At first glance: sounds dumb, looks ugly. But then you read it and realize it's whip-smart, gorgeously grotesque, and extremely funny.

It's rare for a comic to function so well on both superficial and deep levels. Whether you just want to breeze through the fun clobbering or scrutinize each panel for hints about the big picture plot, you'll be satisfied here.

The issue furnishes its own descriptor: "It was a symphony played with fists upon skulls…" more

Wade and Valentine turn out to be a match made in heaven, as are creators Alyssa Wong and Martín Cóccolo. Even the plot beats reflect the characters' idiosyncratic "opposites attract" romance. The action is as absurd and abrupt as you'd expect from Deadpool. But the ever-sinister Valentine Vuong adds a nice undercurrent of mysterious scheming that chains the absurdities into an intriguing big picture story.
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Tony finally stops gathering wool and pitying himself and gets tore into a fight with a proper nemesis. The art does a formidable job conveying the confrontation, both in talking and zapping.

Feilong is nicely built up into an antagonist tailor-made for Tony. I particularly like the way Tony is half-aware of the obvious similarities that make Feilong such a good foil.

The premise of this issue's fight is incredibly stupid, but the script does a terrific job of convincing me that the participants take it seriously.

Put it all together and it's a solid issue that finally, finally accomplishes the key mission of making me care about this volume.

Plus, that's a cracking good guest star reveal at the end. more

Everybody launches into the Big Showdown in a pretty simplistic way. While the ideas aren't complicated, the execution shines--especially, as usual, in the art. The dialogue's not all that sparkly, but it does ring true to the characters. As long as you've cultivated an interest in what happens to these kids, this is shaping up into a very good climax.

Between Matt wallowing in nihilism, the plot unraveling around him, and the art shift (the visuals aren't *bad*, but the style's very different and it falls short of this volume's high standard), I came down with a sad case of darkness-induced apathy here.

It's a good comic, but it definitely doesn't make my short list of potential favorites for the volume.

The script starts off very strong but unravels a bit toward the end. The plot remains intriguing as the mysteries pile up.

But of course the big talking point for this issue is the art. There's nothing *inherently* bad about it, but it's a massive shift from what's come before. It clashes with the tone of the story, too.

It's still a good comic--but one that gets there by overcoming some regrettable setbacks.
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This is a refreshingly focused issue after #1's vast tapestry of wandering plot threads. The script is far less verbose, the art features clear visual storytelling, and the detour to Earth-76 furnishes exactly enough story for a good issue.

But I hesitate with my rating. There are plenty of spots where the words and art could be stronger, and fun as it is, the detour really doesn't get any deeper than the single-sentence elevator pitch that undoubtedly spawned it. And big-picture-wise, #2 leaves us exactly where we were at the end of #1.
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Sabretooth and the Exiles get separate endings, but they're equally abrupt and unsatisfying. Subjectively, I like the Exiles' conclusion a little better; they get something approaching a happy ending. For poor ol' Sabes, it's just an inconclusive meeting with his son, and a rash of variant nonsense.

The storytelling goes out consistently solid (not world-class, though), but WTH happened to the content in this issue? And why all the Lovecraft references all of a sudden?

It seems to me like Victor Lavalle had good ideas for Sabretooth and good ideas for the Exiles, but struggled throughout the series to integrate them. The cracks are really showing here at the end, and the stories don't really conclude as much as they set up separate stages for two (or three?) very different sequels. more

The problem here--and throughout the series, really--is that virtually all the reasons to like/love this story are outside this volume. If you're deeply invested in Sakaar and Amadeus Cho (and Greg Pak's treatment of them), this might be powerful.

Standing by itself, though, the material inside the covers is underwhelming. Neither the ideas nor the storytelling presenting them are interesting. The words and art aren't bad, they're just non-memorable. more

I'm rating this slightly higher than the last issue because something like a plot is developing and the X-Men are not quite as useless as Spidey was. But it's still terrible.

I should follow the example of the editors and not waste too much brain bandwidth on this. "Do I really want to waste my time explaining to Tim Seeley that he's deeply misunderstood how Krakoan gates work? Nah."
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I did my best to set aside the fact that the last arc was lacking in the conclusion department and tackle this new story with an open mind.

And you know what? It's off to a pretty dang good start.

The dialogue is full of humor, heart, and insight. Yes, the pace is still glacial and the scenes are still long--yet the reading experience zips by at a fast clip.

This series demands some reader buy-in. You have to accept that you're reading a romantic comedy--a slow one. But if you do, you're in for a treat.

The art is a terrific demonstration of the full potential of minimalism. Even without tons of detail, it's a formidable storytelling tool. A lot of this issue's most important ideas and emotions are conveyed entirely through the art, and Andrés Genolet nails every one of them. And the posing in the action scenes is phenomenal, too. more

The art is terrific from the first to the last panel. The prose is snappy and the script develops the plot of the event with a vengeance.

It's an exciting and satisfying comic. It's a very good comic.

But it's not quite a great comic, and I think it's because as we go racing into this alternate future, we're running low on sympathetic viewpoint characters.

Don't get me wrong, the story is plenty engaging. But the surviving mutants are strangers, and events are moving so fast that it's hard to get to know them.
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This alternate-reality digression is a lot slower and darker than the previous chapters, but not in a bad way. The change in tone is amply balanced by an intricate blend of plot development, character exploration, and AU world-building. The art continues to do formidable storytelling work--although this is probably not the series' strongest issue, visually speaking.

