And *spoiler* glad hulk, thing, & juggs are The Worthy. Makes it pretty darn cool.

  63. Avatar photo TheDude007 says:
    July 10, 2011 at 9:35 pm

    Fury and Widow would never share a hug.

  64. Avatar photo j206 says:
    July 10, 2011 at 10:34 pm

    The worst thing about the story is the fact that all the stuff with the worthy hammer people is being done in other books. I’m not reading them, so I got no clue what is going on, who is who, or what’s happening. And to think that Fraction and Marvel tried to sell this as a concise event.

  65. Avatar photo markish says:
    July 11, 2011 at 6:20 am

    @j206  If you don’t know who is who, there’s a handy guide at the front of the comic.

  66. Avatar photo wallythegreenmonster says:
    July 11, 2011 at 9:30 am

    @j206  –yes i agree with you. They went out of their way to sell this as self contained and made it a point to mention that you didn’t need to read any other tie in to get the main series. Doesn’t seem like the case. 

  67. Avatar photo Franktiger says:
    July 11, 2011 at 1:54 pm

    @TheDude007  hah!

  68. Avatar photo JimBilly4 says:
    July 20, 2011 at 4:57 pm

    @TheDude007 Along similar lines, would the Black Widow really mock Fury’s spymaster nature like she did? Isn’t that kind of her world through and through? MY biggest problem with Fraction has always been that he is not good at writing characters he didn’t create, with a few notable exceptions (Iron Man). This was especially painful in X-Men, where even good storylines were regularly torpedo’d by characterization so awful it overwhelmed all else. All complaining aside, though, this was a really good issue. Let’s just forget the set-up (which has been weak) and pound the crap out of each other for three more months. I can live with that.

  69. Avatar photo Anxy says:
    August 1, 2011 at 3:39 pm

    Four issues in, not to mention a bunch of side mini-series and tie-ins, and I still have no idea what the purpose of this thing is, other than maybe a death-knell for the Age of Events. Why do I care about The Worthy? What’s the point? I understood the point of Siege and Secret Invasion and Civil War and just about every other Marvel event. I’m still scratching my head at this one. Why am I still reading it? I dunno. To figure out what it is I’m reading, I guess. Gah.

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