Historical text from Comixfan:



ultrabasurero
May 17, 2011, 01:30 pm

Coming from Marvel in August...

FEAR ITSELF: FELLOWSHIP OF FEAR
Written by VARIOUS
Select Character Artwork by GUS VAZQUEZ
Cover by PATRICK SCHERBERGER
A companion to FEAR ITSELF, bringing you up to speed on all things frightening! Handbook profiles for characters that thrive on fear (Dreamqueen! Fear-Eaters! Fear-Lords! The Darkforce Dimension’s Predator! Shock/Ariel Trennmore! The Golden Age’s Dr. Fear!), events that have terrified (Chaos War! The Gauntlet! Second Coming! Kang Dynasty! Shadowland!) and one of the main architects of FEAR ITSELF: Sin/Red Skull! Also featuring a map tracing recent events that have terrified Marvel’s denizens and mini-profiles providing the basics on the six characters chosen as hammer wielders!
32 PGS./Sourcebook/Rated T+ …$3.99
Eduardo M.
May 17, 2011, 02:54 pm

Interesting. It seems like a handbook. The write-up has a very handbooky way of describing it.

ultrabasurero wrote:

Also featuring a map tracing recent events that have terrified Marvel’s denizens and mini-profiles providing the basics on the six characters chosen as hammer wielders!

This is what I'm curious about. The first part seems like some sort of appendix. Maybe narrated by Steve Rogers?

The second part has me wondering, are these going to be entries similar to the Red Hulk and Red She-Hulk profiles we got last year?

Stuart V
May 17, 2011, 04:58 pm

It's part saga book, part handbook.

ultrabasurero
May 17, 2011, 05:46 pm

Stuart V wrote:

It's part saga book, part handbook.

I don't like it when they do this. Normally saga books are free. They tack on some OHOTMU profiles and then it jumps to $3.99, the price of most of 2010's handbooks which were all 64 pages.

What percentage of this book are profiles?

Eduardo M.
May 17, 2011, 05:55 pm

Stuart V wrote:

It's part saga book, part handbook.

Interesting.......

PaxHouse
May 17, 2011, 06:16 pm

Characters that thrive on Fear, eh....?!?

I wonder will the editors include the Bogey-/Boogyman....?!? :dunno: :crazy:

slevin87
May 17, 2011, 06:21 pm

PaxHouse wrote:

Characters that thrive on Fear, eh....?!?

I wonder will the editors include the Bogey-/Boogyman....?!? :dunno: :crazy:

He already has an entry, and hasn't made any appearances since then, so I'm guessing they won't.

Andy E. Nystrom
May 21, 2011, 03:20 am

ultrabasurero wrote:

What percentage of this book are profiles?

I want to know that as well. If there's three or four pages of profiles and the rest Saga I won't get it. But 16 pages, I will. Somewhere in between? I'll need to think on it.

I take it, since there's also Saga material this is not the last of the four Handbooks that were cited as going to put a large dent in the original Never Been Kissed list?

Eduardo M.
May 21, 2011, 12:56 pm

Andy E. Nystrom wrote:

I want to know that as well. If there's three or four pages of profiles and the rest Saga I won't get it. But 16 pages, I will. Somewhere in between? I'll need to think on it.

These are the people mentioned in the solicts: Dreamqueen, Fear-Eaters, Fear-Lords, The Darkforce Dimension’s Predator, Shock/Ariel Trennmore, The Golden Age’s Dr. Fear, Chaos War, The Gauntlet, Second Coming, Kang Dynasty, Shadowland, Sin/Red Skull.

I can see most of these getting a page at least. Predator and Dr Fear might be half-pagers but that still leaves alot of room for handbook entries.

Stuart V
May 21, 2011, 01:04 pm

slevin87 wrote:

 

PaxHouse wrote:

Characters that thrive on Fear, eh....?!?

I wonder will the editors include the Bogey-/Boogyman....?!? :dunno: :crazy:

He already has an entry, and hasn't made any appearances since then, so I'm guessing they won't.

