Secret Avengers #13 & Iron Man 2.0 #5

Two Fear Itself tie-in issues to get through here, both of them written by Nick Spencer. They should be really good, but here's hoping I didn't just jinx myself...

Secret Avengers #13: Fear Itself tie-in

Summary: We're RIGHT smack-dab in the middle of Fear Itself here(unlike in Avengers #13, an alleged Fear Itself tie-in...), with Beast, War Machine and Ant-Man arriving in Washington during Sin's blitzkrieg. Beast pulls a member of the army to safety and she tells Beast that her commanding officer was looking for him. Beast doesn't exactly want to leave the battle, but the soldier is insistent that the commanding officer was desperate to see Beast, so Beast heads off. Beast winds up meeting up with the commanding officer and the guy tells Beast that a member of Congress wouldn't leave the Capitol Building, and was specifically asking to talk to Beast before he'd agree to go. Upon hearing the name of the Representative in question(Lenny Gary from Mississippi), Beast rushes towards the Capitol Building. It seems that Beast and Lenny had been friends for years, and that Lenny had fought against Senator Robert Kelly for years and was a staunch activist for mutant rights. Upon meeting his old friend, Beast wants to know why he wouldn't leave the Capitol. Lenny explains that he had the floor when the fighting began, and that since the session had never been officially ended, he STILL had the floor. From there, Beast and Lenny begin to walk around the abandoned Capitol Building, and Lenny slyly reveals(without really revealing) that he was a ultra-powerful mutant who could apparently bend reality. With that, several statues and monuments come alive around Washington, attacking Sin's invading army. Lenny tells Beast that the best thing he could do in the face of Sin and the Serpent's aggression was to show the American public that he wasn't afraid. With that he tells Beast that he wouldn't leave the Capitol Building, and explains that he wanted to talk to America, showing Beast several cameras. Beast understands what Lenny was trying to do and leaves his friend, heading to Sharon Carter and telling her to send the feed coming from the Capitol Building out to every station in the world. Sharon does as she's told, and Lenny begins making a speech, but instead of going with his own words, decides to recite the Gettysburg Address instead. With Washington being torn apart all around him, Lenny manages to complete the speech before Sin's invaders finally hit the Capitol Building, cutting off the video feed and ending this issue.

Thoughts: Well I for one loved this comic. See, I'm a huge history buff in general, and a huge American history buff in particular. So a comic book where a huge statue of Abraham Lincoln(easily one of the three greatest US Presidents ever) is kicking the hell out of giant Nazi robots, George Washington(another one of the top three) is leading an army of phantom soldiers against the invaders, and the Gettysburg Address, one of my favorite speeches, is presented in it's ENTIRETY, is all right by me! Add Beast as the lead character here and you've got the formula for a successful comic book as far as I'm concerned!

Score: 9 out of 10.Go get 'em, Abe!


Iron Man 2.0 #5: Fear Itself tie-in

Summary: Still in Washington DC from Secret Avengers #13, War Machine and his Secret Avengers teammates are trying their best to halt Sin's rampage. Unfortunately, they aren't making much of a dent. The Prince of Orphans(he of the worst super-hero name ever) has joined the fight against Sin, but is suddenly hit with a wave of pain. It seems one of the Serpent's seven hammers landed in the secret Eighth City of heaven, a place reminiscent of Hell itself. The hammer falling tears open the seals keeping the the Eighth City hidden away, freeing the various menaces therein. War Machine heads over to the Prince to see what the deal was, and the Prince pretty much describes what I just did... The Prince tells War Machine that he had to go to this Eighth City to see what had happened, and begins to teleport away... With a very confused War Machine along for the ride. The other Immortal Weapons also begin to make their way to the broken Eighth City, where an evil guy has decided he'd take the hammer, even though it was supposed to belong to the Absorbing Man.

Thoughts: Yuck. I hated that Immortal Iron Fist series, and couldn't stand those annoying Immortal Weapons... Not only did the Immortal Weapons storyline cause me to drop Iron Fist(back before it was canceled), I can't STAND the names these Immortal Weapons have... The Bride of Nine Spiders... Dog Brother #1... What the hell ever happened to names like Spider-Man?!? Anyway, I can see the Fear Itself x-over issues for this series are going to be a major chore for me to get through...

Score: 4 1/2 out of 10.I don't remember why I scanned this page...