I liked this issue, but there were too many little problems that lead me
to feel this was a 3 star book. It was wrought with cheesecake (not in
art style, but in art content as well as the writing) and I must agree with many of the comments on this book
that this series keeps leading us back to the same place. From the present time of this story, we’ve only taken a few baby steps forward and have leaped over a great deal of what this book is based on, the actual Wolverine/Hulk fight (which is not to say that I dislike the device of backtracking through the chronological events of the story in the manner it is done; I like that a great deal, in fact. The issues of “lack of SNIKTy SMASHy” (even though the exact terms were used in the preview blurb, neither of which occured in this issue) wouldn’t be a problem for me at all,
but the prolonged lateness puts more scrutiny, in my eyes, on the
individual issues and means that the final issue, presumably wherein
the true Wolverine Vs. Hulk fight will finally be seen, needs to be the most amazing
comic fight in recent years to match the hype and anticipation. Otherwise, it will be have been an absolute downhill decension from the iconic image that made this book famous (combating the infamy of the lateness). If in fact everything converges to a stellar battle, this and last month’s issues will be positively redeemed (as well as issue 5, should it be as lackluster in terms of moving forward) in my eyes.

I give this book a story of 3 as I felt the oversexualization of Betty Ross was unnecessary (though I’ll admit, if memory serves correctly, she was a bit of a trifling hussie in The Ultimates as well). The dialogue was engaging and I will like the story if it leads to a satisfying conclusion, but that remains to be seen.

I hate to do it, but the art is also a 3. Now, this is a 3 for Yu. His 3 is easily a 5 in comparison to a decent artist and a 10 against anyone drawing for an Avengers title these days (in my most humble and glorious opinion), but against any of his current work, and specifically keeping in mind the first two issues of this book, he only places at 3 for me. Unnecessary bra shots and

Also, seriously? I saw the twist coming a damn mile away.