The Good
Within this issue, you get a large variety of storylines and "tavern stories" from the Skullkickers world, which allows for a veritable sampling of all the things that make this book a good one.
Through numerous guest creator spots, we get break between the second and third volume, allowing us to relax and get back to the lightheartedness of the series. It's almost like the narrative needs time to bend over and catch its breath before it rambles onto its next major thread; this is a great move, because once this series loses its humour, it could head down a pretty bad path.
This issue is full of the things that make the series great as a whole: humour, fantasy, action, suspense and a madcap, absurd world. All good things in my mind.
The Bad
The point of the issue is that there's a lot of different creators involved, but I find that there's such a difference in the art styles that it detracts from the book a little bit. Some stories seemed a better fit than others, and the ones that felt out of place did so like a sore thumb.
I'm actually not sure why I didn't like this issue as much as the last one, which I gave an easy five stars; I think I just prefer a longer narrative as opposed to short, bite-sized pieces. It has a chance to breathe when it's like that, and I find that Skullkickers needs that room. I'm looking forward to volume three in 2012 to give me more of my fix.
The Verdict
This issue is great for those of you who haven't picked up this book yet and want a nice introduction to the story. Because of the small story portions, you get to experience everything the universe has to offer, from fiendish dueling minstrels to the madcap logic of the Dwarf. Pick up this book if you haven't yet.
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