Marvel Implements a 'Fear Campaign'

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Ult_Sm86
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Marvel Implements a 'Fear Campaign'

Post by Ult_Sm86 »

There's no signs or clues as to if this is going to be a total crossover event, or whether it'll stick to just the Avengers, but right now, it looks like the top heroes of the Marvel universe have a lot to be afraid about.

Image It seems Tony Stark is beginning to see his creations come to life as weapons, one of the darkest options for his technology that he has often avoided.

Meanwhile, Captain America seems to have lost faith in perhaps what he stands for, or even the country itself. Truly Cap's greatest Fear is the country he loves and fights for, turing their backs on justice and democracy. Image

And as predicted, Cyclops is slowly becoming the more ruthless type of General to the Mutants. So much so, he is even starting to take on some strange, yet familiar, traits...

Image

Even Thor has something to fear, it seems his family ties/relations to the Asgardian Gods has a twisted secret that might be his undoing.
Image

Poor Peter Parker (a.k.a. the Spectacular Spider-Man) has long dreaded the small problems we all face each day. Financial issues, living arrangements, science and technology being used for war rather than the benefit of humanity. But what if all these little things suddenly cultivate into one monstrous fall-out? Image

Bruce Banner has long fought the darkness inside him, the Incredible Hulk. However; with recent events -- Hulk has won out and proven himself to be an asset rather than an uncontrollable beast. But what if Hulk and Banner's fears are realized... and they both lose control?

Image


Prepare yourself for April 2011 with Marvel's new Massive Crossover Event:

"FEAR" !!

I'll keep you guys posted (or you can perhaps do so if you beat me to it! ;) ) on the other covers that will be released. Rumor is the new Master of Mysticism, Prof. Voodoo will be a player in this, as well as the new Heroes for Hire (including Ghost Rider, Iron Fist, Moon Knight, Elektra, & of course The Punisher. What could they be afraid of?? ....) :ghostrider
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Marvel Implements a 'Fear Campaign'

Post by kladyelf »

*raises eyebrow*

is it just me or does this require the need for one lanky bloke from Arkham?
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Marvel Implements a 'Fear Campaign'

Post by Ult_Sm86 »

Well, I believe you are talking about Scarecrow, who I will definitely grant you is a wonderful instigator for an event like this, -- but at the same time he's sort of a Cop-Out. He's too easy. Obviously he would be a perfect catalyst, and being that Marvel doesn't have Jon Crane to work with, I think it'll be a lot more creative and unique to see what they cook up.

My guess is it's going to involve a lot of fall-back from the last few main events in each title.

Peter Parker's "Big Time".

X-Men's "Second Coming"

Tony Stark's inability to be Iron Man, and having Pepper Potts as Iron Woman and Rhodey in the Iron Man suit, rather than War Machine (and no one knowing the difference >_>),

the revelation that Red Hulk is Thunderbolt Ross, and now She-Red Hulk is Betty (which I still think was an absolute mistake!),

the "Fantastic 3" fall-out,

and of course -- the return to rise of Steve Rogers as Captain America (which has been getting hinted at, but not deliberately talked about, making me believe this will be a catalyst towards that [see Bucky in my initial posting]...)

[Edited on 22/12/10 by Ult_Sm86]
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Marvel Implements a 'Fear Campaign'

Post by Wahnsinn »

Fear Itself is a big, fat crossover event on the scale of Secret Invasion.

Details here. Some tidbits:
Fraction: "The Marvel heroes versus the God of Fear. The more you fear him, the stronger he gets."
Brevoort: "There is a secret, a concealed act that happened at the heart of the Marvel Universe years ago, that once revealed will change everything."

Spoiler Alert
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Doctor Voodoo died.
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Marvel Implements a 'Fear Campaign'

Post by Ult_Sm86 »

Voodoo died already? Huh.

The guy at my comic shop told me his character plays a roll, maybe that's what they meant. His death.
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Marvel Implements a 'Fear Campaign'

Post by Wahnsinn »

If I remember correctly, it was in New Avengers #7. Or maybe it was #6. It was the issue before the most recent one; that much I know for sure. Of course, since when does death mean anything? More Spoilers Ahoy!
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Phobos, the god of fear, got run through with a god-killing sword and joined his father Ares in the Elysian Fields (or wherever that was) in Secret Warriors. How does the god of fear play a big part in a fear event when he's supposedly dead? Of course, he is a god. They always come back eventually. Gods don't stay dead forever; it's part of their nature.
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Marvel Implements a 'Fear Campaign'

Post by Ult_Sm86 »

So has anyone started reading this yet?


I just recently finished Fraction's Invincible Iron Man: the 5 Nightmares and I'd have to say... his plot for this event seems very much what Fraction has already done in that story arc, so I'm hoping for either an expansion of that arc or something entirely new. Never pegged Fraction as a redundant writer, but then again I've barely read anything of his.

I'm only sticking to the main book and I'll be reading the Spider-man stuff when it hits trade. That'll probably be the only one I actually care about. I can't think of a single instance besides "Shadowland" where the tie-ins were as good as the event, or worth the money even.

The exception in "Shadowland" is while the event was interesting, some of the Tie-Ins were actually better written than the actual event. Ghost Rider is the bomb, y'know?
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Marvel Implements a 'Fear Campaign'

Post by Wahnsinn »

I am. I don't think it's very coherent, which was often a problem with Fraction's Uncanny run. It's running off in so many directions at once that the main villain hasn't been fleshed out at all after three issues.
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Marvel Implements a 'Fear Campaign'

Post by Ult_Sm86 »

I agree with that, I've been having some doubts with it. But I will say it picked up/gained steam/seemed to pick a general direction in issue 3.

