The Good
Well, Jonathan Hickman, ya did it. You pulled all the threads together in a way that simultaneously was emotionally satisfying, characteristically organic and, most of all, incredibly compelling. A new plan is revealed, not just to try and stop the incursions but to deal with Namor’s Cabal once and for all, and it’s a DOOZY. Without getting into detail, it also doesn’t come off as a deus-ex machina as it fits the narrative that’s been built to a tee and comes about because of events that were already unfolding rather than just seeming like it was pulled out of someone’s pocket. This lends the issue a sense of real consequence and that the things that happen in it truly matter and won’t simply be erased with an Ultimate Nullifier. Hickman also gives us these characters interacting in ways that we haven’t seen in a long, long time and gives us the sense that, while things may have outwardly changed, they’re still the same heroes they always were. We also, finally, get some payoff on one of the most signficant and seemingly forgotten events of the last several years when T’Challa finally faces off with Namor. It’s an incredible moment and it absolutely delivers on the massive buildup.
Stefano Caselli provides the linework and gives us some absolutely stellar looking characters. This is a character-focused issue and Caselli was definitely the guy to go to for the art this time around as his characters have a wildly varied range of facial features, both subtle and extremely exaggerated.There’s not a great deal of action, but even the conversations have an exciting feel that communicate the stakes and the characters’ internal monologues without needing to exposit or be too blunt and Frank Martin’s colors add a great deal of depth and darkness to the goings-on. This is a dark issue in terms of its subject matter, and Martin captures that very well while still making Caselli’s exaggerated characters look properly exaggerated.
The Bad
The main conversation of the book seems oddly timed and strangely civil. Considering these guys have been on the run for months now being ruthlessly hunted, it’s strange that everyone agrees to just have a conversation. It also makes me wonder why they didn’t do this sooner.
The Verdict
This is an incredible issue in this series, both in terms of how the plot develops and the characters are framed, as well as paying off a lot of threads I was afraid would be left dangling, and it was a doozy of a plot point (the fears that nothing would come of the rivalry between Namor and T’Challa were, again, unfounded) so seeing it pay off here the way it does is not only great reading, it’s deeply satisfying. The one complaint stands out, but hardly ruins, what might be the best issue of this series yet.