The art is gorgeous as ever.

The script doesn't do as much as most scripts in terms of plot development, but what it does do, it does almost perfectly. There is a lot of dialogue here that reveals character, moves the plot, and demonstrates memorable writing skill, all at the same time.

This finale starts a little slow and verbose. I never did get an explanation of Mother Righteous's magic that satisfied me--though I guess the point is moot now.

On the plus side, the art is impressive, lots of the dialogue is memorable, and the new revelations that emerge by the end are profoundly interesting.

Although I think this title is struggling a little to hold a consistent tone from issue to issue, I am wholly in favor of this one and the way it differs from the last few. Chris Allen handling at least some of the art again is very welcome. The author ratchets up the pace and trusts the artists to carry the story in many scenes without excessive dialogue.

It feels like the gang war elements of the story are finally coming into focus and making themselves unique. Baba Nkisu is revealed as merely an introductory antagonist, and I have high hopes for his daughter, Aliinya. Plus, of course, there's the supernatural angle: back-burnered for now, but certainly set to play a big role in the future.
more

Suddenly, the story of Janet Van Dyne, hardboiled detective in swank civilian suits, is swamped and capsized by Revenge of Ant-Man (2022).

The newly-ascendant storyline is by no means bad. The writing and art remain well above average, and there are plenty of compelling ideas.

It's just that I was REALLY enjoying Jan's hardboiled adventures. Though the storytelling is good, it's not quite good enough to overcome my disappointment over the story turning out to be All About Hank. Again.
more

The pace is a bit slow, and the dialogue often gets stilted (those damn contractions!). But the art is excellent, and the mystery of Carnage's unholy schemes is engaging. The evolving Biblical symbolism lends rare intellectual heft to a character that's normally just a murder monster.

The Rider and Johnny turn into supporting characters here at the end, which is, in theory, a bad thing.

In practice, though, the author has crafted Talia's redemption arc with enough skill and dedication that it makes a solid substitute for a more active Ghost Rider.

It's a good finale. What would have made it great was a little more visceral engagement and a little more memorability in the art and the dialogue.
more

It's a nice story, with some good lines and epic art. But two factors make me rate it on the low end of "good comics" territory.

First, it's throwing yet another big cosmic timey-wimey threat into the Marvel universe. The Avengers have barely even started tackling the BCTWT launched in the LAST Timeless book.

Second, for all its charming specificity to its characters, this boils down to Luke Cage as Silver Surfer vs. Khonshu as Galactus.
more

There are big plot developments going on here, and those intrigue me. The team welcomes a lot of new faces and gropes toward a new mission; this is promising groundwork that could produce compelling stories in the future.

I'm less enthused about the character interactions, though. This issue has several heart-to-heart conversations, and they sabotage each other by all sounding pretty much the same.

I'm also underwhelmed by the art. The polish and action are pretty good, but the character designs are rough. The faces are hard to distinguish; far too often, I had to rely on costumes or dialogue cues to identify specific characters.

So I'm being snippy about the WAY the story is told in this issue. I still see a lot of merit in the story itself, though, and I'm eager to see where it goes.
more

I found the plot developments here just as grand and intriguing as they should be. The storytelling--the art and words--wasn't nearly as impressive.

I'd like to humbly nominate "From this moment on, they are the ones who will fear" as an underdog contender for "notably terrible line of dialogue."

I think the art is the best part of this, and that's not particularly memorable. Every other element--characterization, comedy, pacing, premise, conflict-- is clustered between "forgettable" and "thoroughly average" on the quality scale.

It all adds up to an issue that COULD be a good comic if it had just one really outstanding piece to elevate the rest of the package. But I think that piece is missing.

This deserves a ratings bump from readers with some strong nostalgia for the original Secret Wars, though.
more

This is the issue where the creators burn through the last of my patience and charity.

The art is strong. The dialogue sounds reasonably natural. The antagonist and the conflict are pretty generic, but they could work as long as the comic offered up something else more engaging.

What it has to offer is Yuna @#$% Yang.

I have no problem with Yuna Yang as a character. I like her representational demographics, and I think she could be a good supporting character/sidekick.

What I have a HUGE problem with is that she's the protagonist, and Captain Marvel is, at best, a guest star in her own title.

The balance of narrative attention between Yuna and Carol is only getting worse, and it doesn't give me much hope for future issues.
more

I'm bookmarking this as a formidable example of just how little dialogue a great comic actually needs. When a good writer works closely with a good artist, the two of them can take full advantage of the possibilities of the medium.

I was about to rate this just below the threshold of greatness, picking the usual nit that, for all its visual and emotional power, this issue doesn't cover a lot of plot ground. It's basically just three scenes.

But in my second thoughts, I realized there's a lot of extra meat hiding in the subtext here. Charlie gets some potent characterization, all expressed through art and natural dialogue, not exposition. And it dawned on me that this arc is Saying A Thing about war and soldiers--quite a bit deeper than a mere monster fight.

