We've narrowed down the suspects in the age old question of "Who farted?" in the Marvel Universe.  The answer is either Brian Michael Bendis, or Alex Maleev. 

Suspect #1: Brian Michael Bendis.  Having recently committed the crime of taking a fantastic idea, The Secret Invasion, and using it as merely an excuse to set up yet another giant crossover, it's hard for me not to point the finger in his direction.  I loved the Secret Invasion premise.  I would have loved to have read a year or two where the Skrulls ran the Marvel Universe.  But, having so recently witnessed the promise of a post-Civil War Marvel Universe turning into the same old Marvel Universe, I had no positive expectations.  That said, a sort of Anti-Illuminati featuring Doom, Namor, Loki, Emma Frost, and The Hood, under the grip of Norman Osborne could be fun, but...

Suspect #2: Alex Maleev.  With the exception of The Hood, who he's been illustrating in the pages of Daredevil, none of these familiar anti-heroes/villains look remotely like they're depicted in any other title.  They also don't look, you know, good.  Emma Frost looks like a young, innocent, midwestern housewife.  Namor is straight out of a bad TV movie about Italian-American mafioso wannabes.  He should have a speech bubble on the cover that says "Are you talkin' to me?"  Loki has some serious, uhh, sagging issues in her boobal region.  Dr. Doom just looks...bad.

It's a shame that the team that made Daredevil so good for so long, got together for a big crossover event, and this was what they came up with.  I'm lucky that I work in a comic book store, so I can read this crap without having to pay for it.