As slevin guesses, no Bogeyman. Bar Sin, most of the entries are brand new, never covered in any prior 2000s+ handbook.

Andy E. Nystrom wrote:

I want to know that as well. If there's three or four pages of profiles and the rest Saga I won't get it. But 16 pages, I will. Somewhere in between? I'll need to think on it.

I take it, since there's also Saga material this is not the last of the four Handbooks that were cited as going to put a large dent in the original Never Been Kissed list?

Plenty more than 4 pages, though can't recall exactly how many off hand. And yes, this isn't the last of the four forthcoming handbooks mentioned.

Eduardo M. wrote:

These are the people mentioned in the solicts: Dreamqueen, Fear-Eaters, Fear-Lords, The Darkforce Dimension’s Predator, Shock/Ariel Trennmore, The Golden Age’s Dr. Fear, Chaos War, The Gauntlet, Second Coming, Kang Dynasty, Shadowland, Sin/Red Skull.

I can see most of these getting a page at least. Predator and Dr Fear might be half-pagers but that still leaves alot of room for handbook entries.

There's more entries than the ones mentioned in the solicit.

William Keogh
May 21, 2011, 01:20 pm

I'm kind of assuming five to eight pages of introductory material will be saga-style, and the rest will be traditional handbook format.

At any rate, good to see the Handbooks continuing on. Just as long as you don't have a Howard the Duck handbook. Otherwise I shall have to have words with you Handbook writers...

Eduardo M.
May 21, 2011, 03:56 pm

William Keogh wrote:

At any rate, good to see the Handbooks continuing on. Just as long as you don't have a Howard the Duck handbook. Otherwise I shall have to have words with you Handbook writers...

Can we at least get an entry on Beverly?? The poor lady has been missing one for decades while her nutjob ex-husband has had TWO!!!

Roger Ott
May 22, 2011, 11:56 am

William Keogh wrote:

Just as long as you don't have a Howard the Duck handbook. Otherwise I shall have to have words with you Handbook writers...

Well, so much for that oversize 240 page Howard the Duck Hardcover Handbook that was in the works...

Phoenixx9
May 22, 2011, 01:26 pm

Stuart V wrote:

Bar Sin, most of the entries are brand new, never covered in any prior 2000s+ handbook.

Plenty more than 4 pages, though can't recall exactly how many off hand. And yes, this isn't the last of the four forthcoming handbooks mentioned.

There's more entries than the ones mentioned in the solicit.

This book sounds interesting and I like that most are brand-new entries not covered in any prior 2000's books. I am not really familiar with many Fear entities so it should make for some good reading. The mix of Saga and Profiles makes this book very different from any of the others.

Are there any other books of this nature (one kind of topic) mixed with Saga and Profiles planned for 2011?

William Keogh
May 22, 2011, 04:35 pm

Roger Ott wrote:

Well, so much for that oversize 240 page Howard the Duck Hardcover Handbook that was in the works...

:LOL:

captainswift
May 23, 2011, 07:31 pm

Roger Ott wrote:

Well, so much for that oversize 240 page Howard the Duck Hardcover Handbook that was in the works...

And my 19 page Space Turnip profile was nearly complete, too.

Stuart V
May 25, 2011, 11:55 am

Phoenixx9 wrote:

Are there any other books of this nature (one kind of topic) mixed with Saga and Profiles planned for 2011?

None at the moment, but they can be commissioned with very little advance notice, so it's not impossible.

Sidney Osinga
May 26, 2011, 01:26 am

ultrabasurero wrote:

and mini-profiles providing the basics on the six characters chosen as hammer wielders!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't there SEVEN hammer wielders? In fact, isn't that why there's headshots of seven characters on the cover?

Also, I checked the Appendix site for possible entries, and found a prospective candidate: the Dark Man http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix2/darkmanasgard.htm

ultrabasurero
Aug 10, 2011, 11:44 am

This is out today, right?

