In the words of Jim Gaffigan, I’d like to rephase one of memorible jokes:

“You’d think a comic with Azrael would be good. I mean: Azrael? Good. Fabian Nicieza? Great. Azrael written by Fabian Nicieza? Nasty Crap.”

That crap comes from, yet again, the art department. Because Nicieza is doing such a great job with this title. The characters are interesting, he’s making Azrael a better character then he ever was, and there is a nice mystery surrounding whether Lane will go apeshit crazy or not. There is some slight confusion with me in this issue. Nicieza does set up a new, mysterious antagonist (maybe?) for Lane to fight….But I’m not sure if there is such a danger or how this mysterious benifactor knew at that specific moment to help him out. Either way the stuff before that last page reveal is still good. A little preachy in some cases, but I don’t mind it.

All I have to say is that Jeremy Haun and his inking/coloring team can’t come quickly. Once again a subpar performance by Bachs, Stanisci, and Smith. Basically all you need to do is see my previous reviews on this series to see my complaints. At this point though I’m just riding the waves to wait for the creative change.

Speaking of which, I can’t wait to see how Nicieza ends his run on this title. Will David Hine continue the ‘will he won’t he?’ factor on Lane’s craziness. Or is there new stories to be told here? I don’t know where this series is taking me, but I do know that a part of me will be upset once Nicieza leaves this title for good.