This issue is pure nerdgasm in a good way, and what a beautiful nerdgasm it is. I used to run from Daniel Acuna’s art because it was so muddy and undefined. I don’t know if that was the fault of the inker and colorist or if his pencils were just that unformed, but whatever has changed, his art is something I now look forward to. His Four Horseman especially are really cool designs, and I’m sad the story used them basically as cannon fodder because I’d like to have seen more of them; they are the most alien looking of the Horsemen in any incarnation and were just fun characters to look at. And the Cassaday cover isn’t bad either. I don’t like Apocalypse’s head so much, but the rest of the body and the Thor in the foreground are beautiful.

As for the story, this has got so much going for it. It has always been hinted that Kang (as Rama-Tut) and Apocalypse loathed and feared each other, so it is totally organic that these chief villains of both the X-Universe and Avengers history would be brought together. When I read the preview, it seemed really random that Apocalypse would just start wailing on Thor for no good reason, but it is explained perfectly in the story. And the fight scenes! Again, Acuna is a star here, but Remender narrates them so well, saying just enough without going overboard and letting the action speak for itself. But we also get, as an added bonus, Odin in the role of wise All-Father putting Thor in his place, tying these events into the Celestials and the other pantheons.

I know the first arc seemed to drag and put a lot of people off this book, but this issue shows the potential of this title. Read this as a one-off or as a jumping (back) on to this series, but you will definitely enjoy it, or I’ll eat my axe!