It's time for the most verbose event comic reviews around! That's right, we've got two event comics lined up for your (re)viewing pleasure! What have I gotten myself into? Read on to find out!
Fear Itself #2 reads like an extended trailer for the first issue, with the Avengers running around helpless as the hammers of the Worthy start finding its owners all over the globe and Odin preparing for war against the Serpent...with Earth smack-dab in the middle!
This makes a good case against spoilers, as most of the reveals here have been leaked months before. Of course, it's not the same as seeing it unfold in the book, but the bang is lost for good. That's not to say it's all a waste, though. The Worthy get some pretty awesome designs, Juggernaut in particular, and Odin lays down a pretty sobering casus belli. I think Odin could have been handled a little better here, and I expect at least an explanation down the line why he's become a grade-A douchebag all of a sudden.
Stuart Immonen's art is the strongest selling point of this ish, and the reason I won't give a barely-passing grade. This is some powerful stuff Immonen's been rendering for us. You can practically feel the power brimming in the Worthy's veins, and the sweeping shots of ruined Asgard and the cities devastated in the wake of the Worthy's powers has to be seen to be believed. I can't put into words how beautiful the art is. It's that good.
For a pretty thick book, Fear Itself #2 feels thin. Almost everything in it feels like it should have been in issue 1. We already know who the Worthy are. Now all we want to know is who's gonna be in the receiving end of those hammers. This gets a 3.5 out of 5.
There's only one thing I can say about Artifacts #7. "Now we're going somewhere!"
After the big super-scuffle between the Artifact bearers and Cyberforce, Aphrodite IV is down for the count. But the Big Bad behind all this madness has bigger plans than any of them realize, and it's going to take more than the sum of all their parts to stop him. Cue...the Thirteenth Artifact!
The Artifacts event has been interesting so far, but interesting is all it will ever be if not for its latest issue. Shocking revelations abound, and eagle-eyed fans will be more than happy with all the little character moments writer Ron Marz threw in here for good mesure.
It's all well and good, if not for the terribly busy art. Heck, 'busy' might be an understatement. Whilce Portacio and Joe Weems lay down the crosshatching pretty thick, and everybody is a mess of lines and detail that made it a chore to read.
Still, I could forgive Artifacts due to the fact that we're past the setup now, and the payoff is not that far behind. The shock ending was pretty well done, and once again it's made me want to wait next month for the inevitable next issue. This gets a 3.5 out of 5.
It's a pretty okay event week, and that's more than I can expect from these kinds of books. Let's just hope it builds up to something awesome! What did you think of Fear Itself? Artifacts? Leave me a comment and let's talk about it! Thanks for reading.
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