I continue to enjoy the espionage thriller stylings of WINTER SOLDIER. This issue’s a bit of exposition, to be fair, but it’s handled just fine. Not everyone’s going to know who Lucia Von Bardas is, after all.

My sentiments remain pretty much those I’ve had so far about this series. It’s like a Cold War spy thriller, just in the Marvel Universe, and instead of a nuclear weapon the bad guys have a Doombot. I never really thought about it, but Dr. Doom could actually fit in with certain Bond villains easily enough.

The weak point, insofar as there is one, of this series is still the art. It’s atmospheric, but sometimes it can be really hard to tell who’s who (in this issue, Fury and Sitwell can be hard to tell apart if you can’t see their faces clearly) or what’s happening in some of the action scenes. The overall look works really well, but sometimes it leaves something to be desired. Still, a very worthwhile read if this genre’s your thing.