Like #8, Punisher #10 is a slow, foreshadowy episode. It features just a few key plot/character developments filigreed out with baroque art and ominous prose.

But this issue engaged me a little more, drew me a little further in.

The highlight of this volume has been Maria's perspective, and this issue delivers another ample serving of it.

We always knew Frank Castle was a twisted, broken man--but it turns out the same could be said of his wife. more

It feels very momentous despite not advancing the plot much. This issue teases a lot, but most of what it clearly explains is just continuity recap. The art, as usual, is dynamic and well-blocked but short of detail and hard to follow in the action moments.

For all those faults, this might be my favorite issue of the volume to date. Cletus Kasady is the puzzle piece that's been missing all this time, and I am floored by how creepily engaging his voice is here.

The best thing about this might be the elegant way Kenneth's murder-mentor relationship segues from Carnage to Cletus. And the Carnage/Shayde relationship closely paralleling it is also a good thing.

Alex Paknadel already won me over with just a few issues of Red Goblin; his arrival on this title strikes me as an entirely good thing.
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The arc is finally rolling and the plot unfolds in a satisfying, engaging manner. Some of the results are already predictable, but there's still value in finding out exactly how MJ gets from point a to point b.

The storytelling is solid, in both words and art, but it's clear that the writer and artist were aiming to hit a little harder than they actually do. The visuals aren't as dynamic and dramatic as they could be, particularly in the final scene. The dialogue sounds natural and the pace is good--but none of the prose really sticks in my mind.

It's a good comic, built on a good premise, and it makes for a fun read. But it's also haunted by the ghost of the better comic the creators wanted to make.
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This issue ties a nice bow on the series with another serving of satisfying journeyman storytelling. All the character work spent on Taegukgi results in positive change, and there are strong hints that these creators could do the same with at least some of the other team members.

In hindsight, maybe I've lowballed my ratings throughout this series. I still don't believe there's anything in it that makes it a must read. But there's nothing in it that would disappoint a reader that takes an interest.

It's an average-to-good title. But in a positive way: This is exactly the sort of comic I'd love to see filling up the middle shelf at my FLCS. more

This is a thoroughly satisfying (if not exactly shocking) end to the series. I can't fault the plot or character developments; the content here is great. The storytelling wasn't really in line with my tastes, though. My usual antipathy to Mr. DeMatteis' prose style is in play, and I didn't see much memorable stuff in the art.

None of which is to say the storytelling is *bad* at any point, just not quite my cup of tea.
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Although the big-picture pace remains problematic, this issue is a definite uptick from the last one. The scenes are tighter and more fully formed, there's some nice wit and insight in the dialogue, and the art remains clear and clean with a distinct retro flavor.

I still wish things were happening a bit faster, though.

I'm a big fan of Monica Rambeau, and I'm rooting for her and the creators of this series, hoping for something great. And that's the problem.

You have to bring a big bias into your reading to be satisfied by this wandering, wishy-washy story. It can't decide if it wants to be a dire, high-stakes cosmic crisis or a cozy, intimate character portrait.

For a mess of aimless navel-gazing, this sure is written and drawn well. I wish a brutal editor had terrorized the author a little, pushing her toward more focus and tension. more

The silver lining is (for NOLA residents) Monica Rambeau taking Kamala Khan to Hansen's. Adorable.

But that's one panel in a 50-page book.

I like the *idea* of tying an anthology together with a common theme, but the frame story here leaves a lot to be desired.

The individual strips are weak even by anthology standards. America Chavez and Ms. Marvel retread some of their lamest bits of backstory drama for cheap sympathy.

And the karaoke strip has a bad case of random casting; literally anybody could be swapped in for Black Cat and Mysterio. Even if you stipulate that the host has to be a female Korean hero, you have alternatives--this could star Luna Snow with zero alterations. more

The best thing about Marauders #12 is that there won't be a #13.

This issue is a deft fusion of lots of different fun stuff. There's smooth, in-depth world-building to cover the 90-year time-skip. There's dramatic plot development moving the event forward. There's an important character introduction.

And of course, it wouldn't be a great Gillen book without some world-class sass in the character voices. Featuring Sinister, Mother Righteous, and Evil Hope together nearly results in sass overload.

Tie it all together with some well-polished art, and you've got a dense, juicy, thoroughly delightful read. more

The first two acts are slow, covering simple (but important) plot developments. This is easy to bear because the dialogue is simply stuffed with sparkling-smart lines. And the art is a clear, strong storytelling tool all the way through.

The end of the issue ramps up the pace and the tension. Rather than taking the plot through left-field twists, though, it fires off a masterful set of Chekhov's guns. All of the groundwork is clear in hindsight, yet it's delightfully surprising when everything suddenly ties together.
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The art remains superb. Its style is clearly suited to younger readers, but it has as much polish and detail as the most grown-up top-shelf title. Background gags abound.

The only "problem" per se is actually one of those good problems to have: It's incredibly dense for a kiddie comic, which might make it challenging for young readers. But the silver lining is that it makes a surprisingly meaty meal for grown-ups.
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The new arc of the Wolverine/X-Force/Beast story kicks off with a series of slow, momentous plot developments. The presentation is chilly and darkly witty in the writing and (subjectively, at least) spectacular in the art.

Considering the wild content, this issue's subtle storytelling is all the more impressive.