Fear Itself: The Deep #1 & Herc #4

I have two more Fear Itself crossovers in my new comic pile, I might as well take care of them before I start reading anything else. Here's hoping they're as good as the two Fear Itself issues I reviewed earlier...

Fear Itself: The Deep #1(of 4):

Summary: This issue starts off with a bang, as we see Namor and the forces of New Atlantis trying to stand against the Serpent possessed Attuma. However, Attuma's god-like powers are WAY too much for Namor to contend with, as Attuma beats the hell out of Namor, forcing Namor to flee the city(with Loa), leaving his citizens behind. With Namor running scared, Attuma destroys most of the city and captures the citizens, forcing the people into slavery. Namor and Loa head to a bar, where Namor is plagued by self-doubt, since he'd never been thrashed in the waters like that before. Dr. Strange arrives at the bar and offers to help Namor by trying to contact the Defenders(!). After a few days, nobody shows up(HA!), and Strange begins to sense some demonic entity approaching. With that, a demonic sea creature goes sailing through the wall and Lyra(UGH!!!!!!!!) enters the room in the place of her alternate dimensional father, the Hulk. Lyra offers to help the heroes, and with a horde of demonic sea creatures preparing to attack, Namor and Strange are in no position to turn her down. The battle goes back and forth, with the tide finally turning when the Silver Surfer(!) arrives on the scene telling them that the threat on Earth was so great he was there to offer his assistance.

Thoughts: Well, if this comic would have ended after like the first 6 pages, I'd have given it a perfect score, because the beginning, with Attuma battering a... dare I say, frightened Namor was fantastic. Unfortunately, this issue didn't end after that battle... Now, I don't have anything against Dr. Strange, but Loa annoys the hell out of me, and I can't really stand anybody in the Hulk family, which is why Lyra's appearance really hurt my enjoyment of this one. Honestly, if there were two characters I enjoyed more in Loa and Lyra's places, this comic would probably be around the 9 range score-wise. Unfortunately that's not the case, which means the score looks more like this...

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.The Imperius Rex taunt? AWESOME!!!


Herc #4: Fear Itself tie-in

Summary: This issue kicks off with Hercules taking on the combined might of Kyknos and Hecate... Neither one of which has anything to do with the greater Fear Itself stuff... Hmm... Anyway, Hercules gets attacked by some Hecate possessed people, and winds up getting carried to safety by the Griffin, who seems to have gone fully animal now. Spotting a fight below, Hercules lands and tries to play peace maker, but gets stabbed and attacked for his troubles. Griffin takes Hercules to a rooftop where he passes out. Griffin brings Hercules some rabid dogs to eat, and Hercules patches himself up before passing out again. Hercules eventually wakes up to trees sprouted up all over Brooklyn, apparently thanks to Hecate's magic.

Thoughts: Ah-hahahahah!!!!! You got me Marvel!!! Sure, this issue may have SAID Fear Itself on the cover, but it had NOTHING to do with Fear Itself! Not the villains, not the action, not Hercules, NOTHING! Yep, I got fooled! And the worst of it was that this was co-written by Greg Pak, who's work I usually try my damnedest to avoid... Yes, Marvel may have tricked me this time, but I'll be damned if they get me again! Nope, I'll be WAY more careful in the future with which Fear Itself books I pick up, and I can promise you I sure as HELL won't be getting the next issue of THIS series!

Score: 2 1/2 out of 10.Yep, nothing says "Fear Itself" like Hercules being fed dog by the Griffin.........