The meta aspects tread lightly on the toes of the Unbelievable Gwenpool finale, and it's pretty saccharine overall. If ANY series has earned the right to go out in a burst of fondant sweetness, though ...

If only Joey Vazquez could have drawn the whole thing! The art shifts and the inherent limitation of the "plot up an excuse for a fake marriage" premise are the only drawbacks. Otherwise, it's a perfect heist yarn. Felicia and her henchies remain terrific.

The team starts fighting crime with Doc Justice. Gert, sidelined, starts collecting the first hints that all is not well. The return of Kris Anka is a treat, the story continues to be fascinating, and the characters are still charming as all get-out.

The Summoner looks and feels entirely too much like Ex Nihilo from Mr. Hickman's Avengers run. I can't decide whether his tendency to revisit the same themes is a good thing or a bad thing. Maybe a bit of both?

Morbius kicks off a super-science feud with the Melter. This intro strikes a nice balance between explaining Morbius's fundamental status quo and showing him in action -- with a bonus serving of Aristotelian philosophy helping to explore his character. A sound script is ennobled with some outstanding horror art. It's a satisfying read in itself and it's successfully engaged my enthusiasm for future chapters. more

I appreciated the greater sharing of the spotlight around the team and the intelligent evolution of the logical problems inherent in the Pan premise. Also, the art is REALLY working for me this time around.

Though I dearly love Bobbi Morse -- in general and as portrayed here -- I don't think this team needs more members.

I'm just not at all invested in the clackety-clack of these Guardians game pieces shuffling across the cosmic chessboard. Pretty art, though.

The Marvel universe's story in the 2000s flows out smoothly -- reasonable, since this is the era of line-wide editorial control. Rational progression combined with more stellar splash/collage pages restores this title to pleasant, above-average readability as it nears the finish line.

The Hulk falls afoul of consecutive "freak accidents" just three pages apart. It makes me wonder if Mark Waid is over-fond of the phrase.
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This issue's art isn't going to get Szymon Kudranski off my @#$%-list, but it's not a trainwreck. Definitely the bottom of the barrel, but it still has a healthy whiff of that "everything is new again DoX" smell.

Every scene has Meaning, and all the Meanings are related. It's sublimely coordinated, like ballet.

I often praise good comics art for being "expressive," which can be a wishy-washy term. To give it meaning, look no further than those four panels where Fisk calls Wesley. Mr. Checchetto tells the *entire* story just in Wesley's reactions. (And Mr. Woodard helps by adding a perfect, subtle flush in the third panel.) To evoke the character and the story so clearly, with such detail -- it's a rare art team that can do that.
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Powerful character work and a dramatic shift in focus signal a new direction here: It's the Hulk versus late-stage capitalism, with Dario Agger and Roxxon playing the (more) villainous role. The storytelling in words and art remain at the highest standards, but this is a bit of a quiet issue, mainly concerned with groundwork and philosophy and politics. But of course, you can't read this far into this stellar volume and lose faith in the fact that there'll be plenty of SMASH in future issues.

One thing that strikes me is how similar this issue's media cutaway pages are to the cutaways in the "Hulk goes to Hell" arc. It's politics in place of theology.
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A desperate turn in Kamala's father's health is complicated by a Mr. Hyde attack … and a momentous smooch with Bruno. The plot is ever so slightly contrived, and that doesn't hurt at all thanks to the scrupulously well-done character work done throughout the issue. Outstanding art also helps launch this into greatness.

Felicia decompresses by dining, stealing, and boinking with Batroc. It's an unlikely match-up, but both thieves charm each other as well as the readers. And meanwhile, the Thieves' Guild kidnaps the Black Fox to keep the overarching plot moving. The art is a solid match to the title's established style, and I still find the prose delicious.

Pleased with the new Krakoan status quo, the New Mutants (+ Chamber and Mondo) head off to space to retrieve Cannonball. Things go sideways through a combination of inquisitiveness and the Starjammers being dickish. The plot looks a trifle simple, but top-tier sassy banter and painted art with a gorgeous, Sienkiewiczian bent make the reading experience delightful.

