After a week of teaser images asking fans “Do You Fear?,” Marvel revealed “Fear Itself” as its major event for 2011 at a press conference at Midtown Comics, near New York City’s Times Square Dec. 21.
Marvel Editor in Chief Joe Quesada, wearing a Mickey Mouse T-shirt, opened the conference, which packed the area set aside for it at Midtown and brought more than 1,800 viewers to Marvel’s website to view it live via streaming video.
After thanking Midtown for providing the space, Quesada acknowledged Marvel Vice Presidents/Executive Editors Axel Alonso and Tom Brevoort, and then showed a short video trailer. The trailer incorporated the images that had been released in the past week and portions of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Fear Itself” speech before dissolving to the “Fear Itself” trade dress.
Fear Itself is a seven-issue mini-series by Matt Fraction and Stuart Immonen that begins in April. A prologue one-shot by Ed Brubaker and Scot Eaton is scheduled for March and features a previously untold World War II adventure of The Invaders and The Red Skull that sets the stage for the event.
Quesada said that Marvel’s heroes do their best when they’re tested to the utmost and this event, featuring the God of Fear, will do that. “Will the heroes stand and fight,” he asked, “or will they give in to what they fear most? Will they cross that line?”
Via a hookup from what Quesada described as “his secret bunker,” Fraction addressed the crowd and said that “ ‘Fear Itself’ is relatable to current real-world events that are lying, like a huge shadow, over us all. It seems as if reason and discourse have taken a back seat to mob mentality.”
Brevoort, who is editing “Fear Itself” and coordinating the various tie-ins, said that Marvel has “been building up to ‘Fear Itself’ for some time. We took a break from events since ‘Siege.’ ‘Fear Itself’ is analagous to ‘Secret Invasion’ in its size and scope and as ambitious as ‘Civil War.’ ”
While the main mini-series will provide full and complete story, Brevoort said that the event will tie into many other titles. “Nearly all Marvel characters will be affected, from Spider-Man and The Hulk to Dracula,” he added. “A couple of titles will launch from the event.”
While many upcoming events weren’t ready to be revealed at the time of this conference, one hint that Brevoort revealed about what is on the way was that fans should check out the “map of time” that was revealed in Avengers (4th series) #5.
All images (c) 2010 Marvel Characters Inc.
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