I really liked the "interview" format of these with action in-between interviews. I'm still a little confused on the timing because Thor was in the first issue and he was dead at the end of the main Fear Itself series. So I'm not sure how he could be sitting around talking about events. Overall though this was very cool. Also it was my first experience with Squirrel Girl and she was fun (I really thought I would totally hate her). ( )

So, Asgardian hammers that make people super are given out or unleashed or whatever by the Red Skull's daughter Sin. Including one to The Thing, and one to the Incredible Hulk. There's also a Red Hulk, I'm not sure who he is (I think I'm a bit behind on my Hulk Lore).

Anyway, I usually like Brian Michael Bendis' work, and this was pretty good too. The whole 'telling the story to a reporter' was a good point of view since there was so much going on in the plot.

And after the first issue I thought the art was pretty good too. I just didn't love the first issue's art in the TPB, I thought it was too cramped. ( )

About halfway through this book, I was prepared to give it just three stars. The storytelling format was annoying as hell. The book is structured so that the Avengers are being "interviewed" for a book about the events of Fear Itself. So there are a lot of pages covered with small panels with the face of an Avenger saying a line or two of dialog. It jumps back and forth among the various heroes. The interviews are intercut with full page spreads showing the battles or events being talked about by the heroes. Having to read a long chain of single sentence boxes was a bit tedious. However, it quickly became clear that the incidents they are sharing is of their fellow heroes being especially brave - and worthy of being called Avengers.

No one questions Steve Rogers' or Thor's heroism and bravery. And each of the Avengers reaffirms that. Then they go on to explain why each of the rest of them is also brave and true, despite a shady past or prior transgressions. And each of those examples is what made this book a must-read that was even better than the main event. The Red Hulk, Spiderwoman, Mockingbird...they all get a chance to shine while saving the day during Fear Itself. Steve Rogers takes Victoria Hand, Agent 13 and Maria Hill on a mission that turns out to be a trap - that they fight their way out of. All of these were great stories, with superb action sequences. However, the best was definitely saved for last.

The book concludes with Squirrel Girl - I know, a ridiculous character who somehow works great in this instance - fighting her way across the mayhem of New York to get to Avengers Mansion and watch the baby Cage while her parents fight the big fight. And when the mansion comes under attack, it is Daredevil who saves the day in a story that very nearly had me cheering out loud. The ending alone was worth five stars.

Overall, though I still hate the format, this book does a lot to expand on the overall Fear Itself event by telling some exciting stories of how the heroes fought the spreading chaos. Highly recommended. ( )