The Good
Mark Texeira went above and beyond with his issue. His gritty and dark work is a perfect fit for this series, and more specifically, this issue. This final chapter is pretty much one big battle and Texeira does a phenomenal job with it. Every shot is gruesome and every punch is downright brutal. From the dark sewers to a bright day in Washington, D.C. this comic looks exquisite.The conclusion to this limited series is definitely engaging. It seems like Frank has a futile effort against this unstoppable foe (seriously, a gatling gun didn't even keep him down), but watching him suffer through the horrific encounter is engrossing. Frank hasn't been that impressive in this limited series (hilariously bad accuracy at times), but this issue is a real testament to his pain tolerance. You'll keep wondering what Frank has up his sleeve. Then, when all is revealed it's absolutely worth the wait. The scene looks amazing and what follows is definitely a fitting end.
The Bad
For an issue that's mostly an extended fight scene, there's an overwhelming amount of dialogue. With a fight this vicious, you don't want to kill the momentum and that's unfortunatly with happens with the onslaught of Frank's captions and monologuing from Jake. It's not that Scott M. Gimple has any bad lines of dialogue or thoughts, they're just far too frequent and too plentiful.It's a little tough to believe Johnny didn't notice what Frank was doing (I imagine the weight difference would be noticeable), but I suppose it's not that all that far-fetched when we take into account Nightmare's mental status. He was clearly "in the zone" while assaulting Frank and I imagine that soaked his attention.
Also, can someone please explain to me how a man Jake's size (not to mention he keeps growing) manages to vanish into thigh-deep water?