I'm giving this a higher mark than I should. There was some problems with this issue. The Plesko reveal was lost many people, including me. He's just an obscure character to be made into a supervillain, that Zodiac just offs anyway. Everyone was worried about Reese taking over as Moon Knight, but that didn't happen. She's only taking over the Mission. My other problem was leaving Moon Knight alive knowing that he was going to try to stop the countdown. I'm not sure where the explosives came from. Somebody let me in on that one. That confused me.


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Plesko's motivations struck me as feeble, and I don't think the artist's dynamic style was a great fit with this particular script.

And that's the start and finish of my complaints. It is a lovely ending, a good ending for any hero and a particularly apt one for Moon Knight. It has a surprisingly solid role for Zodiac to play. The supporting cast inevitably revolves around Moon Knight, but that's fitting, given the subject matter.

And Marc reciting the shema? *Chef's kiss*
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The script is a classic Al Ewing joint: a little epic cosmology, a little cool combat, and a hero triumphing thanks to cleverness. (I think that's entirely appropriate for Thor, who is no dummy--and who has been tangling with Loki for centuries.)

The art is by no means disappointing, but neither is it awe-inspiring. The cosmological spreads are appropriately epic, but the fight scene feels a little by-the-numbers.

The villainous foreshadowing isn't as tense as it could be. If you've read Avengers Inc #3 (and you should have!), you'll know that Skurge shouldn't be taken at face value. And that means his surprise last-page ally probably shouldn't be, either.
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I love the initial fight scene to almost the maximum extent possible. But the pace flags and things get a little silly afterward. This is still my favorite issue of the volume so far, though.

The art is superb, and though I hate to cast aspersions, it's more dynamic and a clearer storytelling tool than Jesús Saiz's work. The two artists are matched in terms of detail and polish, though, and that gives the visuals a nice continuity.

History nerd nitpick: The Nazis' bomb looks awfully atomic. That strains credulity for 1939, no matter how much villainous super-science you want to invoke. (And I note that this volume's author is steering well clear of any mention of Hydra.)
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This issue--and the title as a whole--featured characters I don't much care about and a tone that doesn't suit my taste. Yet I commend the creators for breaching my subjective walls and delivering a pretty dang enjoyable story.

The final battle draws the depth and tension it needs from the conflict between Maddie and her variant. The art remains heavy but powerful. I think the epilogue does a good job of scattering the team to suitable locations.

And as it turns out, the Variant Queen's scheme tickles one of my personal fancies. I love the idea of variants teaming up in large numbers--I'm that rare nerd who stans Kashmir Vennema.
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"Teamed up with a sentient dress that links her to all of her AU variants" doesn't even crack Mantis's "Top 5 Weirdest Things That Have Happened to Me" list.

This title takes some of the goofiest, suckiest things that have happened on Marvel's cosmic stage in the past few years and builds upon them with equally goofy things, yet those things manage not to suck.

It's a suitably epic conclusion in its ideas and art. But my chronic subjective problem with this volume--an inability to really empathize with the Arakkii characters--holds my rating firmly in "good" territory rather than "great."

I think the problem isn't *entirely* subjective, though. The Fisher King was probably my favorite Arakkii character, and I contend that his fate in this issue could and should have affected me more.
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I'm not a fan of characterizing Dracula as a tragic antihero, but I admit it's a valid take on the character, utilized in many previous versions--including Marvel's own.

This script makes it work, ties it nicely to Blade and the current arc, and drops some very tasty dialogue along the way.

The art is not as detailed as Casagrande's, but it retains an inventive, cinematic flair in its blocking.

I also appreciate that the modern Chernobyl containment appears in the backgrounds; a lot of other Marvel artists have screwed that up and drawn the 20th-century sarcophagus.
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I love this premise. The script is awfully slow, though; this story didn't need 30 pages. The dialogue never falls into clumsiness or cliché, but neither does it rise to memorability.

This issue is yet another demonstration that putting song lyrics into a comic is not nearly as easy as Neil Gaiman made it look. And the big, upcoming twist is painfully obvious.

