Coming of age (some mild spoilers)
With this impressive issue, this comic has come of age much like its young heroes. It offers a tense and emotionally engaging story - all that I want from a good comic. There were just so many good things about this issue. First, KIA is the first truly formidable enemy whom our young heroes have faced - okay, the Hulk was a heavyweight, but he's not a truly evil opponent - and the full extent of KIA's threat is conveyed very well in this last chapter of his story. He has a sense of madness and real menace about him, and he kills with extreme prejudice. Chilling stuff. This point leads to the second great aspect of this comic, the necessary appearance and intervention of the Mighty Avengers. What is great is that their intervention does not undermine or overshadow that of the Camp Hammond recruits. The two teams - experienced and inexperienced - work extremely well together, and it's our young heroes who ultimately win the day. Third, the team work really closely together in this issue, creating a strong emotional core. In particular, the exchanges between Hardball and Komodo are genuinely moving. I want to see much more of this "sticking up for each other" in future. It creates a real sense of unity that has been a bit lacking up until now in this otherwise very good team-based comic. So why not 5 stars? Because of one thing. I considered the art and the colours to be a bit murky here and there, and I found myself squinting to make out the detail in a couple of places. Don't get me wrong. The art is dynamic and the battle scenes are extremely well done. But there needs to be a bit more sharpness for it to be a truly satisfying read. That one quibble aside, this comic book rocks. Well worth the price of admission.
