I can't recommend this to anyone but a devoted Spike fan. However, those fans should find themselves getting a treat from the art within.

First and foremost, Joe the Barbarian is an epic fantasy adventure. It is wondrous and tense. Six issue in and Joe has come so far, but the odds against him only seem to mount. I'm fairly confident in an eventual happy ending, but I have enough doubt that I am on tenterhooks waiting to find out if I'm right.

Like almost every issue of Second Coming, X-Force #29 has a number of flaws. However it fits very well into the overall cross-over and provides an exciting and satisfying climax to the tale. A must-read for X-Men fans and a good story for anyone who has been enjoying the story so far. So it seems to rise above the drawbacks and be a truly engaging read.

There really is no hint as to where the story will go next and which Deviant will be the focus. I think that bit of teaser would have made a nice ending, but the final image is certainly striking. I'm looking forward to the next issue.

If the issue has a problem it is that it circles around Shadowland. I am not sure it can be read without also reading the core Shadowland title. Weirdly, or perhaps not, this is the stronger story though. This is the title to read to catch incredible action and good characterization.

Is it possible that a book loses its luster by being continually good for so long? Or perhaps through our familiarity with the premise? It is a shame if that is true. Fables remains a book that rises to the top of my reading pile every month. We were lucky this month to get a old piece of story finally revealed, but I am more eager to see how this will impact the characters in the present day!

I thought that the last two issues of New Mutants in Second Coming were a bit off. They seemed to focus more on the cross-over beats than what made the first issues of this series good. This issue is a spectacular return to form. Hopefully they are carrying some readers from the cross-over into this issue to see how good this book can be.

Don't you want Bras just to make it out of an issue alive? He doesn't, but each issue is an extraordinary view into his life. Highly recommended.

[Note: the actual cover is different from the accompanying image. The shock of blue of the cover should make it easy to find The Sea Road on the comic shop stand.]

The story has suspense, action, mystery, horror and develops the plot. If you are following the series at all it will be an immensely satisfying issue.

This is a great concluding issue for the arc. All the plot threads are dealt with and, with the exception of the Lizzie thread, in a more than satisfying fashion. It makes significant changes to the status quo and provides some great leads going into the next issues and arcs. This is not a great jumping on point as ideas introduced all the way back in issue #1 are considered, but it is awesome for those of us who have been along for the ride.