1407 ( )

I remember an episode of Babylon 5 where the show followed major events from the point of view of two repairmen on the station. "Embedded" is like that. The protagonists are Ben Urich, a reporter from Front Line and a cameraman, Will Stern. These two head to Chicago to write a story on the devastation caused by Volstagg's conflict with The Hood (arranged by Norman Osborn & Loki). What follows is an action-packed road trip as the two travel with Volstagg toward Broxton/Asgard and learn of Osborn's efforts to spin the conflict his way by having embedded journalists on site to report what is happening, in a flattering manner toward Osborn.

The story was interesting, though absolutely unnecessary to the Siege event. The point of Embedded appears to be showing the horror of war first hand, and just how ugly it is for regular people and superheroes alike, but also the slightly more ominous truth that the media is not some neutral party to world events. Though Urich is presented as more unbiased because he supports the real heroes, he also emphatically wants to bring down Osborn. He is hardly neutral.

Overall, this was a worthwhile but very short read that reveals more of how Osborn was manipulating events. However, it isn't essential to readers as part of Siege. Recommended, if you can get it cheap or from the library. ( )