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Fear Itself (Single Issues) #7.1-7.3
Fear Itself: Shattered Heroes
In the aftermath of Fear Itself, Captain America, Thor and Iron Man have all been changed by the dramatic event. as each deals with the shocking alterations to their lives, can they rise to the occasion and remain Earth's Mightiest heroes?
COLLECTING: SHATTERED HEROES: CAPTAIN AMERICA, IRON MAN, THOR; POINT ONE
COLLECTING: SHATTERED HEROES: CAPTAIN AMERICA, IRON MAN, THOR; POINT ONE
128 pages, Hardcover
First published April 11, 2012
About the author
Ed Brubaker
1,718 books2,834 followersEd Brubaker (born November 17, 1966) is an Eisner Award-winning American cartoonist and writer. He was born at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland.
Brubaker is best known for his work as a comic book writer on such titles as Batman, Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Fist, Catwoman, Gotham Central and Uncanny X-Men. In more recent years, he has focused solely on creator-owned titles for Image Comics, such as Fatale, Criminal, Velvet and Kill or Be Killed.
In 2016, Brubaker ventured into television, joining the writing staff of the HBO series Westworld.
Brubaker is best known for his work as a comic book writer on such titles as Batman, Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Fist, Catwoman, Gotham Central and Uncanny X-Men. In more recent years, he has focused solely on creator-owned titles for Image Comics, such as Fatale, Criminal, Velvet and Kill or Be Killed.
In 2016, Brubaker ventured into television, joining the writing staff of the HBO series Westworld.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 12, 2017
The Dead Collector: Bring out yer dead.
[a man puts a body on the cart]
Large Man with Dead Body: Here's one.
The Dead Collector: That'll be ninepence.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I'm not dead.
The Dead Collector: What?
Large Man with Dead Body: Nothing. There's your ninepence.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I'm not dead.
The Dead Collector: 'Ere, he says he's not dead.
from Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Yeah, this is something like that. Three fallen heroes. Two literally and one figuratively.
This is the epilogue to Marvel’s Fear Itself multi-jumbo-hellzapoppin crossover event.
First, there’s Bucky/Winter Soldier and Captain America wannabe. He was killed by the Red Skull’s daughter and is dead. If I’ve learned one thing from this installment, it's Captain America does not like to be punk’d.
Second, Thor’s dead too, but he’s a God, so we know this won’t last. While waiting for his return, Asgard will be ruled by the ladies and I’m really starting to like Tween Loki.
Third, and this is the best installment of the three, Tony Stark recently fallen off the wagon*, is appalled by what the Grey Gargoyle did to Paris and is God-smacked by Odin.
The last part of this volume uses a trip to visit The Watcher (think Toy Story 3 baby doll without the creepy droopy eye lid) to preview AvsX, The Age of Ultron and some stuff nobody will read.
Also, Kaine, Spider-man’s evil, C-L-O-N-E (If I spell it out, Marvel might forget about it), might get his own book.
The art work is a mixed bag. For the artist(s) attempting to copy Jack Kirby – make sure you have the skillz, otherwise it just shows off your lack of talent.
*This would be a golden opportunity to go bar hopping with Tony. You and he could run up a ginormous tab, covered of course by Mr. Stark himself.
[a man puts a body on the cart]
Large Man with Dead Body: Here's one.
The Dead Collector: That'll be ninepence.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I'm not dead.
The Dead Collector: What?
Large Man with Dead Body: Nothing. There's your ninepence.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I'm not dead.
The Dead Collector: 'Ere, he says he's not dead.
from Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Yeah, this is something like that. Three fallen heroes. Two literally and one figuratively.
This is the epilogue to Marvel’s Fear Itself multi-jumbo-hellzapoppin crossover event.
First, there’s Bucky/Winter Soldier and Captain America wannabe. He was killed by the Red Skull’s daughter and is dead. If I’ve learned one thing from this installment, it's Captain America does not like to be punk’d.
Second, Thor’s dead too, but he’s a God, so we know this won’t last. While waiting for his return, Asgard will be ruled by the ladies and I’m really starting to like Tween Loki.
Third, and this is the best installment of the three, Tony Stark recently fallen off the wagon*, is appalled by what the Grey Gargoyle did to Paris and is God-smacked by Odin.
The last part of this volume uses a trip to visit The Watcher (think Toy Story 3 baby doll without the creepy droopy eye lid) to preview AvsX, The Age of Ultron and some stuff nobody will read.
Also, Kaine, Spider-man’s evil, C-L-O-N-E (If I spell it out, Marvel might forget about it), might get his own book.
The art work is a mixed bag. For the artist(s) attempting to copy Jack Kirby – make sure you have the skillz, otherwise it just shows off your lack of talent.
*This would be a golden opportunity to go bar hopping with Tony. You and he could run up a ginormous tab, covered of course by Mr. Stark himself.
