Fear Itself, Uncanny X-Men

Fear Itself 1-4

I’m pretty on and off when it comes to buying event titles.  I skipped Civil Wars 1 and 2, but Fear Itself made the cut. The concept of eight enchanted evil hammers speaks to me.  But my biggest complaint is one of the reasons why I generally skip these massive crossovers: Most of the action takes place in the tie-in comics, not the main title itself.  I don’t want to read eight other titles to get all the details. I don’t want to miss out on part of the story because I don’t regularly read Spider-Man.

I know that I’m asking for it both ways.  In order to tell a fully fleshed out story, with all of the details that I’m demanding, the writers need a massive number of issues, and crossovers are not a bad way to accomplish that goal.  And at least this way, I can opt out of the sections that I’m not interested in, which is what I did with Fear Itself - I chose to supplement the central arc with the Uncanny X-Men, Avengers, and New Avengers tie-ins.  (Plus whatever titles I was already reading at the time.)

Perhaps I’m mad because the comic fails to live up to its potential awesomeness so far.  It only sets up all the fun stuff that takes place in the tie-ins. Having Fear Itself serve as prologue to all the other titles insults me as a consumer.  I don’t remember how it ends, but the final page of the fourth issue promises something more exciting. I’ll see if it lives up to the grand possibilities tomorrow.

So many hammers.  So many muscles.

Uncanny X-Men 540-543

I would not have expected “The X-Men delay an enchanted Juggernaut” to hold my attention for four full issues, but Kieron Gillen completely succeeds.  This arc is fun and entertaining in the finest traditions of superhero comic books.

Greg Land’s art is still pretty, despite the photo-referencing.  But really, couldn’t he have chosen a better pose for the mayor of San Francisco than The Seven Year Itch?

Classic.

Unnecessary.

And I absolutely hate both the concept and the look of Juggernaut Colossus.

It's amazing how much the helmet ruins a great design.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Pretty good