Gerry Gladston of Midtown Comics in New York City, New York has been following the Marvel Fear Itself crossover discussion (see "Marvel Announces Summer Crossover") and had this to say.

Embrace the fear: Fear Itself!  

We agree with Michael Breakfield's comments about crossover events, and we'd like to add a few points.

At Midtown Comics, we welcome Marvel's new epic, Fear Itself, with open arms.  2010 was a year that saw fewer "event" books than previous years, and some of the few that were released may not have performed as well as had been expected.  Retailers have been complaining about declining sales since, and many have cited a lack of exciting events as a primary reason.

Event books, "when done right," are very important to our business.  Similar to the movie exhibition business, a "tent pole" comic book release truly increases foot traffic into our stores, and actually helps sales of unrelated titles as well.  The absence of event books, combined with a crippling recession, cannot be good for our industry.  Fear Itself promises to be big; possibly (hopefully) as big as Civil War.  It looks like Marvel is attempting to deliver an event on a grand scale that will get fans revved up and excited about coming back to their comic shop.  These are the core readers who really support this industry, and they'll be able to enjoy Fear Itself without breaking the bank, by buying only the 7 issues of the core limited series if they so choose.

Granted, there is no magic wand to wave that will guarantee that Fear will sell like Civil War, but we have to give Marvel some credit for answering the call of duty and coming up with something on this scale.  The roll out of teasers was exciting.  The creative role call for the project is a formidable force that includes some of the most innovative and exciting creators in the industry.  Matt Fraction, Stuart Immomen, Ed Brubaker and Scott Eaton have quite a history of delivering first-rate comic book storytelling that fans respond to in a big way.

We are ready to embrace Fear Itself.

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the vie of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.