August 9, 2017
This is a weird collection to me, because these 3 issues only really work if you're going to continue reading the books that follow. Like the Captain America part (while it's a very good comic and Ed Brubaker did have a good knack for doing one shots in his run), it's just bridging the Fear Itself events over to Captain America and Winter Soldier. The same with Thor and Iron Man. Suppose this is what happens next, but what's in here is also in other collections (I think?)
They're good stories though. The Cap one I mentioned being the stand out, but Fraction does a good job with both the Thor and Iron Man ones.
They're good stories though. The Cap one I mentioned being the stand out, but Fraction does a good job with both the Thor and Iron Man ones.
May 14, 2019
These are issues that should have been included in the Fear Itself trade. Or at the very least should have been included in the respective Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man trades that these precede. But here they feel like a collection of stories that don’t even begin something.
Let me back up a second. As a reader I felt as though I was seeing the preview issue before a new writer begins there run on a character. These are the issues that follow an event but don’t move anything to move the story. The barely present an resolution or illuminating incidents. They try and for what they’re supposed to be these are goddamn well written with some enjoyable character interactions. But the Captain America one shit exists to promote the Winter Solider series. The Thor one shot pushes what’s coming up in Thor. And the Iron Man one just continues the run of Matt Fraction.
Under this pretense these stories are good. But if you never read these and went on to read the run I don’t think you’d ever miss anything.
Two stars. But understand they are well written and drawn but are getting graded on being unnecessary advertisement.
Let me back up a second. As a reader I felt as though I was seeing the preview issue before a new writer begins there run on a character. These are the issues that follow an event but don’t move anything to move the story. The barely present an resolution or illuminating incidents. They try and for what they’re supposed to be these are goddamn well written with some enjoyable character interactions. But the Captain America one shit exists to promote the Winter Solider series. The Thor one shot pushes what’s coming up in Thor. And the Iron Man one just continues the run of Matt Fraction.
Under this pretense these stories are good. But if you never read these and went on to read the run I don’t think you’d ever miss anything.
Two stars. But understand they are well written and drawn but are getting graded on being unnecessary advertisement.
December 12, 2017
A collection of one-shot stories featuring Captain America, Thor and Iron Man that follow immediately after the events of FEAR ITSELF. The superior of the three is Iron Man, who continues being haunted by the deaths of thousands upon thousands in Paris. However, Brubaker and Guice's Cap story, which undos a significant death in FEAR ITSELF, gives us Butch in an energetic Steranko mode (the Steve Rogers / Nick Fury brawl is vibrantly illustrated) and is my favorite. The Thor piece is solid enough and gives us a prelude to Jane Foster's assumption of the Thunder God (Goddess) mantle.
November 24, 2019
Half Fear Itself epilogue, half teaser for stories to come.
Overall, I liked it. It was fun. The art was really good, and it really did whet my appetite for the Post-Fear Itself landscape.
As a bonus, the Watcher scenes were drawn in a very Kirbyesque manner, which I really dug.
Nothing here is going to blow your mind. It’s a fast read, and every vignette hovers somewhere between an epilogue and a prologue of sorts. Don’t let that dissuade you. It’s good stuff and it does a good job setting the stage.
Overall, I liked it. It was fun. The art was really good, and it really did whet my appetite for the Post-Fear Itself landscape.
As a bonus, the Watcher scenes were drawn in a very Kirbyesque manner, which I really dug.
Nothing here is going to blow your mind. It’s a fast read, and every vignette hovers somewhere between an epilogue and a prologue of sorts. Don’t let that dissuade you. It’s good stuff and it does a good job setting the stage.
May 31, 2019
Although I thought the writing and artwork was good I felt it a weird Mish mash of issues.
Very hard to get fully in to as just as your interest is piqued you're on to a different story line.
Very hard to get fully in to as just as your interest is piqued you're on to a different story line.
April 20, 2024
Got bored and stopped reading it
June 17, 2012
The Cap story is totally in service of the launch of a new series, and the Thor story doesn't make sense even for that purpose. The Iron Man story at least feels like it is a storytelling collection of pages - giving us a little insight into Tony Stark.
The rest of the book - the mini "Point Ones" - is just a marketing exercise to launch a bunch of new series, much like the Heroic Age books were launched all at once, some doing well and others fizzling.
This is such a pointless exercise - these anthologies rely on so much context for the ongoings that they won't attract new readers, and the new series get so few pages that there's no real way to judge a premise (or future purchase decision) on this - even for existing readers.
This is one of the many books I'm damned glad I didn't have to buy just to get through it.
Here are my plot notes because I can never remember who when and what, when I'm reading later books:
The rest of the book - the mini "Point Ones" - is just a marketing exercise to launch a bunch of new series, much like the Heroic Age books were launched all at once, some doing well and others fizzling.
