Captain Britain and MI13 Annual #1 - Well god help anyone who doesn't already know who Meggan is, cause this book sure isn't going to tell you. I read the Claremont issues of Excalibur and i still don't really know what this issue was getting at. And i didn't really love the "council of devils" or whatever it was. I think Hela and Pluto, for example, don't really rule a version of "Hell" exactly, and Dormammu definitely not, so it doesn't really make sense that they'd all sit around a table together. I know it's metaphorical and all, but it didn't really work for me. But that was the least of the book's problems. It just jumped around from scene to scene without any cohesiveness or context. The cricket scene at the end was actually pretty good, though.

War of the Kings #4 - A nice twisty development that Lilandra isn't automatically welcomed back by her people. I've been complaining about that this book isn't as good as its tie-ins, but this issue was fine. I have something of an overall complaint with the whole crossover and it's that there either isn't enough or there's too much direct crossing over between the main series and the tie-ins. It's right on the cusp. Marvel has done sort of passive crossovers in the past where the tie-in books don't directly relate to the main series, so if you're not getting them you don't lose anything and it's not too important where exactly they occur, but if you are getting them it adds some depth. And of course the other option is the really tight part x of y crossover where they tell you exactly where the issue fits into the overall issue. But in this series, we have the pretty major development of the entire Inhuman Royal Family and the Kree Imperial Guard all showing up in the Guardians of the Gaxay's base at the same time. But that obviously hasn't happened yet in the main series, and i'm a little unsure about when it will occur. I'm sure it will be addressed. But it's a little hazy and seems out of sequence.

Dark Avengers #5 - It's good! I thought the Osborn interview was fairly realistic and i could see how people could buy the spin. The Sentry scene was good too. Do you know i see a lot of people who don't like the Sentry because he's too "emo"? Of course, he's not "emo" at all. He's mentally ill. I can see not liking him because he's too obvious of a Superman-with-a-twist, or because he's way too powerful, or because he's a continuity insert. But at least understand what the character is.

Agents of Atlas #6 - Also good! Nice handling of Namor. The bit with the aemones was very funny. I'm pretty sure this is my current favorite book.