Fear Itself is a 2011 crossover Marvel Comics event, consisting of a seven-issue, eponymous miniseries written by Matt Fraction and illustrated by Stuart Immonen, Wade Von Grawbadger, and Laura Martin, a prologue book (Fear Itself: Book of the Skull) by writer Ed Brubaker and artist Scot Eaton, and numerous tie-in books, including most of the X-Men family of books. Although it is a Marvel-wide crossover, the event emphasizes Captain America and Thor.
The entire planet has been seized by Fear and only chaos reigns. The Serpent, Asgard’s most ancient evil, has awakened and is feeding off the fear of Earth’s populace. Our planet’s only hope lies in the hands of heroes and villains who have not fallen into worldwide panic. But with Odin intent on sacrificing Earth, will their struggles against the Gods be enough? And how do you conquer Fear Itself?
What to read before Fear Itself?
Fear Itself is a self-contained event and doesn’t require any prior reading.
Fear Itself Reading Order:
Fear Itself Collected Editions
- Fear Itself
Collects Fear Itself : Book of the Skull , Fear Itself 1-7 - Invincible Iron Man: Fear Itself
Collects Invincible Iron Man #504-509 and Fear Itself #7.3: Iron Man - Fear Itself: Spider-Man
Collects Fear Itself: Spider-Man #1-3, Fear Itself: The Worthy #1 and Fear Itself: FF #1 - Journey Into Mystery Vol.1: Fear Itself
Collects Journey into Mystery #622-626, Thor Spotlight, Fear Itself Spotlight - Journey into Mystery, Vol. 2: Fear Itself Fallout
Collects Journey into Mystery #626.1, #627-631 - Fear Itself: The Home Front
Collects Fear Itself: The Home Front #1-7 - Fear Itself: Thunderbolts
Collects Thunderbolts #158-162 - Fear Itself: Avengers
Avengers #13-#17, New Avengers #14-#16 - Fear Itself: Youth in Revolt
Fear Itself: Youth in Revolt #1-6 - Fear Itself: Avengers Academy
Collects Avengers Academy #14-20 and #14.1 - Fear Itself: Wolverine/New Mutants
Collects Fear Itself: Wolverine #1-3 and New Mutants #29-32
- Fear Itself: Secret Avengers
Collects Secret Avengers #12.1 and #13-15 and the Fear Itself: Black Widow one-shot - Fear Itself: Hulk/Dracula
Collects Hulk #37-41, Fear Itself: Hulk Vs Dracula #1-3 and the Tomb of Dracula: Throne of Blood and Death of Dracula one-shot - Fear Itself: Heroes For Hire
Collects Heroes For Hire #6-12 - Fear Itself: Herc
Collects Herc #1-6 - Fear Itself: Ghost Rider
Collects Ghost Rider 0.1 and Ghost Rider #1-5 - Fear Itself: Black Panther
Collects Black Panther: The Man Without Fear #519-523 and Black Panther: The Deadliest Man Alive #524 - Fear Itself: Deadpool/Fearsome Four
Collects Fear Itself: Deadpool #1-3 and Fear Itself: Fearsome Four #1-4 - Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force/The Deep
Collects Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force #1-3 and Fear Itself: The Deep #1-4 - Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Men
Collects Uncanny X-Men #540-544 - Fear Itself: Shattered Heroes
Collects Fear Itself #7.1: Captain America, Fear Itself #7.2: Thor, Fear Itself #7.3: Iron Man And Point One.
Fear Itself Issue by issue:
In bold is the essential reading. Don’t miss Journey into Mystery!
