Iron Man #32 - There really is something to be said for continually lowering expectations to the point where you get to the fourth installment of a story arc and you find yourself saying "You know, this isn't that bad. It's just a dumb action story, and there's nothing actually wrong with that." Except that, after defeating the Braniac creature, it was a bit of an anti-climax to then have Iron Man spend half and issue fighting a guy in a wheelchair*. Sort of like defeating the Red Bull after a year+ long campaign and then having to go fight some trolls.

Hercules #120 - Suffers just the tiniest bit from not having any twists in the conclusion (basically, we fight, we take some losses, we win), but still really good. And i guess having Mikaboshi take the place of the Skrull gods in the pantheon should count as a twist. I really like how the defeat of the Skrull gods tied in directly with Reed Richard's ability to escape the Skrulls in the main Secret Invasion storyline - that was pretty much the best tie-in for these tangential crossovers i've seen. Oh, and major points for referencing the whole Deviant/Eternal angle in the Skrull history. I love writers that know their continuity.

Guardians of the Galaxy #4 - Abnett and Lanning use the Skrull paranoia angle for great character interaction and conflict to better effect than the main SI story where it quickly turned into "big fight with Super-Skrulls". Really good stuff. The Skrull storyline does feel like a bit of an interruption and/or the Astrovik/Starhawk plot is dragging a bit, but that could actually be considered realistic in the sense that life doesn't really happen in neat story arcs. I think it's a bit soon to say it doesn't deserve to be considered part of the SI crossover - we haven't heard the motivation of the Skrulls yet.

Captain America #42 - Well, i think it was my last review of this comic where i was praising it for not going the cliched "villains can't work together so they'll always lose" angle, and yet here we are. Can't complain, though, when it's so well executed. Great job delving a bit into the Red Skull/Sin relationship. And i love seeing Dr. Doom getting his props; there was a line when Zola first got Doom's time machine and when Zola was analyzing it he said something like "this is as much sorcery as science" and people thought that was somehow a mockery of Doom, but it was clearly a comment made out of respect for Doom's genius. Doom Uber Alles!

*That isn't MODOK.

we have no oil. the uber-trolls are gonna kill us. not to mention the whatsit born in the void between stars. that's really gonna kill us.