This issue is pandering in a lot of ways, taking a lot of easy shots. It's a Thing-centric book. It teams him up with a cute animal.

But most importantly, it shows Ben REASONING his way out of a fix instead of just clobbering. He Sherlock Holmes-es the ☠☠☠☠ outta this!

And pandering isn't a problem when it's done with this much storytelling skill. The art is clear and dynamic, the pace maintains a consistent narrative journey, and the dialogue is packed full of charm, wit, and humor.

This is a great FF comic and a great Thing comic--judging by the standards of any era.
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This is a good chapter, fantastically told. The art's stunning and the dialogue sparkles with brilliant (if melodramatic) turns of phrase. This issue wraps up all this volume's plot threads (along with some from past volumes) into one ruthlessly rational conflict to challenge Doctor Strange.

I can't wait to see how he tackles it.

Verbal restraint, outstanding art, and terrific focus make this homage/dark echo of Kraven's Last Hunt formidable. There are plenty of little world-building questions going unanswered here--but that's entirely appropriate, as any digression would lessen the single-minded clarity of the story.

Fun stuff continues to happen with Orchis's Hellfire baddies and the hero contingent lost in the desert. It's illustrated with bright, (mostly) clear art, and it features plenty of wry, memorable dialogue.

Cause and effect drift apart as the issue progresses, though. The creators are talented enough that I trust them to come back and explain some of this issue's mysteries later--but I can't deny I feel a little frustrated at the end of this one.
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It's true that the pace is a little slow here. And many of the scenes--not just the Big Fight, but some of the important conversations--trail off without satisfying conclusions.

But on the plus side, world-building and character/relationship development continue all the way through. The artistic collaboration works better here, with both artists delivering highly satisfying segments.

And a little error I made with #3 comes back to teach me a lesson. I noted that Beisa's precious bracelet changed designs; I assumed this was poor communication between the artists. But this issue makes it clear that those are two different bracelets.

That tells me that the creators have long-term plans for everything they do. So I'm not worried if, say, Deathlok seems under-utilized by the end of this issue; I know we'll see him again.
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It's a talky, introspective visit with a rapidly-growing-obsolete version of Loki. Although there's talent and effort invested in Wanda and Loki's dance, it doesn't feel consequential. And on the other issue's plot thread, while Joseph clearly has an important role in the story to come, the way it's established feels a little contrived.

The crossover cruises to a satisfying if somewhat predictable end. This is the kind of plot that sinks or swims based entirely on the storytelling attached to it. Fortunately, it gets creepy, powerful art and tough, sharp prose. Content and talent are all of an equal quality, landing this squarely in "good comic" territory.

I am torn with this one. The creators throw on some stylish, appealing bells and whistles to make this a lot more than just "Moon Knight interrogates Vibro." The strongest part is the thematic tie binding the three spotlight characters: They're all dealing with their own form of fractured personality.

But the ultimate prize here is the revelation of Black Spectre's plan, and that plan left me underwhelmed. A "meh" moment that no amount of talented window dressing can entirely redeem.

It also feels that although this episode is complete as presented, it's a little short for a full issue, a little decompressed. For all its dynamism, the fighting is filler that doesn't build as much tension as the creators hope it will.

So what we're left with is a comic that I think is one of the volume's weaker issues--but still a good read compared to the average book being sold today.
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I think this was a very good story told in the wrong format and length. If Cindy Moon had an ongoing solo series (or even the annoying chain of minis that Marvel throws at its B-listers these days), giving her brother Albert the spotlight for a two-issue arc that evolved their relationship this way would be great.

As five standalone issues, the premise stretches too far and begins to crack. Saya isn't enough of an antagonist to go this distance, and there are undeniable drawbacks to sidelining the titular hero for this long.

It still winds up eminently readable thanks to excellent art and fearless commitment from the author. Imperfect, sure--but with tons of appeal waiting for readers who can forgive the formatting foibles.
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It's another fairly eventful comic where really interesting things are happening, and the words and art used to convey them are in constant danger of veering into "regrettable" territory.

Maximum snark: Boy, that Gerry Duggan gets pretty good at recapping an event after he's done it three-four times!

For a young and/or inexperienced reader, this is an eminently satisfying first chapter. For the more mature reader, this is a bit thin and simplistic. I hope that rose-colored hindsight will help fans of the original Marz/Lim Surfer enjoy this without getting held up by its predictability.

In this script, there's a sharp divide between decisions and actions that affect the story and…everything else. Magneto's self-doubt, the New Mutants' fractious debates--these things fill up the issue and space out the actual plot developments, but I'd argue that they don't contribute enough to the story or the characters to justify the space they occupy. Worse yet, some of the IMPORTANT plot developments are shoved off-page in a misguided attempt to build tension.

The art remains tasty to me, but even there I see signs that the story is moving too slowly. Note the panels where the New Mutants start hanging Christmas decorations in the middle of this crisis--because the artist has to put SOMETHING behind a page of chatter before the New Mutants get in gear and move the plot.
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Karla Pacheco tries mightily to make the Contest engaging. Her two secret weapons: protagonists who are too smart to fall for the event's lame "you two fight now" mind control, and a lot of intriguing, rapid-fire world-building. Sadly, the visuals leave a lot of the script's potential (particularly on the latter front) unrealized.

Big picture event complaining: In this episode, White Fox is persuaded to participate by appealing to basic "you gotta save the world" heroic principles. I'm pretty sure that'd work on ALL the "champions" collected so far--so why the fighting rigamarole? It's not the plot hole that irritates me as much as the CERTAINTY that the explanation for it will be "something something chaos chaos yadda yadda."
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This series keeps rolling with its icy-cool cinematic style. The dialogue is lethally sharp, exciting action happens all over the place, and it's illustrated with incredibly stylish, inventive art.

In my opinion, what holds it shy of greatness is that there's still no space for deep examination of the characters or ideas. This may be a Catch-22; if it were more insightful, it might have to be less stylish.

I think the ideas would stand up to increased scrutiny, though. I hunger to know more about Rotha and her cult and I think the author could say a lot more on the subject.
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It's brutal and brilliant in its simplicity. The author is great at restraint, putting in only the best dialogue and letting the artist handle the heavy lifting in the copious, thrilling action scenes.

I don't even mind the text page of background at the end (something that's gotten too common in Marvel books in the Krakoan era). It's placed correctly as an appendix, and it provides genuinely interesting supplemental material.
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I have no idea what excuse Marvel is using to justify this giant-numbered anthology. And it doesn't really matter; the strips inside are strong enough to justify themselves.

They're all at least decent, and mostly pretty saccharine, but genuine creator enthusiasm makes them engaging. The art in particular is top-tier across the board.

My favorites are the Jean/Scott strip (I'll read anything that gets 14 pages of Marguerite Sauvage art, and it being a Rainbow Rowell romance is a big bonus), the Daredevil strip (It's a solid execution of a clever idea about how Matt's powers developed), and of course the sappiest of all, the final strip with Stan and Jack and Steve. Sappy it may be, but it knows exactly where my heartstrings are.
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I hope the other writers in this event (particularly Steve Orlando) are taking notes. THIS is how you do a mysterious hero-vs-hero crossover event. It looks and sounds good, it's got a healthy dose of comic relief, there's imagination in the specifics of the hero fight, and most importantly: It gives us A HINT about WTF IS GOING ON in this event. It teases and tempts by sharing some intriguing details without revealing the whole scheme.

Maybe Mr. Orlando planned all along to hold the first details of the Contest back until a month and four issues had gone by. I hope that's not the case, because that would be a bone-headedly stupid plan.

Snark for the B strip: This event uses "chaos" the way bad science fiction uses "quantum."
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It's a solid evolution of the story so far, maintaining a nice tense feeling. If the way the plot develops isn't too surprising, that's countered by the fact the storytelling is consistently strong in words and art.

Jonathan Hickman has done this before. A LOT. Inside and outside Marvel. Now he's got his dark world built, his shades-of-gray conflict established, and his One Good Man (personally flawed but more moral than the system he inhabits) set up to try and upset the applecart.

It seems hard to believe that this story can reach a satisfying conclusion with just one issue left. This seems more like the turn between act 1 and act 2, not act 2 heading into the finale.

It's dry, grim material, and I don't think it suits the artist. Mr. Hitch makes a game play of it, but this isn't his best work.

The material doesn't suit me either, and I can't quite call this a good comic.

(And y'all folks singing the praises of the brilliant idea of the rulers of the world orchestrating their wars to distract the masses need to read 1984, damn.) more

There are still plenty of nits to pick in the storytelling. But all the characters' plotlines are starting to twine together, and that elevates things.

Normally, I don't mind at all when a series puts the plot on hold to do a deep character dive--even when it fills up half an issue. And I do think when this issue does it, it returns to the surface with some productive insights and changes in Liz Allan's character.

But subjectively, that just brings it up to NEARLY average for me. The rest of the plot-threads remain terribly weak and uninteresting. The art is a functional storytelling tool, but not all that memorable.

Even though the final page character reveal was nicely foreshadowed in Liz's introspection, it still feels like a wild tangent to launch in the series' penultimate issue.

(Plus maybe I'm subjectively salty because the last time we saw that character, Jed MacKay set them on a new course pointed well away from their Osborn history.)
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I might have enjoyed this series more (albeit not A LOT more) if I had read it all at once instead of spread out over months. Marvel, quit pretending that you might extend these miniseries and just publish them as OGNs!