For me, the art is a huge positive. I've already developed a taste for Enid Balam's art, and I think he's just getting stronger. It's still idiosyncratic, but I'd argue that it's objectively good stuff: clear, dynamic, and distinctive.
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It's really a pity that this series is saddled with its crass connection to the Punisher. Strip that away, and it's a great, cinematic, tough-guy thriller. It's replete with cool one-liners, inventive fights, and powerful art.

But you can't get the poison out of the apple when it comes from the soil beneath the tree.

The storytelling is solid throughout--decent words and good art. But this comic only really takes hold of my attention when Thanos is on the page. How is Ron Marz *so much better* at writing the Titan than at writing any of his other characters?

Okay, I'm (slowly) aligning with the consensus view. I can see that this title is imitating MCU Yelena too slavishly. Even if I chuckle at the jokes, it's a guilty pleasure at best, and I won't argue that there's any great storytelling going on. The comedy is an anchor that slows the pace and hampers the development of both plot and character.

(I WILL argue that the art is cool, provided you acquire the taste for it.)

The story premise is functional, but it's not hard to pick out the sources that it's derived from. You don't even need to leave the Marvel canon; this is basically the "Hope Yards" arc from Ms. Marvel with a Widow-y spin on it.
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The good news is, Peach Momoko has a charming and novel (particularly to Western readers) take on the zombie story.

The bad news is, the other two strips that are tagging along are ROUGH. Each has a potentially-sound premise, but the storytelling used to develop them leaves MUCH to be desired.

Boy, the author is REALLY not taking any pains to make his demon gimmick hard to decipher, is he?

That part underwhelms me, but it's more than made up for by the way the other key elements (gang-fighting, priest-ing, and Matt's new (-ish) form of Catholic guilt) are balanced so nicely--including with the demons.

This issue's artistic tone shift is another treat. It's far darker than what's come before, and that suits Matt's current mood perfectly.
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This issue's first priority is introducing the new Latverian mutants, and it does a damn good job of that. We get a satisfying demonstration of their powers, glimpses of their backstories, and hints of more to be revealed in the future.

Add on a rock-solid depiction of Dr. Doom, good pacing, good dialogue, and exceptionally gorgeous art, and you've got a good, next-door-to-great comic.
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This issue is full of pleasant surprises. The rougher, looser art style suits my taste. Granted, it's less detailed, but I thought it was actually clearer and more dynamic.

The author does a talented job of throwing most of the focus to the antagonists without making the Avengers feel sidelined. And they profit by the focus; the Twilight Court develops toward distinctiveness and interest. (They seem like a pack of horny teenagers in their relationships to each other--which is not necessarily a bad thing.)
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As someone who regards virtually every Sentry appearance since his original miniseries as misguided at best, I wasn't looking forward to this series.

This first issue was quite the pleasant surprise! Now, it's far from perfection or greatness. The prose has plenty of glitches, and though the art is clear and clean, it's pretty generic. The plot looks generic as well, and the pace is slow.

Even with those drawbacks, I could call it acceptably average. What elevates it into a good comic is the author's remarkable talent for characterization. He handles old and new characters with equal insight and empathy. He makes me care about a character whose total lifespan is significantly shorter than the issue.

You can tell me the dumbest story in the world, and I'll be happy with it, so long as you can get me engaged with the people going through it.
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This anthology neatly dodges the criticism I usually have for anthologies (particularly in the Voices line): It's not a collection of aimless, too-short strips. Each of these four stories has a solid conflict, a solid resolution, and a solid message, and thus they're all pretty dang satisfying.

Devil's advocate: It might be that the final Captain America strip is so good that it's raising my opinion of the others.
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This issue delivers some vitally important plot points. The art is nice, and a lot of the ideas are compelling and cool.

But subjectively, the script was annoying. Hugely important plot points were delivered in past-tense narration, ruining any sense of tension. The sex jokes were half-hit, half-miss at best. The pace was slow, and felt even slower--probably another effect of the narration.

