Avengers: Fear Itself
Brian Michael Bendis
I mentioned in an earlier post that some people don't like Bendis. I've read more and it seems to be that he is too talky. That's fine. And if that's how you feel, this book isn't for you. However, I ABSOLUTELY LOVED this book. The talkiness does it for me, especially in this volume of Avengers. This book kind of runs parallel to Fear Itself, but I think would stand OK on its own.
This book is done in an oral history interview style. Each Avenger has their time in front of the camera, with their interviews spliced to make a cohesive narrative of what happened during the Red Skulls attack, how they felt, the decisions they made, etc. Some characters got more face time than others, with the stand out (for me) being Jessica Drew aka Spider Woman. You see her inner thoughts, how she knows (or feels) that none of the Avengers trust her because of her past with Hydra. How she feels that she's never really done that big 'thing' that lets the world know I AM AN AVENGER! It's nice to see behind the mask and get the heroes worries and concerns while the world is burning down.
There are some New Avengers stories in this collection as well, including one about Luke Cage's nanny, Squirrel Girl. It's charming and kind of fun. I liked it and had never heard of this character before hand.
Biggest drawback to this probably comes from the condensed time frame in which it had to release in single issue. I think there are three artists in this collection, and the difference between them is stark. I think they were all pretty well done, but it doesn't lend itself to a cohesive look. Regardless it gets Five Squirrel Girls out of Five