- Fear Itself: Spotlight #1
- Fear Itself: The Book of the Skull #1
- Fear Itself: Sin’s Past #1
- Fear Itself #1
- Invincible Iron Man #503
- Fear Itself: Spider-Man #1
- Fear Itself: The Home front #1
- Journey Into Mystery #622
- Fear Itself: The Worthy #1
- Fear Itself #2
- Thunderbolts #158
- Thunderbolts #159
- Fear Itself: The Home Front #2
- Invincible Iron Man #504
- Invincible Iron Man #505
- Fear Itself: Deadpool #1
- Fear Itself: Youth in Revolt #1
- Herc #3
- Fear Itself: Wolverine #1
- Fear Itself: Wolverine #2
- Secret Avengers #13
- Iron Man 2.0 #5
- Iron Man 2.0 #6
- Journey Into Mystery #623
- Fear Itself #3
- Herc #4
- Fear Itself: FF #1
- Alpha Flight #1
- Fear Itself: Youth in Revolt #2
- Avengers Academy #15
- Avengers Academy #16
- Avengers Academy #17
- Avengers Academy #18
- Ghost Rider #1
- Secret Avengers #14
- The Avengers #13
- Hulk #37
- The Avengers #14
- The New Avengers #14
- Fear Itself: Wolverine #3
- The New Avengers #15
- The New Avengers #16
- Hulk #38
- The Avengers #15
- Ghost Rider #2
- Ghost Rider #3
- Ghost Rider #4
- Thunderbolts #160
- Iron Man 2.0 #7
- Journey Into Mystery #624
- Fear Itself: Fearsome Four #1
- Fear Itself: Fearsome Four #2
- Fear Itself: Fearsome Four #3
- Fear Itself: Fearsome Four #4
- Thunderbolts #161
- Thunderbolts #162
- Fear Itself: The Home Front #3
- Heroes For Hire #9
- Heroes For Hire #10
- Heroes For Hire #11
- Fear Itself: The Home Front #4
- Fear Itself: Spider-Man #2
- Fear Itself: Spider-Man #3
- Black Panther: The Man Without Fear #521
- Black Panther: The Man Without Fear #522
- Black Panther: The Man Without Fear #523
- Fear Itself: Deadpool #2
- Fear Itself: Deadpool #3
- Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force #1
- Fear Itself: Youth in Revolt #3
- Fear Itself: Youth in Revolt #4
- Fear Itself: Youth in Revolt #5
- Fear Itself: Youth in Revolt #6
- Journey Into Mystery #625
- Fear Itself #4
- Uncanny X-Men #540
- Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force #2
- Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force #3
- Uncanny X-Men #541
- Alpha Flight #2
- Alpha Flight #3
- The Avengers #16
- Journey Into Mystery #626
- New Mutants #29
- New Mutants #30
- New Mutants #31
- Uncanny X-Men #542
- Uncanny X-Men #543
- New Mutants #32
- The Avengers #17
- Alpha Flight #4 (Tie-In)
- Herc #5
- Fear Itself #5
- Fear Itself: The Home Front #5
- Fear Itself: The Home Front #6
- Herc #6
- Fear Itself: Black Widow #1
- Invincible Iron Man #506
- Invincible Iron Man #507
- Fear Itself: The Deep #1
- Fear Itself: The Deep #2
- Fear Itself: The Deep #3
- Fear Itself: The Deep #4
- Tomb of Dracula Presents: Throne of Blood #1
- Fear Itself: Hulk vs. Dracula #1
- Fear Itself: Hulk vs. Dracula #2
- Fear Itself: Hulk vs. Dracula #3
- Journey Into Mystery #627
- Fear Itself: The Monkey King #1
- Avengers Academy #19
- Invincible Iron Man #508
- Fear Itself #6
- Journey Into Mystery #628
- Secret Avengers #15
- Fear Itself: The Home Front #7
- Invincible Iron Man #509
- Fear Itself #7
- Journey Into Mystery #629
Aftermath
- Avengers Academy #20
- Journey Into Mystery #630
- The Mighty Thor #7
- Fear Itself: The Fellowship of Fear #1
- Fear Itself #7.1: Captain America
- Fear Itself #7.2: Thor
- Fear Itself #7.3: Iron Man
What to read after Fear Itself?
The events of Fear Itself lead us directly to another event, Shattered Heroes (see reading order), where the heroes of Marvel pick up the pieces and resume their lives, having to deal with the implications of what happened.