William Keogh
Aug 10, 2011, 03:18 pm

It is. It's mostly handbook, with a few pages that come across as Saga type, but I'd put it right in with the handbook collection. Aside from the fact that it's fewer pages then the standard handbooks, it still qualifies in format.

Here are the contents and page counts.

Red Skull (Sin) 2
Chaos War 2
Dreamqueen 2
Fear Lords 1
The Gauntlet (Spider-Man) 1
Heaven's On Fire (Ghost Rider) 1
Kang Dynasty 2
KKallakki 1
Morpheus 1
Nightmare Boxes 1
Null 1
Predator 1
Second Coming (X-Men) 2
Shadowland (Daredevil) 2
Tutinax 1
Dark Man 1/2
Doctor Fear 1/2
Shock 1/2
Troids 1/2

Grab it fast; the first LCS I went to was out, and the second one had just one copy left that I grabbed.

Eduardo M.
Aug 10, 2011, 04:14 pm

GAH!!!! My LCS said they didn't get any copies in. UGH!! Its seems my lost in life to have at least one Handbook slip through my fingers. ARGGH!!!:grind:::#

William Keogh
Aug 10, 2011, 04:20 pm

My usual LCS said they don't order many of them, and he was already out a half hour after opening.

Roger Ott
Aug 10, 2011, 06:30 pm

This is why I just pre-order online. No worrying if an LCS does or doesn't get an issue.

Eduardo M.
Aug 10, 2011, 08:23 pm

UPDATE: I just a call from my LCS. turns out they did get it in. It was buried amongst some other FI related books. I is happy again.

Sidney Osinga
Aug 11, 2011, 01:22 am

Interesting book. The only problem I have with it is it's only 32 pages for $4 while most handbooks have been 64 pages for the same price.

Phoenixx9
Aug 11, 2011, 07:38 pm

Sidney Osinga wrote:

Interesting book. The only problem I have with it is it's only 32 pages for $4 while most handbooks have been 64 pages for the same price.

:wt: Why only 32 pages? And for $4? If it was half the volume, it should have been half the price. What's going on, Marvel? :wt:

captainswift
Aug 11, 2011, 08:22 pm

Phoenixx9 wrote:

:wt: Why only 32 pages? And for $4? If it was half the volume, it should have been half the price. What's going on, Marvel? :wt:

Well, technically, $4 is the standard price for a 32 page comic, so i guess a normal handbook should be $8?

bigvis497
Aug 12, 2011, 12:23 am

captainswift wrote:

Well, technically, $4 is the standard price for a 32 page comic, so i guess a normal handbook should be $8?

Please don't give Marvel ideas!!!

Phoenixx9
Aug 12, 2011, 10:47 am

bigvis497 wrote:

Please don't give Marvel ideas!!!

Agreed!!! And seconded!!!

captainswift wrote:

Well, technically, $4 is the standard price for a 32 page comic, so i guess a normal handbook should be $8?

Yes, but, we had been receiving the 64-page books for $3.99, not $7.99, so that is what I was going by and what I expected. Someone else could say 64-pages should be $9.99, but that doesn't make it right and that's not what I was paying.

I was dismayed that they jacked the price up on this HB. Will it happen on the next one? We can only watch-and-wait. If enough people buy this one at that price and don't complain, maybe it will set the trend for future HB prices.

Marvel needs to hold the line, way below $3.99!!

William Keogh
Aug 12, 2011, 12:10 pm

A fair amount of the "prestige" titles these days are already 3.99, like anything Bendis does, for example.

Roger Ott
Aug 13, 2011, 01:15 am

If you check, the more recent Handbooks have been $4.99

DeadpoolRP
Aug 13, 2011, 04:28 am

William Keogh wrote:

A fair amount of the "prestige" titles these days are already 3.99, like anything Bendis does, for example.

Yep, Bendis's books, most of the Avengers books (minus Academy, thankfully), and several X-Men/Wolverine titles are $3.99 for 32 pages, but the majority of Marvel's stuff is still $2.99 for 32 pages.