This is a great comic, and I think the volume as a whole has a good shot at greatness, too.
more

The art is superb. Colorful, psychedelic, polished, inventively blocked--this is exactly what a Doctor Strange comic should look like, I think.

The script is a smooth, well-timed machine for resolution, tying up the plot threads and delivering impressively dramatic dialogue.

But there are a few nits to pick that temper my enthusiasm.

This issue demonstrates that Stephen Strange can veer rapidly into smugness and hubris when he has the upper hand. I appreciate that this is balanced out by Strange taking ownership of the General's crimes, though.

His victory here comes through a scheme that I think is becoming a cliche, a deus ex machina: Infect the bad guy with empathy and watch him immediately get overwhelmed by remorse. Granted, if anybody has a right to use such a magical, "wishful thinking" strategy, it's Dr. Strange.
more

The creators make a smooth gear-change into heavy action for the front half of the book. It works well, and it's followed up by some slower characterization and conversation that ties a nice, neat bow on the series.

The art does solid storytelling work, but the detectable joints between the main and the backup artist hold it back a little.

Overall, I remain a big fan of Si Spurrier, and I thoroughly enjoyed the challenges and changes he brought to Nightcrawler here. But I recognize that the series was a little too long and a little too idiosyncratic to suit every reader's taste.
more

The dialogue's a little corny, but that's made up for by well-timed plot twists and a dose of heartfelt characterization. The visuals are solidly above average.

The plot, good twists aside, is a bit corny, too. Its overall serving size of content is generous, though--plot development abounds.

But this becomes a good comic primarily because we can tell the creators are taking it seriously.
more

The plot doesn't develop very far in this issue, and the art is a little rough (though only in comparison to previous issues).

These are problems that are easy to overlook because Benjamin Percy hangs the book on a well-written, highly comedic Spider-Man. Plus, Logan does some productive self-examination. And by the end, the stage is nicely set for even bigger, bolder action to come.
more

The series gets stronger as it continues, I think. Bailey continues to be charming and sympathetic. In words and art, his adventures strike a nice balance between being kid-friendly and being deep enough for adults to appreciate. I also like the way the epilogue stitched the B strip into the A strip. The backup does still lag behind the main story in terms of overall quality, though.

This is beautifully illustrated, and the prose is extremely high quality. The characters are fascinating, as are their new connections and interactions.

But this is also an absolute black box when it comes to plot development. Things happen, and we can only guess at their significance based on how ominously the script describes them.

I'm sure everything we see here will be hugely significant in the future (maybe not the frog receptionist, or maybe he's THE MOST SIGNIFICANT OF ALL). And I think this is an entertaining, fascinating comic. But it's also frustratingly cryptic as a standalone issue.
more

The story shifts gears, going from "very spooky supernatural mystery" to "semi-spooky mundane whodunnit." The answers that Peter digs up make sense and develop the plot nicely. The art remains fantastic.

But my reading experience was tinged with a bit of disappointment. I don't think there are any fatal flaws here, but the creators just can't deliver as much terror (to me, anyway) once they start pulling back the curtain and explaining things.
more

A healthy dose of real plot development makes this issue much more appealing to me than the stage-setting #1. The art is great, and the script is a finely-honed tool for setting up exciting confrontations and deploying sharp dialogue as they play out.

The character work is a bit thin, though (this Matt Murdock is even more generic than the one starring in the current main Daredevil title). And Von Strucker and his plot are both teetering on the edge of melodramatic absurdity.

This is one of Hydra's nastiest Nazis, and his master plan is…copying Arcade's playbook? Without even the appeal of tormenting superheroes?

So it's not a serious book, no matter how grim and gritty it wants to be. But it IS becoming a fun read after its slow start.
more

In terms of plot, this resolution/epilogue is a little ambiguous and potentially unsatisfying.

But the art is magnificent, the dialogue is sharp, and the character work is intense. Elektra tugs on the thematic threads that link her to Bellona, and she undergoes some genuine change and growth that REALLY need to be followed up on. Plus, there's a charming dessert of comedic interactions with both Spider-Men.

While this series strayed in the middle, struggling to dig enough compelling content out of the Gang War event, here at the end, it makes a powerful pitch for an ongoing series, a la Spider-Woman.

I read on a Marvel Unlimited delay (plus I'm way behind). But sometimes that's a blessing: I'm happy to look at the publishing schedule ahead of me and see that at least Erica Schultz gets to carry Elektra through a string of miniseries.
more

I'm still loving the art, and I find the dialogue adequate, with a few especially good lines. But in terms of plot and content, this issue digresses and saps tension. The harshest way to look at it is that this issue has some painfully filler-y filler material.

But it's not a mortal sin, and the detour gives the author a chance to show (as in "show, don't tell") Elektra being empathic.
more

I am still loving the art. It delivers a fantastic blend of detail, clarity, and dynamism.

The words are functional and natural, if not particularly memorable.

