Issue #7's standalone showdown between Anthem and Namor was one of the most impressive single issues, in art and characterization, that I've seen in any comic in a while.  In issue #8, we're plunged back into a couple of conspiracy plots that have been in the background since the first issue.   There's so much going on that I almost got whiplash.  But Matt Fraction is always smart enough to slow down for some character moments, as when Anthem -- who has quickly become one of my very favorite characters, an out-of-his-depth middle-manager in a cape -- talks with an ex-military teammate about how to tell a family they've lost a loved one.   This happens, I should say, two  pages after the same character has walked into a room carrying the "still-living severed head" of an enemy.

Barry Kitson did the layouts for this issue, with a team of other artists working on finishes.  There are a few places where the inconsistency shows -- and a couple characters look almost nothing like they did in early issues -- but the art is stronger than in the earlier issue Kitson didn't pencil, and every page is packed with interesting visuals. 

I could do with maybe ten percent less plot; Fraction is strongest when he's dealing either in satire or intense character moments, and the three or four shady conspiracies going on in this book are at least one one too many.  But I enjoy seeing a book that has this much creative energy going for it, and I've sad we only have two more issues for it to play out.