Ok, so my love of this series is well known, and I’m pretty sure that every time this book comes out, I find some reason to write about it.  But I just can’t help it.  The book is just damn good.  And this issue was no exception.  While I’ve been enjoying the “Sacred Invasion” storyline, all I really wanted was to see some gods throw down and smash some shit up, and on that front, this issue delivered.  The fights were big and epic, and more than one team member of the “God Squad” dies in a horrible way.  The great thing about this issue is that it ties into Secret Invasion in a relevant way.  It explains the “He loves you” thing.  It explains what happened before Reed Richards escaped.  And it makes our gods look like badasses.  In general, this was just a really, really fun issue to read, and I gotta say that it’s probably one of the best tie-in issues I’ve ever read.

Van Lente, who is fast becoming one of my favorite artists drew the hell out of this book.  This is a throw down knock out fight and each of his panels included explosive action and amazingly energetic movements.  These panels felt like gods fighting.  There’s this amazing panel of the Skrull god shooting massive eye beams at Hercules who stands deflecting it with a boulder bigger than him.  You won’t see that in a Spider-Man book.  (Okay, maybe you would, but bear with me here…).  It’s these sorts of panels that just fill your eyes with the epic feel of the battle and the gravitas that it holds.  And the god deaths…oh man, are those gruesome.

Overall, this was definitely one of the best issues I read this week.  If you’re into Secret Invasion, or have been waiting to jump onto this book, this is a perfect issue for you as it will give you the overall feel of the series.  It’s just damn fun.