The issue showcases another Hench-induced showdown between Scott and a low-level super-powered criminal, but this time involves a team-up with Darla Deering, a.k.a. Ms. Thing, who has a history with Scott from their Fantastic Four stint. The issue ends with Scott and Co. being hired on as her personal security, which will no doubt dictate the plot for at least the next few issues. In addition to all of that, we get some closure on Scott and Darlas short-lived relationship during Matt Fractions FF run. Once again, Spencer paints over these characters with a coating of failure as Scott and Darla accept that they were a terrible couple and amicably (awkwardly) stay split. Not everything in Spencers vision of the Marvel Universe has to be nice and perfect, and for a character like Scott Lang whos never had a life that glamourous, that seems to suit a series focused on him just fine.

It'll be interesting to see where Spencer takes the conclusion to the Americops storyline and how hell work more recent political turmoil and problems into a Marvel Universe take on the subjects. This series is definitely looking to be the most relevant superhero series for the time were living in.

My qualms with the industry aside, overall this issue delivered on the promise of fun colourful storytelling that the previous 8 issues have made. Nothing super consequential happens in this series (I need my Cyclops, seriously guys, just tell me what really happened to him, I need some Scotty drama), but the team goes on wacky adventures with goblins and dragons, makes light-hearted quips to each other, and Ramos art contributes to this atmosphere perfectly. This is refreshing in itself as well; the flagship X-Men series have mostly fallen somewhere between medium-dark to neutral for years, so maybe a crazy frenetic out-there colourful book is what we need right now.

At this point in the event, slightly faster pacing may be welcome, as the event fatigue starts to set in if there arent enough pieces in motion at once. The premise is interesting enough and the writing solid enough to warrant further following, but its not hard to not feel that this issue could have used another trick up its sleeve.

The publishers drive to expand the range of art style and tone in their books and offer more non-superhero fare appears to be working for them, with DC trying to follow suit. Marvels mission to take risks with giving series to completely new characters should also be lauded. Not every series needs to take off and reach a Ms. Marvel or an Ultimate Spider-Man level of notoriety for the strategy to be considered successful. Even so, it feels Reeder and Montclare may have tapped into the same recipe for appeal with Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, and it will be interesting to see where the series goes.

Even though the story is more funny than tense compared to something like the Ultimates, Ewing doesnt just pump out plot sludge into our laps every month. The stakes may not be as high as having to fix the multiverse and fight Galactus, but there are still enough twists going on to keep me intrigued and grabbing every new issue. The Avenger 2 reveal was fun and not something I expected. Even more than that, its great to finally see Cannonball back in a book (seeing as hes been noticeably absent from the new Marvel status quo as far as I know), and it only makes sense hed be working with Bobby again. The mention of the Secret Avengers is also tantalizing, and I hope a new Sam-led black-ops Avengers team is something Ewing expands on sooner than later.

Its hard to tell if any of this would be a problem if the series had stuck to its monthly schedule and avoided long and frequent delays. When we get one issue of Secret Wars every couple months, maybe we hold it up to more scrutiny. The writing and the art are still for the most part fantastic (no pun intended), and I still believe in the future this event will be looked back upon very favourably when judged as a whole and not by its individual parts.

Theres a poetry to the fact that the Marvel Universe was figuratively created by the Fantastic Four with their first issue more than fifty years ago, and the new universe has been created by them literally; it makes you really put into perspective how much this family and this world has changed since its inception, and if the multiverse had to be destroyed and recreated, it couldnt have possibly been done better than this. All in all, this Avengers/New Avengers run, event, and final issue serve as an amazing and fitting end to the old Marvel world, and hopeful start to the new one.

Taking a step back, the main plot of the series continues to move at a near snails pace. We still dont know exactly why the Sex Police do what they do, we still dont know what theyre going to do next, and we still dont know what type of role the other random sex-powered people will play. As the story progresses, however, Fraction has done a swell job with expanding the character lineup. The cast is becoming bigger and more colourful, and hopefully this will help propel the next stage of the story as this volume wraps up.

Knowing that this series has a finite end to it while reading it (given Tom Kings exclusive contract with DC) makes the references to Visions eventual razing of the world (and now Victors fratricidal demise) all the more ominous. Given how dark the story has been so far, believing that ol Tommy K. plans to actually follow through on the series narrators grim foreshadowing statements is not at all a hard pill to swallow.