Does anyone know if Amazing Spider-Man is still twice a month at $3.99 for 40 pages, or did they cut it back to only 32 pages for that price? I know they pulled a fast one with Uncanny X-Men after "Second Coming": they solicited the next several issues with a price increase to $3.99 and a page increase to 40 pages, but only the first issue actually ended up having the extra pages (a nice backup story tying Magneto and the X-Men into Children's Crusade), but they've kept the higher price . . .

Roger Ott wrote:

If you check, the more recent Handbooks have been $4.99

Yeah, I've noticed that, but $4.99 is an understandable price for 64 pages. I hope $3.99 for a 32-page handbook is just a one-time thing, though (because "Fear Itself" is a big crossover/event, etc.), and not the new standard.

William Keogh
Aug 13, 2011, 04:57 pm

Roger Ott wrote:

If you check, the more recent Handbooks have been $4.99

That's what I'd thought too, at least the last two, but again, it's acceptable given the amount of content that goes into it.

sucellos11
Aug 16, 2011, 11:51 am

William Keogh wrote:

It is. It's mostly handbook, with a few pages that come across as Saga type, but I'd put it right in with the handbook collection. Aside from the fact that it's fewer pages then the standard handbooks, it still qualifies in format.

Here are the contents and page counts.

Red Skull (Sin) 2
Chaos War 2
Dreamqueen 2
Fear Lords 1
The Gauntlet (Spider-Man) 1
Heaven's On Fire (Ghost Rider) 1
Kang Dynasty 2
KKallakki 1
Morpheus 1
Nightmare Boxes 1
Null 1
Predator 1
Second Coming (X-Men) 2
Shadowland (Daredevil) 2
Tutinax 1
Dark Man 1/2
Doctor Fear 1/2
Shock 1/2
Troids 1/2

Grab it fast; the first LCS I went to was out, and the second one had just one copy left that I grabbed.

Null the Living Darkness! Finally! But what about Fear Eaters? How many pages did the entry get?

captainswift
Aug 16, 2011, 12:55 pm

sucellos11 wrote:

Null the Living Darkness! Finally! But what about Fear Eaters? How many pages did the entry get?

Listed as the Kkallakki (1 page)

sucellos11
Aug 16, 2011, 02:12 pm

Thanks! Going by the solicits too much, lol, didn't even notice.

Eduardo M.
Aug 17, 2011, 09:32 pm

I finally got my hands on this today. Cool book. I like the Saga style front narrated by D'Spayre. Nice group of entries. It may not be a "real" handbook but its enough for me. At least it will until the FF handbook comes out.

By the way. Kudos to whoever came up with the idea to make the border black. Nice touch

Phoenixx9
Aug 18, 2011, 07:08 pm

Yeah, it's definitely a unique book with the characters that are covered!

I never realized there were so many "fear" characters!

Nice job!

Madison Carter
Aug 18, 2011, 07:09 pm

Phoenixx9 wrote:

I never realized there were so many "fear" characters!

And heck, that's with us omitting the 3 billion different Mr. Fears and most of the individual Fear Lords!

Andy E. Nystrom
Aug 18, 2011, 07:43 pm

Madison Carter wrote:

And heck, that's with us omitting the 3 billion different Mr. Fears and most of the individual Fear Lords!

And then there's characters like Ghost Rider and the Punisher who may not use fear as a motif per se but still make good use of it. Even the Champions were a little afraid of Ghost Rider.

Roger Ott
Aug 19, 2011, 09:53 am

Andy E. Nystrom wrote:

Even the Champions were a little afraid of Ghost Rider.

With good reason! Can you imagine Angel standing too close to GR?

"Drop and roll, Warren! Drop and roll!"

Blue_Shield
Aug 20, 2011, 11:52 am

I liked the overall theme and approach, while I like the straight handbooks more, I thought the opening sequence with D'Spayre was handled well.