Behind the Scenes: Fear Itself: The Fearless 8

Here's something I just decided to start doing maybe 3 minutes ago. It might be a terrible idea. It might be a great idea. Either way, I'm just gonna start doing it before I change my mind or turn on the TV and get sucked into Teen Mom 2 or something. When a new book I've written comes out, I'm going to post a few behind-the-scenes tidbits about what went into the creation of the work, what I was thinking when I wrote it, and what I think about the way it turned out.

This week, issue 8 of Fear Itself: The Fearless came out, so let's give it a go!

This issue was co-plotted by Matt Fraction, Chris Yost, and myself. I handled the script. Paul Pelletier and Mark Bagley did the pencils. Danny Miki and Andy Lanning inked the book. Matt Wilson did colors. This is the Part 8 of a 12-issue limited series.

Cover. First off, how 'bout that cover, huh? I'm frequently asked for suggestions on cover images, and I keep it very loose. I think for this one my suggestion was "Bring on the Bad Guys!" Art Adams once again knocked it out of the park. I wish I had thought of using "Bring on the Bad Guys" as the chapter title.
Pages 1 – 6. There are two written versions of the first scene of this issue. When I scripted the first draft, I thought Sin had escaped at the end of Fear Itself. In my original version, we found her wandering aimlessly through an alley. She was weeping, weakened from her defeat. A group of ruffians recognized her and decided to take justice into their own hands. At first, she seems like a lamb heading to the slaughter, but her killer instinct kicks in and she murders the ruffians. That's when the D.O.A. shows up to bring her into the fold. After I wrote that, I realized I wasn't sure if  Sin escaped or not. I'm pretty sure I wrote this on the weekend or late at night, because I couldn't get confirmation from the others right away. So, I went ahead and wrote the version with Sin being transported to some classified prison. I sent both version to editorial. I actually liked the second version better.
Page 4, Panel 2. Sometimes, I get caught up in research on the smallest things. I must have spent 30 minutes looking at helicopter call signs for the one panel where the pilots reference "Gundog and Badcat."
Page 5. And… yeah… those are Deathwings from ROM attacking those helicopters.
Page 7. Somewhere along the line, I read that Valkyrie keeps her sword and pegasus in some extra-dimensional pocket. That brought me to the idea that Valkyrie has her own pocket dimension hangout. This ends up being pretty important to the story as a whole.
Page 9. "And it's a dwarf's prerogative to enjoy his misery while he can." I'd be willing to bet I heard that in a D&D campaign at some point.
Pages 10 – 12. At this point in the series, I need to spend a little time with some exposition. This issue as a whole is a little less "actiony" than others in the series, but sometimes you just have to have the bad guys reveal a little about their plans.
Page 12, Panels 5 and 6. I knew it wouldn't fly when I wrote it, but the original dialogue here was "You may be the Son of Satan… but when it comes to this outfit, you're just another bitch."
Page 13. Again, talk about bringing on the bad guys! Most of the villains in the front row are existing characters. The rest came form my vague suggestions and Mark Bagley's twisted imagination. They look so cool, though, that I have to give them some more play in the future, don't I? I really like the idea of the D.O.A. becoming this army of creepy villains.
Page 15. C'mon. If I'm writing a story with X-Men and Valkyries, I have to include Dani Moonstar. And Paul Pelletier makes her look so awesome here. Believe me, if I could have gotten a Demon Bear in this issue, my life would have been complete. Deathwings and Demon Bears? That would have been comic book gold!
Page 19. I love Emma… but I also love her being called "stupid" by Dani.
Page 20. This is the beginning of a match-up I wanted to write since the early days of conceptualizing this series. If Storm had been naked… with wisps of clouds protecting her modesty… it might have been even better! Deathwings, Demon Bears, and naked Storm? Boom! My head would have exploded with nostalgic awesomeness!