A strong introduction to the world of Criminal for those unfamiliar and a rich new story for long-time readers.

As with all of this adaptation of A Clash of Kings we have stellar art by Mel Rubi, with Landry Walker preserving as much of Martin's dialogue. This leads to a comic with surprisingly more dialogue than the average comic. The great struggle for adapting numerous passages of A Clash of Kings are the various moments of dialogue and intrigue in the visual medium of comics. Rubi blocks the scenes excellently so that Renly and Stannis confrontation is dynamic and captivating. The dialogue accompanying this scene is phenomenal as this is one of Martin's finest sequences in A Song of Ice & Fire. The adaptation of the Arya sequences make for more captivating visuals as we see the shadows and disturbing nature of Harrenhall and the enigmatic Jacqen Hagar come to Arya. Overall, for a standalone piece in a series that begs to be read in collections, this works excellently.

Picking-up on the first issue's introduction we see further painful incidents in the journey of comic creators. Little optimism and joy was felt by these artists as they created work that would to their surprise and confusion become the cultural zeitgeist. The series is a Roman a clef, as those more familiar with comics can easily guess who many of the characters are inspired by. It is a difficult journey and one where certain people receive unexpected and possibly undeserved praise. This certainly is not a comic for everybody, but it is enjoyable to see the difficult lives behind some of the most beloved comics of all-time.

Maria's journey from Issue #0 of the first series has been one phenomenal story. We have watched Maria go from a feared sniper to a Ubermensch goddess. This issue offers a strange mix of terror and optimism.