This was a pretty decent issue. I mean, I guess it put an end to wherever Mark Millar was trying to go, so we can all finally get really excited to have Jonathan Hickman take over.

The truth is that all of the craziness (dare I say, mishegaas?) with the Marquis of Death, that…

Ok, hold on. I need to interrupt myself here and get something off of my chest. From the start, I just couldn’t get past the fact that I broke out in giggles every time I read the name Marquis of Death. Honestly, between a guy named Dr. Doom and a guy named the Marquis of Death, who do you think is going to win? Who do you think is going to stab you in the back and play crazy dirty?

Um….DR. DOOM.

Here are some names that I thought would have been slightly scarier than Marquis of Death:

1. The Duke of Impoliteness
2. The Earl of Wankers
3. Rob Liefeld

All told, I thought the action piece of this really was like many big superhero stories, especially FF stories: huge build-up, barely a climax. What made this story for me what the ongoing subplot with Ben’s wedding. Just a few pages are equally heartbreaking and heartwarming, and if there’s anything that Millar does perfectly in this issue, he manages to beautifully show us what’s so special about FF and why they truly are Marvel’s First Family.

I am the type of guy who focuses more on writing than art, so yes, the art was pretty great.

Oh! Also! Why I really loved this issue? The building that the “5th Avenue Reform Synagogue” was based on is where I work! It is actually a Reform synagogue on 5th ave., and it’s also where Ben celebrated his second Bar Mitzvah in an issue of The Thing.