As I’ve said before, it seems that Marvel is great at promoting their huge events but often times fall short on the execution of the event. “Fear Itself” is feeling a lot like that. You can’t deny that there is tons of potential with the concept. But here we are at the half way point and the series just doesn’t carry the weight it should.

Matt Fraction doesn’t give us a bad issue here. It’s just lacking in certain areas. Last issue we were left with a pretty dramatic and emotional ending. For the most part it was simply brushed over in this issue. We get a little emotional response on the first few pages but not the attention it deserves. Granted, I understand that there is a huge global threat taking place but still it felt underplayed. And while I like the idea of the Serpent, The Worthy, and their ties to Odin, this still doesn’t feel as major at it should. With the exception of the scene with Thor and the people of Broxton, Fraction hasn’t sold me on the fear sweeping the world. As the cover tells us, we get Steve Rogers back as Captain America and some of the issues best sequences has him, Iron Man, and Thor back together in what should fire up old school Avengers fans. This is where the issue is at it’s best but I can’t help but think that it could have been stronger if the stakes felt higher.

Stuart Immonen’s art is good and carries the book in places where the story lags. But even his work here is a little flat in at times and didn’t seem as polished as the first book. But Immonen can draw great action sequences and his versions of The Worthy are a lot of fun. His work here didn’t “WOW” me, but it’s still good.

I’ve waited and waited for “Fear Itself” to fire me up and after issue #4 I’m still waiting, It’s a hard series to review because it hasn’t been bad. In fact it’s been pretty solid. The problem is it hasn’t lived up to it’s billing. There’s still time to put an exclamation point on this story and end it with a bang. But with only three issues left, Fraction needs to start bringing it NOW.