I reserved judgment on these two annuals until I was able to read them both. I wanted to give the story a fair shot. After the first issue I was a little underwhelmed. But after scanning back through it and reading this one I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised.
I liked the idea of the Cyclops/Captain America. Scott does seem like the person who would take up the mantle of the fallen hero, especially with him being there at the incident. Sue Storm as the despot who just wanted to make up for the death of Johnny seemed like a really realistic approach to the situation. Franklin Richards inclusion was a surprise but a welcome one. He was powered up beyond belief in the 616 universe that giving him the Phoenix Force in the ultimate one seemed like a good fit.
I would actually have rather had these annuals as a mini. Given more time, 5 issues or so, I think this could have been a great "Days of Future Past" type of story.
What really dragged the issues down and made keeping up with the action so tedious was the art. Now I am usually a story kind of guy but I need at least a decent level of art to keep me entrenched in the story and that just wasn't happening here. Nobody was ever drawn as having the same proportions twice. On one page Sue looks like she should be playing as a second string linebacker for the Raiders, while on the next she's slim and seductive trying to cozy up to Reed. Art this uneven should never have made it past the quality standards. He is so bad I don't even want to go back and look at his name for reference for fear that even name recognition might get me to buy another one of his books without thinking clearly.
Honestly, I would have taken Liefeld on this book before I would ever read another one of this other guys works.