This issue is full of some very solid character moments, and while the material does venture into terrain that feels a bit overly sentimental, and the final speech that brings Franklin back from the brink is could've been tightened up considerably, the basic message displays a solid understanding of the characters involved. I also like the idea that Ben is the one that realizes that Franklin has grown beyond the stage in his life where he can draw comfort from the idea that his parents are there to protect him from the evils of the world. Now the book could've done a better job tying it to Ben's past, as Ben had an older brother who acted as Ben's safety net, but when Dan was killed during a tussle between two neighborhood gangs, Ben learned the exact same lesson that Franklin did. Still, the material did a fairly solid job of linking Franklin's nightmarish experience in hell to Ben's own struggles when he first became the Thing, so I'm willing to look past this missed opportunity. Read Full Review

Heartbreaking