Solid Infinity War Tie-In
This issue is an "Infinity War" crossover, according to the cover, and ends up being at least somewhat important, since it gets all the heroes together. Infinity War is a pretty repetitive crossover, as it caused virtually every tie-in to have a "hero fights his double" story. It's probably still better than "Secret Invasion," though. I like how the issue makes Sue out to be competent, although it's a mystery how Reed acting coldly is somehow the giveaway that something's wrong. Ben's battle with his double is a well-executed, old-school fight scene. It's not re-inventing the wheel to have the villain get KO'ed by a third rail, but I enjoyed it. It's also pretty cool to see dozens of heroes in cameo appearances, as Darkhawk, U.S. Agent, and Silhouette of the New Warriors are just a few of the minor characters that pop up in the final scene. We also keep a few sub-plots running, as Thing tries to sort things out with Sharon (who is obviously now in Doom's pocket), and tries to sort out his feelings for Alicia. I love evil Reed's final put-down of Sue, too. It really hearkens back to Reed's Silver-Age misogyny.
Paul Ryan's art is simple and generally pretty good, although he seems to have some issues with faces this month (especially Wolverine, who is turning into a caveman). I like his action layouts, but this issue looks a bit rushed. He does a solid job drawing big crowd scenes at the end, though.
All in all, this is a good issue. It definitely makes me want to read the follow-up, as I'd still want to see how the team (and everyone else) got out of this jam. This is how you do a tie-in book: focus on your characters, tell a good story that only marginally furthers the big crossover, and throw in plenty of fun cameos. My favorite cameo bit might be U.S. Agent punching Gambit for no apparent reason. Maybe he didn't trust his creepy eyes?
A more in-depth review, synopsis and images can be found here: http://thepouchfiles.blogspot.com/2013/07/review-fantastic-four-367.html