The Good
Fraction is doing amazing things with the way his pages are being composed; they allow for a generous amount of captioning and dialog without bogging down the overall story. Never once did I feel that there was too much text, nor did I feel that the strange story was too complicated. I'm liking where the plot is going, and seeing an out-of-the-ordinary idea executed well makes me hope that Fraction will keep on doing it.
The Doctor Strange/Betty Banner moment was great, as it furthers the idea that the former Sorcerer Supreme is a bit of a creep. While I really like the character, I can agree that he needed some more qualities than "ornate", "powerful" and "dusty."
The pages narrating Nul's existence were great examples of well-written descriptions affecting how a comic is perceived. I went from not caring about the villain to interested with a few page turns.
The Bad
The only thing that baffled me about this issue is how the Defenders were captured so easily. In the franticness of the battle, we see the Silver Surfer imprisoned, Namor get bit on the arm by a tiger-man, and then they end up in a prison cell.
Did they surrender? How did either of those situations count as "subdued"? I just would have liked to see that transition scene, instead of "This guy's really powerful. We should stand down, now."
The Verdict
This books is solid through proper execution and a well-planned script; the pacing doesn't feel rushed, and there's enough action in each issue to keep you from getting bored with the somewhat-quirky plot.
The only reason I didn't give this a five (like I did with the last issue) was the not-so-heroic transition I mentioned above. Obviously, the book needed way for the cast to get into the baddie's castle, but the execution came off a bit awkward.
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