Fear Itself #1
Written by Matt Fraction
Pencils by Stuart Immonen
Inks by Wade Von Grawbadger
Colors by Laura Martin
Letters by Chris Eliopoulos
Marvel Comics
Price: $3.99
Release date: April 6, 2011
There is a delicate line between the amount of realism that I am looking for in my fantasy escapism and Fear Itself, the newest event from Marvel Comics, straddles the line very closely. The series, written by Matt Fraction with art by Stuart Immonen, is the next in a line of Marvel books that have taken a more “realistic” look at the world in comics. Marvel has prided itself by taking place in a world very much like our own. The President in our world is the President in the Marvel U. Problems in our world become problems in their world. They have examined many real world issues, such as drug use in Spider-Man, racism in Uncanny X-Men, and a host of other topics. However, I have to question just how much realism can exist in a fantastic world filled with colorful characters fighting against villains who can be blamed for all of society’s ills. How much realism is too much, and can real world issues exist in a world where they could be conceivably solved by the characters within that universe? I don’t just read comics for fun, I want my mind to be involved and I want the comics I read to inform the world around me. On the other hand, I still want to have fun while reading my comics, and I will admit that they are a form of escapism from the reality of my everyday life. So when reading this issue, I had to decide how much realism do I want, and how much do I just want to escape into a world where problems can be solved by an Ultimate Nullifier.
...continue reading »