Fear Itself: Fearsome Foursome

writer Brandon Montclare says:
“ Man-Thing, he's drawn to fear like a moth to a flame. So with all the terror out there, Man-Thing is overloaded. He's about to go supernova.
“The Fearsome Four have come together to stop Man-Thing, or die trying. And while doing so they each have to face their own very personal and very unique fears. Howard the Duck, She-Hulk, Nighthawk, and Frankenstein are pretty different; but each in his or her own way is a monster, a freak, a person with a dark side. They're all outsiders, so while some have done the team thing before, there's going to be tension. This story can only happen with these four characters. The Fantastic Four were the world's greatest heroes. The Fearsome Four have an explosive situation to deal with, and whether they'll defuse it or set if off is a big part of the story.Working with Marvel continues to be an awesome experience,” reports Montclare. “I'm very grateful to editors Mark Paniccia and John Denning [who] have been enormously supportive in general, and specifically [in] wrangling a supporting role in an event as huge as Fear Itself, [which] requires a lot of back-and-forth. With four issues of FEARSOME FOUR, the format is a lot longer and the lead characters are a little bigger, so as a new writer it's validating. I want to repay that to Marvel and their readers. It was a thrill to write, so I hope it's a thrill to read.”

“They're all cool to write,” he says. “They're more than one slot below the A-list, but they've all been kicking around for a while because they're good concepts that have been well-executed by past creative teams. She-Hulk was the most intimidating because that character has had a lot of ace writers recently, going back to the Dan Slott stuff, of which I was an avid reader. Frankenstein's Monster, however, was the biggest ‘challenge.’ I like the classic monster influence that's really pervasive when it comes to that character in Marvel or elsewhere, but I also wanted to mix in some of his high romantic roots. That's a very odd mash-up, but he's a patchwork man so I figured the clash of styles could produce some memorable moments.

“Nighthawk is the one I'm most jazzed about—the most ‘satisfying.’ The bad seed that flowered into FEARSOME FOUR was actually a pitch for a solo Nighthawk story. He's changed, but it's a logical evolution of the character under the unique situation of Fear Itself. And it's not at all a radical change, just what would happen to a guy like Nighthawk if fear pushed him over the edge. And not to leave Howard the Duck out of it, writing his parts was surprisingly natural. He talks too much, which is easy for any writer. And he's funniest when you play him straight, which is easy for me.”