Have you read my review of Fear Itself #5? It has a striking similarity to this one. Both of these reviews are about issue 5 in a series that I’ve found massively disappointing. And both are surprisingly acceptable (not good, but acceptable).

The formula is the same here, set up a couple of new stories that have no resolution that are unsatisfying through and through. The difference with this issue is that instead of 3 or 4 new stories, we get two of them, and that one of them is well written and a little compelling. The story I’m talking about is quicksilver and his place in the world now that Magneto is dead (or is he…?) and mutants are being hunted by the government. Not only does it have the interesting concept of how mutants could effect the production and economy of a country, but it also reminds us of how much fun the sexual tension of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch used to be in the Ultimates. Written by Nick Spenser and drawn by Luke Ross, this chapter really stands out as one of the best of this series so far.

The other chapter though… well it’s more of the same old Ultimate Fallout style. Billy Tan’s art is quite nice, but Jonathan Hickman’s story is dull. Basically Nick Fury receives the news that Shield is getting a 30% budget cut. Wow. Thrilling. Can you imagine why it takes 8 pages to tell us that? No, neither can I.
One of the better issues of this series, but that’s not much of a compliment, this book managed to be on the better side of average.