The Spider-Man and FF tie-ins were pretty good, The Worthy was a waste of time just rehashing old well-known origin stories. ( )

This was divided up into 3 parts.

"The Worthy" one-shot, which was really a series vignettes, one for each of the hammer bearers. It was interesting but they were focused on the bearers rather than the powers possessing them. I thought it would be more interesting to know about Angrir the Breaker of Souls, but I get that it wouldn't have the emotional impact of Ben Grimm struggling with his insecurities.

FF one shot - I never followed Fantastic Four or as they're called now the Future Foundation. This didn't make me feel like I needed to start following them.

Spider-Man 1-3 - This was exactly the right length and stuck to the "fear" theme well, carrying over the "no one dies on my watch" philosophy from some of the spider-man comics I've read recently. I liked how it didn't just concentrate on Spider-Man, but looked into the lives of regular people and how they were affected. ( )

Three stories are collected in this TPB. Spider-Man trying to save as many people as possible in New York because he knows that while others are fighting the big bads he needs to try and save the lives of the regular people.

Then there's a Future Foundation (or Fantastic Four Foundation or whatever) story where Reed and Sue try to talk the rampaging Ben Grimm (Thanks to a serpent talking in his ear and a big Asgard Hammer).

Finally there is "The Worthy' that tells the stories of the Origins of the hammer wielders like Titania, Hulk, the Thing, etc.

I really liked the art in this TPB. It was bold and I knew what and who I was looking at on each page. And most of the colors were vibrant but not cartoony.

The only part that I didn't like as much was at the end of 'The Worthy' when a couple of the origins were too cartoony. ( )

I found the crossover event Fear Itself to be enjoyable, if not as good as other events. But the tie-ins have been hit or miss; a few stand outs but most are only so-so. This is definitely one of the stand outs.

Though he's been on teams, Spider-man is mostly a loner. Here, we see him grappling with seemingly insurmountable odds and self-doubt. He knows he isn't the one who can stop what is happening (what the heck is happening?!) so he just tries to hold the line while the Avengers grapple with stopping the Serpent. Peter is desperately worried about Aunt May, whom he can't reach by phone, but he can't make it across the city to her without stopping. And if he doesn't stop to help, people will die. There are a handful of regular people in desperate situations that the story rotates among. Spidey helps each one at some point and though he doesn't realize it, his help is what gives them the hope they need to fight the Fear. This tie-in goes to the heart of Spider-man in a way not many stories do. He doesn't even see how he is inspiring people but he continues on none-the-less. At one point, he stops in to see Mayor Jonah Jameson - who frankly tells him to quit whining and get back out there! The entire story is so action packed and emotionally charged I could not put it down. Plus, it truly demonstrates just how powerful Spider-man is. Further, it ties into the event in a meaningful way by showing what is happening on the ground and how the non-Avenger heroes are handling it.

The second half of the book devotes a short "origin" story to each of the hammer-wielding Worthy. It shows a bit of their history to get them to the point of receiving the hammer. These were insightful and interesting, even for less-known characters like Titania. Overall, this was a fantastic collection. Highly recommended. ( )

"Contains material originally published in magazine form as Fear Itself Spider-Man #1-3, Fear Itself: FF#1 and Fear Itself: The Worthy #1"--P. facing t.p. ( )