It's mighty wordy, and it doesn't dig as deep into the characters as it could.

Beyond those nitpicks, though, it's next door to flawless. Plot developments by the bucket load, and most of them are tied tightly to character relationships. This feels like critical groundwork for a tragedy to come--and it's supremely entertaining in its own right.

The creators make a terrific meal out of the big stack of bonus pages. The extra space suits their preferred style for MK action, and expanding the flashback to full-issue length works well.

This isn't a big character moment for the protagonist--but it is a spotlight turn for 8-Ball, hooray! And on the plot side of things, an incredible number of puzzle pieces lock tightly together. The latest developments enhance much of what's come before and build tremendous anticipation for the next steps.

This is another solid piece of evidence for my argument that plus-sized "special issues" are best used to tell an extended story instead of being turned into anthologies. This one even has its cake and eats it too, throwing in a middling reprint to round out the page count.
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It's another fast-paced serving of ridiculous action. I've been enjoying Paul Davidson's art all along, but this is something special. He pulls out all the stops when he has the opportunity to do dystopian world-building, and the results are fantastic.

The arc-plot winds down to a satisfying conclusion, and there are some good character beats (comedy for Deadpool, tragedy for Colossus) along the way.
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It's a nice, solid continuation of the sci-fi fun. If the plot doesn't really advance that far, the ground it does cover is made exciting with some cool, well-drawn action. I'm not sure Yondar's "secret" lands as hard as the author wants it to, though.

It's always fun to see a breakout character break out well, and this Candra fits the bill. She gets the lion's share of narrative attention here, but there's still plenty of insight and development for Normie. It's all drawn well, there's a solid dose of action, and the dialogue has a bit of sparkle to it. This is a thoroughly satisfying return to form after the dubious detour through Carnage Reigns.
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It looks just about as beautiful as ever. The core space-vengeance story is a little rushed and clunky, but I'm OK with that. It means the other major scenes--the introduction of Ganymede and the heart-to-heart with Wiccan--come out slower and more enjoyable.

Of course, the biggest possible strike is that this one-off is not what we've all been waiting for since the end of #5.

To me, it's a good comic. It's just as slow as the last issue, though, and it's not as funny or intriguing. It should be fine as a chapter in a bigger story. By itself, though…it's giving me a case of dwarf fatigue. The art is pretty formidable throughout, which helps.

This issue employs the standard tricks of the volume to the best possible effect. The big plot developments are finally revealed, allowing the story to chug towards a confrontation. It pauses along the way for funny or cool moments; in this instance, these pay off better in the art than the words.

It's cathartic to be in motion. But even in motion, there are frustrating hints of deeper meaning that the author is neglecting in favor of a laborious, simplistic plot. Pete hesitating to interface with Otto's arms; Otto suspecting he's lost a memory of redemption--I want to see more than hints that these things exist.

Maybe the creators shy away from digging too deeply because even the hints make it clear where they're headed. Otto's heroic memories are buried deep in Peter's mind, and that Beyond helmet will wind up transferring them so that we have a quasi-heroic Otto again instead of this sneering cartoon villain.
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The new arc has a hook in me, though I found this first issue a little slow and repetitive (we get it, Miles could use a therapist!). The dynamic art helped. The action scenes look terrific, but I also liked the street fair visuals. I'm much less enthused about the Hobgoblin, but maybe he'll get some interesting motivation soon?

There's a certain amount of fun in watching this grim proposition play out to its obvious end. And it's satisfying to see that even in victory, Loki gets his comeuppance. This comic would rise a lot higher if Marvel had persuaded Mr. Simonson to draw it, though.

At times (like Magneto's speech), this is quite powerful. At other times (like the Spider-Man scene), this feels like reading fan fiction or a Wiki summary. The art and prose are always solid, never spectacular; overall, this is a mixed bag.

Prequels are always hard to justify, and this one hasn't quite done the job yet.

Sadly the scene that's most critical to plot and character development also seems to be the weakest one. I think the developments are generally workable, though, and the art's strong throughout. This makes a fitting lid to close the last volume of Carnage and pivot toward the future.

The art and pace both reach a high-water mark here, and the story is finally interesting. The initial comic relief scene is golden.

Count the number of "Hrn!"s in the dialogue. (And throw in Destiny's "hrm" for good measure.)

The cause-and-effect mechanics of the plot go slightly wonky at the climax, but the art is even stronger than the last issue.

And there's Alicia's voice, which is insanely lovable even by this title's high lovability standards. This is a great finish to a great story.

Appreciate that the way Alicia interacts with Sue's powers is a subtle nod toward her step-father, the Puppet Master.
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This latest plot twist owes a lot to Doctor Who. Like, enough to criticize it for the similarity, if you want to.

Me? I like Doctor Who and I like this comic.

The art is gorgeous and magical, the pace is good, and the dialogue is full of wit and snark. Stephen and Clea come across as smart, insightful people, even as the plot catches them flat-footed.

(Speaking of homages, based on what I know of Jed MacKay's tastes, I bet it's no accident that the Stranges sound a lot like Nick and Nora Charles here.)

I remain fully engaged and eager to find out what happens next.
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Ben's not wrong when he derides Ogdu as basic; that guy and his scheme aren't going to show up on anybody's list of "top 10 cosmic threats." The heroes subject him to an off-the-shelf defeat.

Fortunately, the WAY the story's told does a lot to overcome any shortcomings in the plot and antagonist. The art is still scrupulously, gloriously grotesque, and the dialogue really rises to a series-wide high point here at the end.

