Larroca's artwork in this issue is technically very competent but it is also highly flat, I know comic book art is 2D images in sequence but they should convey movement, scale and scope. Even with spot on anatomy and perspective it still feels very static, flat and lacking in depth. I think the colors of Frank Martin don't particularly mesh well with Larroca's line work, his palettes are very muted, lots of monochromatic greys dominating the artwork does not do the it any favours. You can see what the art team were attempting by making the warmly coloured panels of the Hulk and the incursion event pop in contrast to the grey tones of the rest of the issue but it doesn't really work as well as I think they'd hoped.

The art by Leinil Francis Yu is a great fit for such a dark, moody and claustrophobic issue of Avengers, one of the best things about his art in this issue was that the characters all had very distinct physicality, Starbrand looked like a skinny teenager for the first time in a while. The inks by Gerry Alanguilan were a little heavy at time but for the most part suited the dark and gloomy feel of this issue, the last page spread in this issue is especially well realised and finely inked by the artist creating a powerful sense of scope and scale. The colors by Sunny Gho are competently done but I can't help but feel that a lot of the cold colour palettes used by colorists on this series are just adding to the clinical, antiseptic feeling of this series as a whole. At this point I'd be quite happy to see some warmth breathed back into this series to go along with its new found re-focus on characterisation.

A solid issue of Gaurdians, nothing earth shattering enough to warrant an anniversary Spectacular tag but a decent read all of the same.

Stuart Immonen is an absolute craftsman, the storytelling is clear and concise, the body language and faces are all so expressive that he does a lot of the heavy lifting in making the characters emote. The more of his collaboration I see with Bendis on this book the more I feel that he may be the perfect artistic partner for Bendis' writing, perhaps even more-so than Bagley or Maleev.

What can be said about the art on this book that hasn't been said already? It's amazing and probably my favourite on any Marvel book right now. The flashback (forward?) confrontation between Xavier and Raze is incredibly well designed, lit and layed out. There are a variety of locales and tones at play in this issue and the art team nail them all, from the astral plane to a hospital room birth scene. Marte Gracia's colouring in this issue was particularly effective at playing up the dangerous situation the X-men find themselves in by utilising the back up generators lighting to soak the characters in red. It's a great use of color theory to help sell the psychological state of the characters.

This is a great little done in one X-men story that explores the theme of family; the one you choose v.s the one you're born into. At it's best the X-men were always a family of misfits and this issue goes a long way to remind readers why.

It's a rarity for an artist to stay on a book for any lengthy stints these days but this issue marks Ryan Ottley's 100th issue as penciler. Ottley truly is the John Romita Sr to Cory Walker's Steve Dikto at this point. While Walker may have co-created the book, Ottley really has defined the look of this book and made it his own. It's almost unthinkable that he could ever leave Invincible as his characters emote wonderfully. Every bit of extreme violence is capture in beautiful detail and every panel is drawn to have the maximum impact. Invincible may be a brutal book but it's beautifully crafted, joined with the fearless writing it may just continue to be as good as it's ever been, if not better.

Still, the returns do serve to build anticipation and excitement for future issues which hopefully will continue to build the world around Miles and deepen his relationships (I'm looking at you Katie).

It's been a long time since readers have been treated to such a stellar done in one super-hero series, I've always been a big fan of the style as you could easily hand an issue to a non-comic reading friend and they would be able to read this issue without much confusion. I hope that this series manages to retain its writer and art team for a long time to come as I feel that this series could end up being something very special akin to Marvel's critical darlings Hawkeye and Daredevil, especially if the book remains as accessible and interesting as it has been in these first three issues. As much as I enjoyed Bendis and Maleev's take on the character as of this issue this version of the Fist of Khonshu has officially become the definitive interpretationfor this reader.

This is a great first issue with artwork that not only serves to tell the story but accentuates it, this may feel like it could be Nick Fury senior's last hurrah but if it is then I have every confidence that it's going to be a good story for the character to go out on.

I really hope that the next issue of Powers hits the stands soon, the writing and the art are great and a good reminder of how much of a breath of fresh air this series was when I discovered the first seven trades at my LCS. At times like these when the delays can cause confusion, I can see the appeal in going back to trade-waiting with this series but the simple truth is that these two creators are at the top of their game; I don't want to wait. While it will be exciting to see what the duo do on The United States of Murder IncI dread to think what adding another book to Bendis and Oeming's workload will do to Powers shipping schedule, hopefully it won't effect it too badly.

A solid conclusion to the Superior Spider-saga that hits a lot of the right notes but is slightly hampered by theslightly jarring nature of the Goblin reveal.