Even though it feels like this title and Marauders start off in the same sandbox, I'm loving both takes so far.
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We're off to an exciting start with an effective baddie attack taking down the one mutant on Krakoa who might really be indispensable. The art is gorgeous and the prose is poetic in a novel, ethereal way that really suits the "sinister fairyland" vibe of Krakoa.

But I'm hesitant to go all-in and I'll tell you why: Despite the extended page count and the fast pace, this issue didn't get around to showing me any meaningful mutant agency. I won't know how the mutants react to this threat until the next issue, and so far the only thing nudging these characters towards a team-up is the arbitrary fiat of who the author focuses on.
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The story's not impressing me, but the portrayal of the FF is. Particularly in the art, particularly for Sue: It feels like the real Invisible Woman has returned after a long absence. Can we *please* get Sean Izaakse assigned to this book permanently?

On the surface, it's just a punchy-punch comic, but it's underpinned by the fascinating and impeccably-written relationship between Miles and his uncle. Add on a truly exceptional serving of art -- Javier Garrón is reaching outside his comfort zone (successfully!) to create big, impressive splashes -- and you've got a rock-solid read.

The Lilith plotline isn't pulling its weight yet.

I know some comics grognards will complain about Shang-Chi getting beaten in any circumstances. But I think if you think Shang-Chi wouldn't dial it down when sparring with an adorable 10-year-old, your understanding of Shang-Chi is a lot more messed up than Alyssa Wong's.

My enthusiasm nose-dived with this issue. Chalk up my disillusionment to the janky plotting (jerking the rug out from under Doom's surrender + the Fatality Fakeout ending) and a rapid frosting of my enthusiasm for Mr. Larroca's art. He's once again portraying all his characters by dressing up the same two standard-issue comics mannequins. Plus, having your antihero quote Richard III is the very epitome of sophomoric cleverness. But the dialogue and characterization are still pretty tasty.

The synchronicity of developments in this title and ASM has me seriously wondering if Nick Spencer has carte blanche to strip-mine plot points from other Marvel writers.
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I agree with Johnny Hughes: The concurrent Invisible Woman series is a better Black Widow comic than Web of Black Widow.

I'm pretty sure Mr. Spencer is soon going to stitch Miguel's story together with Pete's classmate's new future-predicting technology. And the Silver Sable plotline is, in theory, awesome. It would have been a killer as a miniseries, but instead it's here, dragging at least two issues of ASM dangerously close to trainwreck territory. The Latverian/Symkarian stuff should be left where it belongs (and where I suspect Mr. Spencer swiped it), in the Dr. Doom series. more

It's a bespoke AU where Spidey and Venom are fractious roommates and Ghost Spider is their long-suffering downstairs neighbor. And the big ongoing plot is a mark-one body-swap between the leads. The target demographic is so young that we're not even fooling with dual identities here. The story doesn't stretch very far toward accommodating adult readers. The art's delightful, though, and this series should be a treat for Mini-Marvelites. Pop a couple extra points on my rating if you're shopping for something solid for a reader whose age is still in/close to single digits. more

The generic "rogue with a heart of gold" characterization and the outdated "discount Tank Girl" art rubbed me in precisely the wrong way. Still, I recognize those are subjective taste complaints, and I could get interested in some good continuity massage if they hurry up and get MCU Yondu and Earth-691 Yondu teamed up properly.

But telling-not-showing us that your MacGuffin du jour is an Infinity Stone-level threat? That's objectively a storytelling sin.
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I was constantly aware of how much the military black ops BS was arousing the author, and it had the opposite effect on me.

Lin Lie is portrayed as clueless and incompetent. Between the glacial pace of the A strip and the fact that those same traits show up in the B strip, I'm afraid this is going to be chronic and it's going to make it awfully hard for me to ever fall in love with the character.