The Good
This issue brought back some nostalgia. Back in 1994, Erik Larsen did an all-splash page issue (in SAVAGE DRAGON #7). Twenty years later, he upped the idea by doing an entire issue of just two-page spreads. Think about that.
There are few artists that could pull this off. Larsen is tasked with drawing gigantic scenes and he doesn't take the easy way out. There is a load of detail and characters in each two-page image. It's almost like he had a field day being able to throw in so many characters and so much action. Of course some may say it's a gimmick. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. It's a nice experiment and Larsen even points out this isn't something he would want to do again. It's a fun way to read a comic story. I've recently tried catching up/diving back into the series and, if we're being honest, it did grab my attention and cause me to write this review.
As for the story, it's pretty much a big giant fight scene. Malcolm, the current Dragon, is stuck fighting a big oversized foe. This is the perfect situation for this format. It's pretty cool being able to see the entire scene. There's often a lot going on in the backgrounds and Larsen is able to (or forced to) draw in all the innocent bystanders.
The Bad
As cool as this issue was, the main reason we wouldn't necessarily want to see this done again is the length of the story. There is dialogue throughout each two-page spread. Despite this, you'll zip through the issue pretty quickly. You can, and should, take the time to bask in all the detail Larsen provides. But at the end of the day, this is going to be a really fast read that comes down to just being a single (glorious) battle scene. Some of the spreads felt a little similar as there's only so much you can do in trying to get the action to pop out of a two-page shot. We had some pages with (a lot) of characters jumping in or out of the action along with a couple shots of the character on the left reaching out or punching into the other page.
The Verdict
Twenty years ago Erik Larsen did a pretty cool thing. He gave us an entire issue full of splash pages. It's something I've never forgotten. To make it different (and better), we now get an entire issue with two-page spreads. Erik Larsen gets to unleash the fury of his pencils with so much room for detail in each scene. It might be a fast read but, for a one-time thing, it's quite a reading experience. This is a comic worth checking out.