Comic Book news, Week of October 17, 2011

Marvel's "Fear Itself" is winding to a close and here's what I've learned in this week's comic book stash:

First off by now you all know that Captain America's shield was destroyed by Odin's brother The Serpent, God of Fear. I have to say I really enjoyed how The Serpent destroyed Cap's shield. He just raised it over his head and snapped it. It left Captain America totally flabbergasted. All he could say was "You can't" and other incoherent sentences before getting knocked out.

So it says a lot about his character to have bounced back and gone back to battle without his shield and opting for conventional rifles and firearms. In fact it reaches the point in Fear Itself number 7 - the last one - where we find Cap standing alone against the army of the Serpent using shotguns and automatic rifles - and actually holding the line.

He's standing alone because all the other Avengers are hiding in Broxton  - in the remains of Asgard - waiting for Iron Man to return with Asgardian blessed weapons. He finally does accompanied by a newly armored Thor bearing Odin's sword Ragnarok. He gifts eight Avengers - counting himself - with eight weapons that enhances the power of the Avengers making them a match for The Serpent's chosen - who are by then down to 6 what with the Thing having been reverted and the Hulk having lost to Dracula. Iron Man didn't bother though making something for Captain America because, well he had his shield. Tony didn't realize that the shield was gone.

So the Avengers Assemble and go to war.

Which leads to the best part of the end of Fear Itself, Thor throws his hammer at The Serpent then opts to fight with Ragnarok with Odin's Sword instead - so the Hammer falls to the earth and who picks it up? 

Weird though that holding Mjolnir should give Captain America the ability to summon lighting - which it shouldn't. Captain America has done it before being one of the worthy individuals to wield Mjolnir. What's interesting though is that Mjolnir was damaged when Thor went up against his grand-father Bor. It was repaired by Doctor Strange who tied Thor's lifeforce to Mjolnir. With Thor now dead - oops spoiler - shouldn't Mjolnir have shattered? Of course they're bringing Thor back one day, so perhaps they'll use that as the twist to bring him back.

Images courtesy of insidepulse.com

But another great part about Mjolnir is the reassembly of Captain America's shield by the Dwarfs of Asgard. They've infused the adamantium/Vibranium mix with Uru Metal - the material comprising Mjolnir - making the shield even stronger than it was before EXCEPT, now it has a crack in it. I agree with Captain America, it gives the shield character and he shouldn't bother removing it. Though Iron Man offered to take a shot at buffing it out - right, Tony Stark has the ability to scuff crack out of Adamantium/Vibranium/Uru mixed material.

Some of the more depressing news for the week though include this very disturbing image of Cyclops making out with Storm. In X-Men Regenesis, the White Queen tells Cyclops that she's tired of being taken for granted and Cyclops has given her some cause - what with the Red Queen, the non-stop Jean references, the thing with Frenzy (Hey I think they make a good love-team), the recent return of Lee Forrester in a bikini, and Namor being right about saying that Cyclops married the red-head.

But Storm? Seriously? I already though that it was a big mistake for Ororo to stay and now she turns tramp. Where's her pride? She's married to the Black Panther of all people. Note the dress and hair-do though. Storm's personality changes like the weather and it' been said that this reflects in her wardrobe. Looks like we're in for another change in Storm.

Rounding up, we have Hawkeye taking over the Secret Avengers now that Captain America has to resume his mantle in the Avengers. I think it suits him and he doesn't play well with the big leagues anyway. The Secret Avengers is more his style. He'll also be changing his uniform, bringing him closer to his Ultimate Avengers counterpart.

And of course, now he's dating Spiderwoman. I'm looking forward to a throw-down between this super-spy and the super-spy-hunter Mockinbird (Who just received a major power-up)

Let's close with the ominous warning at the end of Fear Itself. The Pheonix is coming in 2012. Now the only question is: Is this the return of Jean Grey? A Jean Grey Clone? Madelyn Pryor, Rachel Summers, or even Hope assuming the worst fears of the White Queen?