My Wife: Totally Thought That Girl Was A Guy Who Dreamt About Being A Girl

Fear Itself # 1
Written by Matt Fraction
Art by Stuart Immonen & Laura Martin
Published by Marvel Comics 

When Fear Itself Book One was handed to me, I got a little nervous. In the past, I read the first issue (as well as some other issues) of the "Big Event Comic" of the year (or summer or millennium or what have you), and found those comics confusing and schizophrenic in how they jumped around. So, yeah, I was not psyched for this one. Take a look at this cover:

Here's a letter I wrote about that cover.

Dear Super-Hero Event Comic Books:

You have the ugliest covers.

Sincerely,
Nina

You know what I'm saying? It looks like the box art for a cheap video game featuring expensive characters.

But! I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the content of Fear Itself. I'm still not a huge fan of this sort of thing, actually, but I was able to keep up with this one, and did not feel in the least bit overstimulated by all the, er, stimuli. It was the proper amount of stimuli! I was not made to feel old! Success!

Hats off, first, to the artist. That was the first thing to grab me and keep me. Even though there is a lot going on within those first few pages, the storyline from panel to panel is clear. As a matter of fact, in nearly every panel of this whole comic book, the action is clear. In a story of this breadth, it really needs to be. I'm a particular fan of the format of one large frame spanning the top half of two pages, with smaller frames of what's happening being drawn below. That's got an easy flow, and my eye knows where to go and it kept me from getting confused - which is what usually happens when I read these epic-ish comics that feature this many characters. 

As for the story? Well, of course, its a lot to digest, especially if you've only really read one or two of these comics in the last five years. Knowing nothing about the Red Skull (or Skulls, since there seem to be many of them), I had a hilarious time catching onto this one. As far as I could tell (and maybe this is due to the art, or maybe just my lack of knowledge), the Red Skull who said, " ...I saw it in a dream.  I was the Queen of the World. I killed Captain America with a hammer and they made me Queen Of The World" was a man. Seriously. Looked like a dude to me. And I thought, "Hmm..way to go guy. You had a dream that you were Queen of the world and this did not deter you, but inspired you to action? Wow." And then to watch "him" get "his" hands on that hammer and then, turn into, this Queen of something was like, "WHOA! Your dream was right! You totally turned female and into some serious bad-ass She-Thing!" But I came to find out that she was a girl all along. I mean, I came to find out a day later, when I asked about her/him. Now that I've heard the actual story, I can confirm: it would be so much better my way.

OH! There was also this whole thing with the two All-Fathers. I had to flip back and forth between pages before I was like, "Oh, I get it. This is the conflict." But again, I think that's just because of my lack of knowledge about all of this.  

Here's what I still don't get though.

Why?

Why does Thor (and others?) want to have God and mankind co-exist? I feel like they are trying to have them live together in peace like equals. Let me tell you something though. They are not equal. And that's okay, right? They are Gods, superheroes are superheroes and people are people. Those aren't the same kinds of beings, there's distinct differences between them. Why the push to have the Gods live among us? I mean, they are so condescending anyway. Listening to some old man with magic snapping fingers powers tell you that you do things slowly would get so boring. Right? It's so silly...like, look at this story. Iron Man keeps talking about jobs, and the economy, and the whole time the Gods can just skip all that nonsense and make things happen with magic, which is exactly what we want them to do. What's the point of Thor's dad waiting all those months for a bunch of human contractors to build him a castle? Why is Iron Man such a boring person, why does he think such boring things? Jobs, Iron Man? They aren't PEOPLE. They don't pay taxes or worry about food...this is just a silly thing to care about.

I suppose that, once again, I'm missing something.

But you know what? That's all right. I don't really need to know. I don't think I'm going to keep up with this or anything (unless Mister Nina makes me), so I don't necessarily care to understand it all. On the whole, I actually found this one chapter to be interesting and fun to read. And you know, an event superhero comic book that I like?

That's kinda neat.

-Nina Stone, 2011

Comments

[Alan]

I think the jobs part is because these big Marvel events need to feel socially and politically relevant, so they include topics like recessions to balance out the amazing images of Odin yelling at the Watcher or getting punched in the face by his son.

[Ptfitzy]

This issue (even though i did like it enough to stay with it) is a PERFECT example of why a superhero comic shouldn't try to be socially relevant. "Recession" in this comic is basically a hug flashing reminder that "TONY STARK/REED RICHARDS/DR. STRANGE/ETC ARE INCREDIBLY BAD AT DOING THINGS CUZ IF THEY WEREN'T WE'D HAVE NO STORIES NO MORE".

[Tim O'Neil]

I think Nina put her finger on the big problem: why the hell is anyone worrying about rebuilding Asgard on earth if Odin is back? Restoring Asgard after a horrendous battle is totally one of those things he can do - he's done it at least three distinct times in the last couple decades. If I were him, I'd be pissed too - "well, dad, we're going to be squatting in a tent for 18 months because my bros totally need some construction work, even though you could fix it all in a day . . ."

[moose n squirrel]

Fuck, why doesn't Odin just end the recession while he's at it? "Bingo, snapped my fingers, I have now ended the Class War. Enjoy your anarcho-socialist utopia, mortals!"

[Christian]

"Now that I've heard the actual story, I can confirm: it would be so much better my way."

It really would have.

[Moondispatches]

Now I really want to see Nina's take on Casanova, given the author and the route the second volume takes.

[Jim]

Apologies in advance for the length of this multi-part comment -

Regarding some of the points made in the review and the comments about Odin, this is what I got out of issue 1: when Odin decided to leave Earth, the Asgardians immediately packed up and left without any dissent (aside from Thor, of course). Odin is the ultimate example of paternalism; as the All-Father, he has a whole society of children (an idea that his people accept), and their rights and responsibilities within the society befit that relationship. It seems like they do pretty well with this (maybe because Odin usually acts in their best interests?), but Odin has proven himself to be a very inflexible leader and father. So what if it would be faster to magically recreate the city? Iron Man, in his usual opportunistic way, is trying to kill 2 birds with 1 stone. The city will be rebuilt, and the American economy will benefit from the new jobs. He has the support of his BFF, Thor, but this is a decision being made for the Asgardians by someone other than Odin. Naturally, Odin flips out about this. The fact that it is his biological son challenging him just makes it harder to accept. (There's an Oedipal angle here, that may be supported by the phallic imagery of the god-hammers, but that's for someone else to sort out).

[Jim]

Actually, this is all Odin's fault. Back in the day, Thor was truly Odin's equal in one area: self-importance. As a punishment (or subconsciously, out of guilt about his own failures as a father?), Odin sends Thor away, under the pretext that he will learn humility on Earth. Subsequently, Thor develops a much richer and more nuanced perspective than would ever have occurred had he always remained in Asgard, and this brings us back to the current series. Thor is stepping into a leadership role, and his experiences give him the opportunity to surpass his father in this capacity. That (more so than The Serpent) is Odin's greatest fear, one that he cannot face, so he runs away.

As for why the Avengers don't just ask Odin to wave away the recession or any other problem? Doing that means giving up all your power to someone else. Iron Man, as much as any of these central characters, knows how well things can turn out when there is an over-concentration of power (the Illuminati).

[Jim]

Incidentally, I have been seeing some critics pick on the idea that Fear Itself does not have a very clear premise, so here is my attempt to tie together what I have seen so far: When the prime motivation of our society is fear, the strongest among us will become the tools of our oppression. That is admittedly a little too abstract and/or political to sell the book, but it sort of ties the social relevance material to the major antagonists (it looks like the hammer-wielding Worthy will mostly consist of powerhouses like the Hulk and Juggernaut). I enjoyed this first issue, and I am hopeful that this event will exceed the overall quality of previous Marvel events.

[Shoulder Buddy]

Good call on the cover. That design is hideous and obviously primed for the Thor flick. "This event will take place entirely inside a hairy tattoo from the Opeth show"

[Shoulder Buddy]

Jim there is trolling and then there is trying to hard