This is such a pointless exercise - these anthologies rely on so much context for the ongoings that they won't attract new readers, and the new series get so few pages that there's no real way to judge a premise (or future purchase decision) on this - even for existing readers.
This is one of the many books I'm damned glad I didn't have to buy just to get through it.
Here are my plot notes because I can never remember who when and what, when I'm reading later books:
May 20, 2014
This was the last tie-in I read related to Fear Itself, because I anticipated that it would cover the aftermath and it does. I'm not sure how I feel about it so I went with three stars. The aftermath was very well done, but most of the book is broken into pieces that set up specific future events.
The book opens with the discovery that - surprise! - someone who died didn't really die! Not as farfetched as some "resurrections," it's no spoiler to figure out that Bucky Barnes didn't die since he had a solo series launch right after Fear Itself. Still, it provided some closure as did the rebirth of Tanarus. He's always been the God of Thunder, right? Only Loki thinks it's bullsh!t. The final bit directly related to Fear Itself can also be found in the Iron man tie-in - Tony Stark confronts The Grey Gargoyle and Odin about Paris with a surprising result.
The rest of the book deals with the set-up of future events Age of Apocalypse, Age of Ultron and even Original Sin (just now being published as I write this review). These pieces felt disjointed and thrown together. If I wasn't somewhat familiar with those events, I would have been totally lost as to what was going on.
Overall, though I felt this book was poorly constructed, it does have some essential material for readers. Cautiously recommended.
The book opens with the discovery that - surprise! - someone who died didn't really die! Not as farfetched as some "resurrections," it's no spoiler to figure out that Bucky Barnes didn't die since he had a solo series launch right after Fear Itself. Still, it provided some closure as did the rebirth of Tanarus. He's always been the God of Thunder, right? Only Loki thinks it's bullsh!t. The final bit directly related to Fear Itself can also be found in the Iron man tie-in - Tony Stark confronts The Grey Gargoyle and Odin about Paris with a surprising result.
The rest of the book deals with the set-up of future events Age of Apocalypse, Age of Ultron and even Original Sin (just now being published as I write this review). These pieces felt disjointed and thrown together. If I wasn't somewhat familiar with those events, I would have been totally lost as to what was going on.
Overall, though I felt this book was poorly constructed, it does have some essential material for readers. Cautiously recommended.
February 10, 2013
I totally agree with Mike Lonergan. Making this a easy review for me :-)
The Iron Man story is the best one, but I already read in in Iron Man's own tie-in on Fear Itself. Surprise, surprise: Thor and Bucky Barnes return to the living (the last one as Winter Soldier). Then there are the Point One stories: I didn't understand much about those characters that where already unfamiliar to me. There are very short stories/intros of Age of Apocalypse, Scarlet Spider, Colomoon & Dragonfire and Defenders. I probably won't see them again. At the end there is a very dramatic 7-page preview on the Age of Utron...
The Iron Man story is the best one, but I already read in in Iron Man's own tie-in on Fear Itself. Surprise, surprise: Thor and Bucky Barnes return to the living (the last one as Winter Soldier). Then there are the Point One stories: I didn't understand much about those characters that where already unfamiliar to me. There are very short stories/intros of Age of Apocalypse, Scarlet Spider, Colomoon & Dragonfire and Defenders. I probably won't see them again. At the end there is a very dramatic 7-page preview on the Age of Utron...
September 20, 2015
3 stories going into the aftermath of the Fear Itself run. I'd already read Cap's as part of Winter Solider, which is really were it belongs, but I do love the send-off of Bucky and the chance for Steve to say goodbye. It was a great emotional tie up and I love that Bucky wouldn't leave Steve without the full story because of the 40s. The Thor story was...not great? And I think undid the entire Fear Itself thing? The Tony chapter actually made me want to read his issues of Fear Itself, because it seemed like a real emotional look at what he experienced and how that affected him, which was very interesting to see.
June 27, 2012
See Mike Lonergan's review below. The Thor and Ironman stories are interesting because they provide some interesting transition points in the regular ongoing series, but the rest is just essentially promos for new launches. As a book there is no unity.
November 8, 2014
This is a disjointed story designed to get you to buy more comics (graphic novels). What happened to the comic books for .12 cents that were fun to read? Shattered Heroes modern overreach, not much fun.
July 6, 2016
No me gustó Fear Itself pero su secuela me ha dejado un gran sabor de boca con tramas más elaboradas e interesantes dentro de las series regulares. En realidad leí un recopilatorio de internet que incluye más colecciones que este pero para el caso...
August 8, 2016
What a weird hodge podge of randomness. The only things that made sense were the two stories about Bucky Barnes memorial and Thor's funeral.
December 12, 2017
Some were interesting bridges, but mostly just filler/fluff
April 23, 2014
Huge letdown.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews