You can't really go two
months without spotting a new comic event hitting the shelves – and more
importantly hitting your wallet. Currently, the Big Two (DC and Marvel) are
running Flashpoint and Fear Itself respectively. If you want to read all of the
issues of both events, you're looking to spend well over $400. Fear Itself has
over 45 issues, with Flashpoint boasting a disgusting 72 issues including
tie-ins and one shots. So the question is which one deserves your money and
attention.
If you're specifically a fan of one over the other, the choice between DC and
Marvel should be an obvious one. If you sit somewhere in the middle, or are new
to comics all together, hopefully this will help you make the right decision.
Fear Itself
Okay, so Secret Invasion sucked. Siege was decent. What next? Apparently some
more Asgardian shenanigans as Red Skull's daughter Sin has unleashed the
Serpent – an ancient personification of fear... itself! FDR references aside,
this event is actually pretty fun, and I like the 1940s back story showing Adolf Hitler
ordering Red Skull to find the Hammer that summons the Serpent. It's also incredibly self contained. If you haven't read any Marvel
comics before, you'll stand a pretty good chance at enjoying and understanding
the plot – which is rare in events today. There is also less tie-ins and one shots than Flashpoint, which makes for easier collection. It will still wear down your bank account, but being nearly half the size of its competitors could be viewed as a bad thing as well. There's less content here than DC's event, but we could call it quality over quantity. The art is something I'm neutral on – and this is referring to the core series only. It's interesting, but I'm not really on board with it at this point.
Flashpoint
Here's the thing about DC – no matter how caught up you get with the canon,
stuff be mad confusing. There's a war brewing between Wonder Woman and Aquaman,
Barry Allen is jumping between realities as a copy cat impersonates him and
kills the other Barry Allen (What? *sigh*), and Deathstroke sails around looking
like a pirate. I'm not going to make any attempts at explaining this thing, and
I also can't recommend it unless you have a strong knowledge of the current DC
universes (all 52 of them). It spends too much time explaining itself and not
enough time being a cool comic. The art is very strong, though, and that's certainly an important part of comics. Granted, my current attention is limited to
Green Lantern and not much else, so we're still looking at this through the eyes
of a newcomer. I will say that if you're interested in the
upcoming DC reboot, it begins with Flashpoint. You could probably get away with only reading the core five issues to prepare yourself for DC's upcoming changes. For myself, I'll just wait until
all the new #1's, since clearly NONE OF THIS WILL MATTER IN TWO MONTHS.
If you've read any of my previous articles, even this one, you know I don't
really like events. In this case, it's hard to recommend one over the other. Fear Itself is self-contained, entertaining, and it's all Hitler's fault.
However, if you like convoluted plots that will have literally never existed in
two months, Flashpoint is right up your alley.