Thursday, August 11, 2011

Fear Itself #5 (of 7)

Marvel has traditionally been very, very good at action.

I'm talking good ol' bare knuckles, knock down, drag out, slobberknocker, building smashing, city crashing, over-the-top-and-then-some battles.

And that's what this issue delivers - and much more!

How's this: a battle royale between Thor and a demon-possessed Hulk and Thing? It's the kind of big league battle we don't see too often these days, and it's entertaining as all get-out.

But there's much more going on here than just one fight. We see Iron Man's plan to fight back against the forces of the Serpent, and we see Captain America face one of his darkest moments.

Matt Fraction crafts a heck of a classic Marvel story here, with big stakes, big events and surprising twists.

Artist Stuart Immonen and inker Wade Von Grawbadger just seem to get better with every issue. Battle sequences are very difficult to do well - the artist must depict the flow of the story, maximize the dramatic impact and build the tension every step of the way. Immonen handles it all with great skill - the stakes are high in the story, and the art rises to the challenge.

So far, this event is living up to the hype - let's hope the last two issues can deliver as well!

Grade: A

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