I decided to do something new this week with the review. Two books this week came out that I was expecting greatness out of, and while neither disappointed completely they didn’t exactly wow me either. As I read through them each a second time, I found I couldn’t really find a ton to rave or condemn about either. I also thought noticed an interesting factoid about the opposing nature of the placement of these issues in their respective storyline: One is the first issue to set up a whole new series and one is the next to last book in a series, designed to set up the final scene and battleground.
After the epic conclusion of the highly successful Season 8 series, Buffy and pals are back and there promises to be danger and excitement abound…at some point. Don’t get me wrong, we were updated on a whole bunch and there’s TONS of foreshadowing for some good exciting stuff, but, when you look really closely at the actually issue, nothing really…happened…at all. I mean there was a party, sure. And we met some new roommates, cool people. Oh, and of course Buffy had the mother of all hangovers (which you would think she wouldn’t get what with the super healing and all), and that’s always fun to watch on someone else. We never really got a clear picture of what exactly happened at the parties and the next day she sorta just bummed around all issue and then at the end, oops, weird monster out of nowhere.
Now as far as opening installments go (whether it’s a comic series or a TV season) this one wasn’t that bad. It gave us tons of information, and told us where all, or at least most, of the major players are located and generally what they are doing. It was the perfect set up to what will probably be just as great and intricate a series (season) as Season 8 was, but I think I was expecting there to be a little more action on the Buffy side of things. I mean at the beginning of Season 8, we opened with her leading an army so at the very least I thought they could have had her stake the odd vampire on the street or something. Not bad, less me a little disappointed and yet somehow incredibly excited for the rest of the series.
On the polar opposite end of the spectrum, this penultimate issue of Fear Itself helped to set the stage and circumstances for the final act of this sweeping storyline. In the previous issue we were left with lots of hanging threads in the air. Will Thor survive? Is Thing OK? What is Tony Stark planning? Did Spider-man really just request a retreat in the middle of a battle and more importantly did Captain America just grant it?? With all this excitement I expected the last 2 installments of the flagship book in the storyline to be PACKED with action! Again, I was disappointed. Much like we saw with Tony Stark, the problems are solved by Captain America doing a mixture of throwing a tantrum and having a pissing contest with Odin (who for some reason continues to allow mortals that he could literally vaporize to scold him). The long and short of it is Thor is healed only to find out that he has to die anyway to stop the Serpent. Redundant. Confirmation that the Serpent is Odin’s older brother and the rightful All-Father? Whoopee doo Odin’s a liar, surprise!
As usual the good parts are saved for other books. If you want to know about where the Hulk landed the go buy Hulk vs. Dracula. We see that Tony is jumping into the Uru metal with all the weapons but of course to see any of that you gotta buy Iron Man #508. And the crux d’etat? All the stress of the situation causes Captain America to have a nervous breakdown and he goes all redneck on us! Just like in Buffy, this issue really set us up for a lot of amazement and excitement…in other books and next issue. I just feel like with so little time left in the main story, they could have given us a little bit more action and story without requiring us to buy multiple other books to see integral parts of the story.
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