Sunday, March 25, 2012

Fear Itself: The Fearless #11 (of 12)

Carrying on after the conclusion of the Fear Itself miniseries, The Fearless has focused on the efforts by the Valkyrie to gather the mystic hammers wielded by the servants of the Serpent.

This hasn't been a bad maxi-series - each issue has featured some excellent interior art by such talents as Mark Bagley and Paul Pelletier and great covers by Art Adams.

The story has moved along briskly and logically, and has included some flashbacks to the Valkyrie's largely unknown earliest days. It's included some great villains and some strong action sequences.

But the problem is, nothing that happens here is a surprise. Valkyrie fights heroes for the hammers, she fights villains, she faces overwhelming odds - it just feels like the whole thing was written by committee.

At the end of this issue, the creative team throws in a surprise - but it lacks any punch, since the next page features the cover for the next issue which seems to spell out what happens next.

So, not a bad series, but not a particularly memorable one. I'm glad to see Valkyrie getting some time in the spotlight - I've liked that character since she first appeared in The Defenders. (I should note that the character's first appearance was in The Avengers, with the Lady Liberators - but she wasn't exactly herself in that story, he said vaguely.)

Grade: C+

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