All in all, this title is thoroughly enjoyable--all the more so because it really sticks the landing here.
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It feels like we're cooking with gas here. The art is generally strong, though ironically, Venom's look might be my least favorite part of the visuals (Not bad by any means, just strangely, vaguely "off"). The author's struck a good balance between mysterious foreshadowing and immediate action--and there's a nice dose of solid humor to bind it all together and make the reading experience fun.
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The anthology strips tacked on the end are the usual anniversary fare: heartfelt but pretty forgettable. The art is pretty strong all the way through, though, and the Simone/Acuña strip is excellent.

The first two strips are more important, being essentially full issues of the Truth and Liberty series. The first is an excellent epilogue for Symbol of Truth, filling in a key piece of background with gorgeous art and excellent sentiment (the plot is a bit iffy, though). The second is a full-on issue of Sentinel of Liberty, eulogizing Roger Aubrey and sending off most of the series' supporting cast. It also sets the stage for the big finale, which hopefully wraps up the Outer Circle arc in a satisfying (or at least conclusive) way.
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I suppose this is all important background info about Righteous and Stasis, and it's written and drawn in a suitably entertaining fashion. I dunno, it didn't wow me. The artist seems stretched a little thin, and I'm not sure this really needed to be a big bonus-sized issue.

I pretty much fell in love with Mother Righteous at first sight, but it seems like every further revelation about her is designed to dampen my enthusiasm. Particularly the news that she's a clone of Rebecca Essex rather than a gender-swapped Nathaniel. (Perhaps I'd be more enthusiastic about the idea if this was my first exposure to it rather than the clumsy scene in X-Men #23.)
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The surprise last-minute antagonist came so far out of left field that it threw me utterly out of the story. At first I thought I was missing some piece of established Daredevil lore, but nope, this is apparently the first/last/only appearance of that baddy. In retrospect, this whole arc is riddled with supporting characters with unclear motivations (looking at you again, Goldie), and this final one takes the cake.

Which is a shame, because the storytelling work is sterling. Good writing and great art make this a very good comic in my eyes, despite the plot developments making little sense.
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There's a solid premise in there, and the authors wring about three good scenes out of it. But that doesn't fill the entire page count, and the clumsy way they set up the playing field at the start gets everything off on the wrong foot. The art's pretty outstanding throughout, though.

The teaser strip for the upcoming volume is rough for me. I love Al Ewing, but this fills me with the opposite of confidence.
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Panel by panel and line by line, there's still some stiffness in both the art and the words. It's pretty good work on the strategic scale, though: The script is complex and tense and the layouts are powerful.

Plotwise, some things I thought would be important fade out, and some of the things this finale focuses on come out of left field. But it all fits together logically in hindsight.

This isn't a part of Laura's history that I had any interest in revisiting. The creators tell a solid story and hold my interest to the end, though.
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This is an archetypal example of this title's winning-ish strategy. One Big Dumb Fight™, one Relationship Moment™, some variable-quality foreshadowing, and a bunch of clumsy traffic control trying to make this look like the center of a cohesive story running through all the X-titles.

(Yeah, I'm a little salty about those two Manifold-focused pages that are essentially saying, "No, really, you SHOULD be reading that Rogue & Gambit miniseries!")
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At the front and back we have one-note strips that rise into memorability thanks to utter creator commitment and an unusual level of cuteness for Venom.

In between, there's a rock-solid Venom Noir origin. I often criticize anthology strips for presenting less than a full story. This is the refreshing alternative: Not just a complete story including protagonist, antagonist, conflict, and resolution, but also an epilogue that's a pretty solid story in itself. Wrap it up with some very strong words and art and it's essentially a tempting summary of two whole issues of Venom Noir.
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It's not bad, but that in no way makes it good or memorable.

The art takes a slight up-tick; in my opinion, the quality of the writing heads the other way.

I don't think anybody, even the author, enjoyed this simplistic resolution half as much as the artist did. They fill every panel with insanely over-the-top action, striving to imbue the story with an epic-ness that it doesn't really deserve.

The first and last strips are simple, journeyman stories that confirm the continued existence of Dream-Spider and Araña. They offer some comfort to existing fans of those characters, but I doubt they'll win more.

(Aside caveat: The Araña strip is also pitching pretty hard for an ongoing Web Warriors series starring her. I'm not sure it really got me on board.)

The middle strip is an interesting pitch for "Jameson as Spider-Man." I love the premise, and I think the storytelling is full of passion and commitment. It's awfully rushed and messy, though, and the plot suffers for it. The motivations of both Jameson and Roxxon rely on the reader's prior knowledge of John Jameson, and that's an oversight that could have been corrected with just a few lines of dialogue.
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Well, I love this. The slow burn pays off with a thoroughly engaging step forward in Jen's love triangle…before superhero business spoils everything. How perfectly appropriate for a She-Hulk comic.

There are plenty of superheroes who get to be romantic, here and there, but few superhero storytellers go all-in on making their stories romances. Rainbow Rowell makes it look deceptively easy, conveying important emotional developments with just the right level of subtlety.

Andrés Genolet makes a powerful partner on the art side of things. He has a reliable talent for conveying important character information through expressions and posture. Plus--and this is a big reason I'd put him forward as a champion of minimalist art--he always delivers exactly enough background detail to ground the characters and make them feel like they're inhabiting real spaces.
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As a story standing on its own, this issue falls short of greatness. It's slow and it's stuffed with self-important biblical language. It's illustrated well, but the big art team falls prey to the usual problems of collaboration--the visual style isn't quite consistent.

As groundwork/mythology for the upcoming war, though, this is fascinating and important reading. It's high time we all got a refresher course on Genesis's Amenth/Annihilation business. And there's some genuine pathos in Apocalypse's plight (It's a shame he's far from my favorite character).

So if the story itself could be better, the context and the world-building put it right next door to great.
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