I picked up this issue because I was intrigued by the premise. For this landmark 200th issue, the characters who were closest to the Ultimate Peter Parker have gathered for a two-year memorial wake to honor his death. There's a lot of potential in a premise like that to see what each character remembers and chooses to share, and what a great way to recognize a character who died before reaching the promise that all of us old-school Marvel fans know that he had because he's still alive in the primary Marvel universe. Plus, Brian Michael Bendis wrote the issue, and he's one of Marvel's better writers when it comes to getting to the heart of his characters. Therefore, I was very surprised to be let down by most of this issue.

Even though this issue is titled "Evolve or Die part 1", it seems that Lemire is nearing the end of his run. Despite the previously established strange characters and environments, the story has reached a point where the surreal occurrences have largely been put aside and the main characters are now engaged in a big climactic battle for control of the "Red", and consequently, Animal Man's daughter, Maxine. As a result, this issue more than most other issues of Animal Man, reads like a fairly standard superhero comic. However, there is a LOT going on with the multiple characters in this issue. So, this may be a difficult issue for a new reader to pick up from scratch.

Plot wise, this issue isn't a strong season opener. If it were an episode of the television series, it would feel like a forgettable mid-season, non-sweeps, stand-alone episode.

It will be interesting to see where the story goes from here. As a regular buyer of the Avengers, I'm on board either way. Needless to say, I'm hoping to see an interesting story worthy of the reputation Hickman established during his run on Fantastic Four, and not a retread of a recent DC comics multi-title event.

Haunted has the cinematic feel of a ready for a television or movie adaptation comic, especially when one thinks about how scary a good visual effects team, cinematographer, and director could made encounters with the shrieks. However, an actual version of this comic brought to screen would likely suffer greatly from comparisons to Walking Dead. As of the first issue, it's a decent start that has the potential to become really exciting or get dragged into all too familiar territory. I'll be curious to see which direction Chitwood takes it. At least he has an artist who is highly capable of bringing the eerie feeling needed to make whatever is written feel like a real horror comic.

New Avengers has been a slow burn since Hickman took over. Like a lot of multi-part comic stories nowadays, it feels like each issue is written with the intent of a trade paperback collection in mind. So, it's a lot rarer to get the feeling of a complete chapter, much less a complete story, in a single issue. With that being said, it feels like Hickman is taking us through a journey that will be rewarding once the final chapter has been written.

This art team is among the best at depicting a superhero universe, but rather than just drawing a bunch of square-jawed heroes and big-boobed heroines, they know how to draw ordinary people that look like real and unique individuals.

When I read the original Miracleman series in the 1980s, I had the advantage of borrowing several early issues from someone else's collection. So, I was able to get more of the story in a single setting. Re-reading the first issue all by itself now, I wonder if it would have enticed me to stay on board for the next issue, especially at a $5.99 price tag (even though this issue is padded with a lot of extra material in an attempt to justify the price).

Overall, this is a worthy send-off to whatever the series became during the "Superior" run. It's a high quality story on its own, but it's also a story about second chances, including the second chance at life and redemption that Dr. Octopus had, and the second chance at life that Peter Parker is getting.

Although I've been pretty vague as to the future events for which the five characters in this story are responsible, let me assure you that this isn't just a lot of soap opera stuff. The events are world-changing disasters that eradicate a majority of the population, involve them in high level global politics, scientific disasters, murder, and just about every kind of major action event that you could imagine. It's risky to say this so early, but if the multiple threads don't unravel and the stories stay exciting, I could see this comic book being a successful television series similar to what The Walking Dead became.

If the next few issues remain at this level, at worst, Translucid will be one of the better superhero comic book stories on the shelves. At best, the level of writing will get deeper and more unpredictable as the series progresses and it will end up being one of the best under-appreciated gems on the market.

If you haven't been reading The Star Wars up until now, I suggest either finding some cheap back issues or waiting for the trade because this is a fun but continuing cohesive story. This original draft, as translated into this story, feels more like the pulpy inspiration of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers than the ultimately resulting movie. While the comic book translation proves that the original draft is good in its own right, one thing that really stands out is that there are about double the number of main characters than ended up in the movie. I can see how difficult and confusing it would have been for a young child to wrap his or her head around that many characters. As a comic book mini-series, on the other hand, it works.

If there's a weakness in the new series so far, it's that the first two issues feel a bit slow and drug out. It seems like each issue was about five pages longer than necessary and the cynical side in me thinks that DC may be encouraging Gaiman to pad the story so they can sell more trade collections later. Regardless, I have enough faith and confidence in what I've read so far and Gaiman has more than proven that he knows what he's doing over the years.5 out of 5 stars