Still, it has its moments. Emma's new diamond-form combat move definitely goes in the "cool" column.
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The story chugs to a rational conclusion, but I don't find it to be a particularly satisfying one. It features excellent art (particularly for a collaboration), and this issue's script is probably the strongest of the whole arc.

My main complaints are probably that the climax feels rushed and that symbiote-ified Black Widow felt underutilized.

In my opinion, this is *almost* a good comic, but not quite.
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I find it difficult to explain why this doesn't click with me. Normally, I'm cool--even enthusiastic--about the contrast between the serious and the absurd that's so common in comics. But in this case, subjectively, the seriousness is too serious, and the absurdity is too absurd.

The art is a bit short on detail, but it's a powerful narrative tool. The script is stocked with plenty of cool lines. Bucky's mission endows the plot with focus and drive.

I'm hung up on the little absurdities, from the Red Skull's supernatural nature to the Contessa's robo-surprise to the utter mechanical impossibility of Sharon's helmet. I don't know WHY these things rustle my jimmies so much, but they do.
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The creators aim for a bleak Empire Strikes Back-style ending, and they hit the mark. The art is nice, and the script sticks to a fast, tension-building pace.

If I'm lowballing my rating, it's because I have the same complaint as I did in #3: this issue *by itself* is not emotionally engaging. It relies entirely on the reader's preexisting knowledge of, and engagement with, Alpha Flight (and the Hudsons in particular).

It also resembles ESB in a potentially negative way: A lot of plot threads are left hanging, and I have no idea where or when or if they'll get tied off.
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Is the narrative structure flawed? Yes, a little. Is the continuity work messy? Undoubtedly. Is it a little too much of an Uncanny Spider-Man bonus issue and not enough of a standalone one-shot? I say yes.

And the flaws don't matter, because this is a momentous and moving story. The creators bring it to life with passion, making it much more than a set of continuity footnotes, making it easy to sympathize and empathize with the characters. The art, in particular, is remarkable--all the more so for being a collaborative effort.
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It's a satisfying conclusion to the story. Kamala's thoughts seem authentic and endearing all the way through, and the Sentinel fight has some spectacular art. The script remains the weak point, though. It's not bad by any means, but the pace and the dialogue are improvable.

PS: What happened to the fish?!

The pace remains relentless, speeding toward a conclusion with slick action-movie dialogue and strong, sharp (but not too detailed) art. Like the last issue, there's one little point of corniness--Zodiac's sheer ego wards off vampires, huh?

I was on the verge of being underwhelmed. This goes by so quickly that it seems to contain even less plot development than it really does. But I appreciate how elegantly that last-page reveal ties together almost a year of foreshadowing.
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It's got gorgeous art and some clever ideas for developing its plot. The script has more than its fair share of snappy lines, too. It's challenging.

And yet, the slow pace continues to frustrate me. It's just a bit patronizing, as if the creators (the author in particular) are worried that I'll overlook how brilliant, ambitious, and thoughtful they are. The scrupulous review of every new idea is counterproductive, leaving me with the impression that this story is less than the sum of its parts.
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I found this a little less impressive than the first issue. Artistic polish, writing quality, and the complexity of the ideas are all falling off. The Reed Richards strip is undoubtedly the strongest: beautiful and bittersweet.

The highlights here are some good art, some good wisecracks, and one heartwarmingly authentic Howard adventure (the Kibblesmith/Wu strip) that pokes fun at modern Marvel's multimedia synergy obsession.

The other two strips are fairly annoying due to their belief that "absurdist humor" equates to frustrating the reader and their use of Howard as a passive observer of continuity wankery.

The frame story delivers nice, but tiny, morsels of Zdarsky/Quinones Howard. That tickles my nostalgia gland, but I can admit the frame is basically plotless.
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Add "explaining to a foreign writer how badly she's going to spoil the mood for American readers by using 'Summon the Grovers' as a battle cry" to the list of things Marvel editors don't do, I guess.

The pace is fast, and the amount of plot development is a little light. But those are about the only faults I could lay against this comic.

The well-turned words and brilliant art do a stellar job of building an air of suspense and menace. With this passionate storytelling, I'm okay with a small serving of content--and eager for the next round.