This wasn't my lowest-rated Marvel comic of the week--but only because Deadpool Badder Blood #3 dropped on the same day.

Where TF did Anti-Carnage come from? Seriously.

I'll kick a little credit toward Chad Bowers: He manages to make some of the jokes funny.

This issue is also a goldmine for unintentionally ironic dialogue to amuse the hate-reader:
"--Hell, it doesn't matter. Nothing does."
"We don't understand you, but we don't need to."
"...who cares if you survive the experience?"

The key question I had going in was, will this be good enough to allay my suspicion that a cynical editorial calculation launched this volume? "Al Ewing + Immortal Whoever = $$$".

Well, the first issue isn't that good.

It's BETTER.

This builds slowly but steadily, showing us a satisfied Thor at the height of his powers before challenging him with a convincingly ultimate threat. The art is superb and the prose might be the finest Asgard-speak I've seen in a host of years. Not packed with fauzebethan "thee thou verily" nonsense, but also not the vocabulary and diction one would hear on the 21st-century street.

It's all anchored in a bedrock of thoughtful ideas. Norse myth and Marvel continuity and even some more challenging stuff--I caught a heady whiff of Platonic philosophy hiding in the shadows.

Plus, Loki looks destined for a compelling role as the secondary protagonist. I love that Marvel seems to be going all-in on making them non-binary instead of a gender-shifter.

Let me share my continuity nerdery: The missing tooth says this is the same Loki from Ewing's Loki: Agent of Asgard (Thor knocked it out in #10). They've also been through Ewing's Defenders: Beyond, and subsequent shenanigans (like Ewing's strip in Thor (2020) #24) suggest they may be a variant existing in parallel with other Lokis. It's certainly a handy escape hatch if Loki appears elsewhere and fails to live up to the brilliance with which Ewing handles them.
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As soon as Al Ewing's schedule slows down, I'd be happy to see him write a Dr. Doom solo for about a zillion issues.

Eddie takes a logical next step in his story, and the simple plot progression is elevated to greatness by this script's witty, intelligent portrayal of Doom. He and Eddie relate in ways that are amusing, enlightening, and intriguing.

Sergio Dávila raises the reading experience even higher with a scrupulously polished artistic performance. The action remains clear and easy to parse even as it dances through panels jam-packed with realistic detail and perfectly rendered characters.

Snarky aside re the G.O.D.S. page: I've forgotten these dudes' names by now. I'll just call them Store-Brand Dr. Strange and The Twink In White.
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Not only is it a good tie-in to the Hellfire Gala, it's rare--possibly unique--in using the Gala to further its own story instead of lending (too-necessary) support to the event itself.

The art is gorgeous, the language is smooth and clear, the voices are distinctive. Character-driven decisions produce big plot developments and write a fascinating question mark in the team's future.

This is a very good comic, and the issues to follow are likely to be, too.
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I've never considered this volume a good Iron Man story. But it's turning into one of the author's best X-Men stories, and it's a very good comic in general.

The art is great, and there's some real emotional depth in the dialogue. Emma+Tony is making more and more sense and getting more interesting with each issue.

This ties up a lot of the loose plot threads left flapping after the Hellfire Gala. While the big picture resolves into clarity (at last!), I won't extend too much retroactive credit. The loose ends were more frustrating than intriguing before they were tied up (and I'm sticking with my resolve to judge each comic I read by itself).

This series would fit better with the other X-Books (and Avengers) if its issues came out just a little bit earlier.
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Wade and Valentine make it to a solid happily-ever-after in this humorous, cleanly illustrated final chapter. What's pleasantly surprising is that, with the main couple's resolution being fairly simple, the creators go for extra points by adding a compelling bit of growth for Lady Deathstrike, too. There's even space to rescue the last two Atelier assassins and make them interesting enough that I hope to see them again.

It lands at a positively idyllic status quo, and while I don't expect it to last long when Deadpool gets his next volume, it's a charming place to leave him. And hopefully, the next author will recognize that Valentine is worth keeping around.
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I don't like Queen Goblin. I don't like her coming back from the dead "because that's what Goblins do." I don't like the "Norman Osborn's sins are persistent, malevolent ghosts" premise that's central to her character--what this volume has done with that idea seems simultaneously too shallow and too deep.

I don't much like this volume or the way its author handles it. I don't like Zeb Well's strategic plans, and I don't like the way he paces his issues so fast and his arcs so slow.

But DAMN does the man know how to pull off a surprise plot twist. This issue's final scene came out of left field, completely floored me, and flipped my expectations on their heads. I can't help being excited about what comes next (even if experience tells me not to get too hopeful).

It certainly helps that Patrick Gleason is a great artist with a style tailor-made for a script like this. The blocking is inventive, the characters are scrupulously polished, and Mr. Gleason works exactly enough detail into the settings to complement prose that might feel thin without this visual support.
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