The structure of the script and the premise of the plot developments are the weak points, though. It's a cliche-driven story with poorly motivated antagonists, and the scene-to-scene flow in the warehouse is a mess.

The author is being too coy about the identity of the mystery assassin. I figured it out halfway through this issue, and I feel like I should have guessed it in #1 (I DEFINITELY should have twigged when Scarfe used her actual name).

This is an enjoyable "guilty pleasure" comic; a light, fun read. It'd be hard to argue that it's particularly noteworthy or important to the protagonist or the event, though.
more

This event took a lot of weak steps and generated a lot of pages that weren't worth reading, but in the end, I'm satisfied with this resolution and the status quo it establishes.

The art was decent (though the artist's signature style does some of the guest stars dirty) and helped lend depth to the script's plot development. The characterization wasn't particularly deep, but it felt generally appropriate to the characters. And I actually liked most of the comedic banter this time around.

I've read some less charitable reviews, and I can see the weaknesses in this issue and the event as a whole. The new status quo isn't much of a change; many critical developments contradict earlier information (i.e., at the start, Fisk's Law was said to be bulletproof, but at the end, it's easily repealed between scenes); Janice Lincoln's disappearance is EXTREMELY unsatisfying; etc.

I guess I was just ready to take this issue as a no-brains popcorn comic, and on those terms, it worked for me.

Maximum salt: Nothing else this event did was half as good as coining the moniker "Paste-Pot Patty."
more

Well, look at that! Spider-Man Did Something in his flagship title!

The greatest strength of the issue (and the event as a whole, I think) remains the Lincoln Family Drama. Strong as it is, that tragic relationship is barely holding this in average territory, not boosting it to goodness or greatness.

The battle royale is handled in time-honored (which is to say, cliched) comics fashion: A huge brawl is broken down into one-on-one vignettes that are designed for comedic banter delivery. The art serves very well for those vignettes and for conveying feelings during close-ups. But it's underwhelming in the splashes and wide panels.

Petty nitpicking: God, She-Hulk has been useless in this event. I mean, not useless-useless, but totally replaceable by any snarky brawler-type hero.
more

The art is short on detail, and the script is long on cliches (in both the dialogue and the narrative structure). But I'm buoyed along by a continued interest in how the plot shakes out, mainly for the many villains.

Which is a problem.

Maximum salt: Wouldn't it be cool if Spider-Man did something amazing in "The Amazing Spider-Man?" Or ANYTHING AT ALL?

Spider-Man's role in this issue could be played by a cardboard standee and a voicemail message. This has been a problem since before this volume started, and I despair of it ever being fixed.
more

This is a real high point in Gang War, and it has nothing to do with the event. Oh, the creators wrap up Jessica's part of the war satisfactorily; Diamondback gets some believable, well-earned just deserts.

The art is decent, dynamic, and nicely polished. It's not super-detailed, though, and it lacks clarity at a few key points. It's totally overwhelmed by the intensity of the character work at the start, too.

What elevates this issue is the dreadful logic of Gerry's story and the emotional weight of the feelings he and his mother express. They make sense, and they snap into Jessica's backstory with tragic irony.

I admit the logic of the more critical takes on this issue; it does have some pretty glaring faults. What can I say? Subjectively speaking, the creators hooked me like a particularly naive trout.
more

There's some sharp writing in the dialogue. The art is a powerful and dynamic storytelling tool, even without a lot of detail.

I love everything about this, except the twist. I guessed it last month, and I found this issue's attempts to throw some red herrings around it tiresome and clumsy.

One of the great things about previous volumes of Spider-Woman was that a superhero raising an infant seemed genuinely novel (Not unprecedented, but it was at least a rarity in Marvel).

But now, the twist has put her in a cliched situation that's entirely too common for comic book parents. Without even thinking hard about it, I'm negatively reminded of…oh, let's go with Ian Rogers and Daken, for starters.
more

I think there's the seed of a good Captain America story buried under the superfluous ensemble this series was saddled with.

It's just a seed, though. While nothing in this final issue goes seriously off the rails--the writing is clear, the artwork is polished--the sum of the parts feels unfocused. Rather than bringing the story in for a satisfying landing, the resolution invites the reader to look back at all that came before and ask which parts were really necessary.

The bright side is that getting retrospective allows one to appreciate how many callbacks and ironic echoes the creators manage to work into this last issue.
more

I know I rarely review an issue of this title without moaning about my subjective distaste for the art and the dialogue. And you can chalk this number up as another one that I was too old and crotchety to enjoy. (Subjective nitpick: I am sick unto death of comic book artists putting John Woo doves on their splash pages without a trace of irony.)

I'd argue that there are some objective faults in this one, though. The heroes tell us that the Hobgoblin is rocking a new fit; the artists never tap the brakes long enough to let us see it. The script has multiple glaring errors in copy editing, as well as some weak phrasing that suggests the author was apathetic or pressed for time.

What really makes this a shame is that I truly like the way the plot and Miles's character develop here. I just wish this story were told with more care.
more