‘Fear Itself’ #4 left us with the teaser that issue five was going to be an all out brawl and boy does it deliver! In this issue, we get the epic showdown between the Mighty Thor in a lop-sided battle with the fear-powered team of the Hulk and Thing.

Up until this issue, I haven’t really been keen on ‘Fear Itself’ as a story. I’ve never been a Thor reader, other than his appearances in Spider-Man and some Avengers stories, and the whole gods-vs-Earth story seemed to be playing up Thor and Captain America characters a bit much, which I assumed was just to drum up interest in Marvel Pictures’ summer movie blockbusters. However, after seeing the movie awesomeness that is ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’, I will admit that it may have ramped up my interest in this title a bit more. I didn’t care much for Bucky Barnes as Captain America, so when Steve Rogers takes up the star spangled shield in this issue, my inner-fanboy gave a short yelp of joy.

[Warning: spoilers below!]

Most of this issues page count is taken up with lots of smashing blows and lightning strikes from Thor and his sparring partners, Hulk and Thing. While Thor’s conflict rages on Earth, Tony Stark (Iron Man) is appealing to Odin himself on behalf of Earth’s protectors. What does he need from the God? He wishes access to Odin’s workshop so that the weapon-maker can craft some goodies to give Earth a fighting chance against its seemingly eminent destruction. Thor’s battle ends with his smashing and apparently wounding Thing and then sending Hulk into orbit. After taking out his enemies, an exhausted and possibly wounded Thor collapses into the street. With Thor down for the count, things take a turn for the worse when the Serpent and Sin appear and basically hand our heroes a major hurt sandwich. So much so that Captain America seems defeated and willing to surrender to his fate.

What does this near surrender mean for Earth? What is Tony Stark up to in Odin’s workshop? Is Thor really gone for good as Marvel’s teaser cover to The Mighty Thor #8 would suggest?

FEAR ITSELF #5
Written by MATT FRACTION
Art by STUART IMMONEN
Cover by STEVE MCNIVEN