Dan Jurgens knows his Superman. This is a book full of 90s nostalgia and mirrors some of the elements of arguably some of Superman's most exciting and intriguing years. New fans will find plenty to enjoy as well. Jurgens cleverly answers the question of who this new Clark is, yet deepens the mystery even further. It is quite obvious that by answering the question of where this Clark and Doom came from the story would be over, so I cannot blame Jurgens at this point. He has earned my trust and I can't wait to see him hopefully stick the landing. I honestly can't wait to see where this goes. A word on the art, it is simply superb.

This issue is written like a bad 90s comic. Multiple wordy pages filled with needless recap exposition. Plot construction is also rather lazy. SPOILER warning: Doctor Octopus knows of the New U technology, the hows and whens do not matter as this is an out of the blue deus ex machina device to get the plot from point A to point B. The clone saga is a despised element of Spidey's history that did not need rehashing. The whole event rehashing this idea indicates a severe bankruptcy of ideas on Slott's part.

I love a good ghost story and this one is intriguing and pretty close to perfection. Sara Vaughn's take on Boston Brand is spot on and Lan Medina kills it on art. Coloring by Jose Villarubia is what ties all nicely together. What an enjoyable read. The torture now is having to wait two months for the next installment.

While this chapter slows down to focus on the characters, it left me with a "hunh-what's-going-on?!!!" feeling. It was the same feeling I had with the conclusion of the first arc of the Rebirth-ed Justice League. Something tells me Hitch is building towards something that will only pay in the long run. While that might turn off some people, I'm sticking around. On the other hand, did Barry Allen just come out as a superhero in a restaurant?

Hitch's main flaw in this series so far is that his villains lack any kind of character. They are barely fleshed and are mere entities that serve a particular plot purpose. Although I'm enjoying the overall feel, the league characters themselves and the budding romance, there are elements that should be fixed in this book.

This issue reads like Grant Morrison, Jonathan Hickman and Bryan Hitch had a threesome and gave us this baby. Time travel stories can be confusing for the non-pro comic readers so have a big cup of coffee by your side as you try to put the pieces together, mindless reading just will not do. Enjoyable for those who like to put pieces of a fractured story together. Recommended for the active reader.

That's 2 for the art and the art alone. There is no real story here as we go from one tedious scene to another of hero groups fighting monsters (and yeah seems Bunn has forgotten that the X-Men are concomitantly fighting the Inhumans, guess they must have taken a break!) That pretty much sums up the story oh and yeah a twist (if you can call it that) pretty much revealed in the first page and that you'll see a mile and 24 pages away. Given that you'll have to buy 3000 tie ins to this pointless event (except if you're one of the three people longing for the already-announced Elsa Bloodstone-led Monsters Unleashed ongoing comic this whole event is a marketing ploy for), man just skip this idea-bankrupt event.

I wish there were a zero rating I could use for this atrocity of a hackneyed story. Not only are we tired of hero vs hero stories, the story of a controlled Captain America has been done before, not to mentioned the classic King Superman story among other stories revolving around the same concept of a hero gone totalitarian.

The novelty of seeing Spider-Man and Deadpool together is quickly wearing off revealing how slow the plot is in this series. We are nine issues deep and the writer has barely scratched the surface of what is going on. Are we supposed to completely forget that Deadpool killed Parker and ridiculously brought him back to life? (only in comicbooks folks). The whole issue is one page after another of plodding fight scenes and repetitive one-liners that are unoriginal and not that funny anymore (they may have been once). Yeah, no matter how many times you repeat the word "aggro", it still comes off like you are trying too hard. Perhaps the best way to sum up this series is 'interrupted' and that applies to the story, the dialogue and the release of the issues as well. We've already seen Doom become mister handsome, is this plagiarism of ideas from the house of "ideas"?

Bridging the New 52 Supes with the pre-flashpoint Supes using the red/blue Superman stories of past is not just clever but also inspired. Well done Jurgens, Tomasi and co. It's a nod to history and at the same time validates the existence of the New 52 Supes for those who followed his stories or were saddened by his death. The art is no less than amazing and any artist who can make silly old Mxy the creepy stuff of nightmares is a hero in my book, well done Gleason.

Ever since Secret Wars, Peter Parker has been slowly becoming a background player barely being the star hero who saves the day even in his own book; The Clone Conspiracy 2 epitomizes this with other characters popping up and stealing the show. Peter is really not the star of the book nor does the character drive the Spider-book(s) anymore. If Spider-Man is what you are craving to read, move along, The Clone Conspiracy is not for you.

Poor Ben Riley. His fans have waited years upon years to see their hero come back. Dan Slott basically defecated all over his legacy, abruptly turning him into a cartoonish villain. This transition to villainy was poorly written. Had it been given the space to gestate, it may have been believable. As such, it comes across as plot over character, which has unfortunately become recurrent in Slott's run lately. Sorry Ben, your sacrifice to save your brother all those years ago has been pooped upon. Even if we try to forgive Dan Slott for this particular atrocity, what is unforgivable is the way this issue abruptly ends. If page limits constrained the addition of a couple more required scenes, then previous meandering pages should have been edited. There was a time when I immensely enjoyed Slott's Spider-man stories; this is now but a speck in my rear-view mirror.