Avengers: Fear Itself Paperback – September 30, 2012

About halfway through this book, I was prepared to give it just three stars. The storytelling format was annoying as hell. The book is structured so that the Avengers are being "interviewed" for a book about the events of Fear Itself. So there are a lot of pages covered with small panels with the face of an Avenger saying a line or two of dialog. It jumps back and forth among the various heroes. The interviews are intercut with full page spreads showing the battles or events being talked about by the heroes. Having to read a long chain of single sentence boxes was a bit tedious. However, it quickly became clear that the incidents they are sharing is of their fellow heroes being especially brave - and worthy of being called Avengers.No one questions Steve Rogers' or Thor's heroism and bravery. And each of the Avengers reaffirms that. Then they go on to explain why each of the rest of them is also brave and true, despite a shady past or prior transgressions. And each of those examples is what made this book a must-read that was even better than the main event. The Red Hulk, Spiderwoman, Mockingbird...they all get a chance to shine while saving the day during Fear Itself. Steve Rogers takes Victoria Hand, Agent 13 and Maria Hill on a mission that turns out to be a trap - that they fight their way out of. All of these were great stories, with superb action sequences. However, the best was definitely saved for last.The book concludes with Squirrel Girl - I know, a ridiculous character who somehow works great in this instance - fighting her way across the mayhem of New York to get to Avengers Mansion and watch the baby Cage while her parents fight the big fight. And when the mansion comes under attack, it is Daredevil who saves the day in a story that very nearly had me cheering out loud. The ending alone was worth five stars.Overall, though I still hate the format, this book does a lot to expand on the overall Fear Itself event by telling some exciting stories of how the heroes fought the spreading chaos. Highly recommended.

I will be reading this Issue again.

Title: Avengers: Fear Itself (HC)Publisher: MarvelWriter: Brian BendisArtists: Chris Bachalo, John Romita Jr., Mike Deodato (pencils), Mike Deodato, Klaus Janson, Tim Townsend, Jaime Mendoza, Al Vey, Wayne Faucher, Victor Olazaba, Mark Irwin (inks), Dean White, Paul Mounts, Rain Beredo, Chris Bachalo (colors), Alan Davis, Mark Farmer, Javier Rodriguez, Mike Deodato, Ed McGuiness, Morry Hollowell (covers)Collects: Avengers #13-17Price: $24.99This book is a pretty good example of what typifies books by Bendis: slow-moving stories with lots of talking heads. However, the great dialogue and character development he brings to stories such as this often end up being more favorable than his more action-oriented stories. This trade collects one such story.The book is dominated by talking heads. About 40% of the comic panels are depictions of characters talking, in fact. The book's events are post-Fear Itself, and are primarily a look back at those events through each character's eyes as they recount the events to an unseen writer who is documenting the teams' recent adventures. Though each character has a turn to give their thoughts, certain characters are given more of the spotlight, including Spider-Woman, Red Hulk, Captain America, and Ms. Marvel. There are also a couple of issues the focus on characters not normally associated with the Avengers. One issue is dedicated to Squirrel Girl and another to Daredevil, who I guess is being set up to take a place on the team.Though the book covers a wide range of Fear Itself event tie-ins, it doesn't seem all that disjointed. The pieces fit together very well, in fact, and, as a whole, comprise one of the best Avengers books that Bendis has yet produced. The team's cohesiveness grows, amorous relationships bud, newer members are examined and tested, fallen members are mourned, and foundations are laid for future storylines. It's great stuff that covers just about every base you'd want in the book. With so many gaps in the storyline of the main Fear Itself book, books like this make the event more palatable.Artwork in this book is a mixed bag. With such a large number of contributors, this is what you would expect, though. Some artists are definitely stronger than others, with Mike Deodato's art being the strongest. I would have preferred a more cohesive look on the artwork, but it's not particularly bad in any spots, so I can't knock it too much.Overall, a very strong book and well worth a read, if you haven't done so already!Writing: 10/10Artwork: 7/10Cool Factor: 9/10Value: 7/10Overall: 8.25/10

What a lame saga Marvel's "Fear Itself" is. But it had a positive outcome anyway: Bendis used it to produce fine Avengers' and New Avengers' spin-off stories, collected in this fine edition, produced alongside artists John Romita Jr., Chris Bachalo and Mike Deodato.

I only use the star system to rate movies and books because who knows who I am and why would you listen to me anyway?

The avengers are the best when it comes to graphic novels. I love the different story lines to the avenger sagas.this is an excellent book.

I wasn't impressed with the artwork in this book. The story was entertaining enough, and chronicles the Avengers during Marvel's "Fear Itself" event, but it just seemed to be lacking something. Maybe it's a taste thing, but I just couldn't get into the story because of the artwork. I kept the "Fear Itself" hardcover, and Journey into Mystery's "Fear Itself" book, but sold this one after one read. It just didn't grab me.

great marvel event, still havent read it all but on my way...everything packaging wise was perfect

Dans ce recueil, le 3è depuis la plus récente relance de la série des Avengers, on trouve les principaux membres de la plus grande équipe de super-héros répondant à une interview qui permet à chacun de revenir sur les événements de 'Fear Itself'.5 n° de la série Avengers et 3 de la série New Avengers sont repris, tous écrits par Brian M. Bendis mais avec un contraste pour les dessins entre un Bachalo "cartoony" (2 épisodes), un Romita Jr. minimal (3 épisodes) et un Deodato (3 épisodes) comme à l'accoutumée aussi réaliste que possible.On assiste au fil des chapitres à :- la bagarre entre une Chose qui n'est plus elle-même et le Red Hulk, par Romita Jr., qui retrouve ses marques de vétéran de 'World War Hulk',- la fin de l'union Hawk-Eye / Mocking Bird et au début de quelque chose entre le même Hawk-Eye et... (évitement d'un spoiler),- une lutte désespérée (et vaine) de quelques uns des Vengeurs les moins puissants avec un (Green) Hulk qui n'est plus lui-même non plus,- une expédition inutile en Suède du Commandeur Rogers accompagné de 2 agents féminins du SHIELD et une ex du HAMMER,- la bagarre des Vengeurs de Luke Cage et Ms. Marvel contre Sin (fille du Crâne Rouge),- la mission difficile qui est celle de Squirrel Girl d'être une nounou crédible dans l'environnement des Vengeurs et particulièrement en plein crossover Fear Itself,- à l'arrivée de Daredevil dans l'effectif des Vengeurs.Il se dégage de l'ensemble l'impression que Bendis tente d'occuper au mieux notre temps et celui des Vengeurs pendant un crossover qu'il n'apprécie par plus que nous.