Unfortunately, it feels like it's empty so that you have to read the tie-ins. :/ Which I don't think are necessary.

Some of them are really pointless. Spider-Man's is called Fear Itself SPider-Man but it's just Vermin unleashing bugs and shit into the city and making people scared. It actually has pretty much nothing to do with any of it other than Spider-Man (for about 7 panels) fights Ben Grimm as Breaker of .... Wills was it? Breaker of Civilizations maybe? I forget.
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Marvel Implements a 'Fear Campaign'

Post by Wahnsinn »

I thought it was Breaker of Stone. Breaker of Patience might be more accurate. It wasn't exactly a shock that he got a hammer, so it just took up pages where Fraction could've covered something that made the story feel more well-rounded. It's a lot of tell without much show. I'm totally unconvinced that there's a pervasive climate of fear that goes beyond the normal reaction of a populace watching giant Nazibots and hammer-wielding super-powered nutters demolish cities, but the comic sure does keep saying this fear stuff is something special.

I felt the same way with Uncanny. It didn't matter how much the comic proclaimed that Cyclops was the best leader ever and a strategic genius when he sent a short-range combat teleporter to do the job of a long-range transportation teleporter. That decision was utterly stupid from a strategic standpoint, and it shows him to be a rather crappy leader for sending an experienced fighter and team leader on a suicide mission. Hmpf.
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Marvel Implements a 'Fear Campaign'

Post by Ult_Sm86 »

It didn't matter how much the comic proclaimed that Cyclops was the best leader ever and a strategic genius when he sent a short-range combat teleporter to do the job of a long-range transportation teleporter. That decision was utterly stupid from a strategic standpoint, and it shows him to be a rather crappy leader for sending an experienced fighter and team leader on a suicide mission. Hmpf.
everything up to the part about Nightcrawler I agree with.

He sent Kurt because Kurt is better. Short range or not, he's more trained, he probably cared more, and he was willing to die for the cause (as he did), and that's what Scott needed.

Heartless? Yes. But having "heart" rarely wins battles. Besides, most of that crossover event was cooked up by Yost & the X-Men editors Fraction usually puts pencil to paper on that stuff.

I don't know how I feel about his Uncanny. It's good then it's bad. I don't think he cares. LOL! I enjoy his Iron Man a LOT however.

When an author is more-or-less responsible for a drastic change of one of your favorite characters (death/crippling/marriage/etc...) it's hard to take them seriously after that if you don't like the style in which they made the change.
I tried not to let it clout my judging of his Invincible Iron man, and it has not. Iron Man is a great read and well worth the money (for the Trades), but unfortunately Matt doesn't seem to have the same organization taht Hickman or Bendis does when it comes to writing "Team" books. He cant' do multi-character development stuff.

[Edited on 7/6/11 by Ult_Sm86]
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Marvel Implements a 'Fear Campaign'

Post by Wahnsinn »

Ult_Sm86 wrote:everything up to the part about Nightcrawler I agree with.


He sent Kurt because Kurt is better. Short range or not, he's more trained, he probably cared more, and he was willing to die for the cause (as he did), and that's what Scott needed.

Heartless? Yes. But having "heart" rarely wins battles. Besides, most of that crossover event was cooked up by Yost & the X-Men editors Fraction usually puts pencil to paper on that stuff.[/quote]
Kurt was a better combat teleporter, yes, but the choice to use him for transportation across half a continent makes absolutely no sense at all. I checked the issues, and Pixie was available to transport Hope when they finally found her. Alas, poor Ariel had been blown up. Since Rogue had absorbed Betsy's powers, there were two telepaths standing right there with the ability to give exact coordinates for a quick retrieval by Pixie. Instead, Kurt remained the transportation and had to take two passengers back to Utopia from somewhere in the Midwest. Anyone who's worked with him as long as any of the senior X-Men would know that multiple 'ports, stretching his distance limits, and taking passengers will exhaust Kurt and leave him in no condition to fight off any attackers. It was a suicide mission, and there's no way Scott couldn't have known that.

Now, these events were spread out over more than one issue, which means Fraction was not the only one obligated to write Scott as an idiot and everyone around him as even bigger idiots. Yes, the editors are partially at fault for being just as enamored with the idea of Cyclops as the Best Leader Ever as Fraction. The problem is simply that he wasn't written as that great of a leader. Seriously, gathering most of what remains of the mutant population on a sinking inarable chunk of Asteroid M in US waters and proclaiming it a sovereign nation? That's just not bright, and the oddness of it is magnified by the fact that most of the X-Men barely batted a lash at that very Magneto-esque move as if they'd all forgotten about Genosha.
I don't know how I feel about his Uncanny. It's good then it's bad. I don't think he cares. LOL! I enjoy his Iron Man a LOT however.
I think he cares but that he's rather unfocused. He gets all these ideas in his head that seem fantastic and tries to do them all at the same time. It could be that having more than one character as an intended primary focus, as in a team book, leaves him with too much going on in his head. When he tries to put all that to paper, it can come out a disjointed mess.

Honestly, I can deal with the death of a character I like if it's done well. Colossus had a good death. Kurt's death was simply not done well, and the funeral issue just added insult to injury. That does not mean all the writers involved in that storyline are bad writers. Everybody has bad days. Unfortunately, I just don't think Fraction put in a very good run on Uncanny overall. :/
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