The first thing to notice is that this is the first "Prelude to Infinity" issue. Yes, the next Marvel event is right around the corner and this time Jonathan Hickman is taking the lead. Infinity is supposed to jump right out of the storyline going on in Hickman's Avengers titles (this and New Avengers). I've read in recent interviews that the Avengers and New Avengers tie-ins to the events should be considered part of the main story. Very well.
What we get with this issue is a lot of transition and world building, the same kind of thing that has been going on in the 13 issues before this one. This is very much a long-form story, where each issue reads more like a cog in a giant clockwork, than as a singular plot. Stephano Caselli joins us with this issue which should make fans of Secret Warriors happy. I find his more recent art to be more mature and more subtle than it used to be. Either that or he is just blending his style more to the current Avengers house. I see Deodato doing the same thing. To be honest, I prefer artists sticking to more of a cohesive style than being allowed to adopt whatever style they wish, I think it is better for consistency and better storytelling.
We learn a couple of things in this issue, each origin site has a specific purpose and they are now all trying to activate, but most of them are either malfunctioning or trying to communicate with something that isn't working right. Presumably this is the brain that Starbrand blew to hell in a previous issue. It seems Earth is now terminal. The communications site is attempting to send signals and so doing it is wiping out global communications in pulses, sending shock waves around the world. We have Bruce Banner used for his genius to solve this problem while Iron Man does his leading a mission in space. Since the communications site (a bunch of insects) cannot send its signal, it requests help from the other sites. The other sites reject the request, except for the self-repair (blockheads) site. The blockheads take a portal to the communications site, which alerts the Avengers and so we get the start of a fight between giant blockheads teamed with giant insects, and the Avengers. The issue ends with an enterprising scientist on AIM Island playing that signal to their own site anomaly, only to find that it responds and opens up....
It is hard to review an issue like this, where it is mostly setup, coupled with some confusing things that you won't understand until future issues. The art was cool, seeing the different origin sites was neat, seeing various Avengers in action was fun. Eh, who am I kidding, maybe next issue will be better...
