It really does expand your knowledge.
I've been following this series since the beginning and for the first eight pages of this issue, I had no idea what was happening. Everything that was spoken and done by the characters was completely incomprehensible and I was worried that China had somehow lost his touch.
But then, everything was made clear in a single line and I learned never to doubt Mr. Mieville again.
The Good:
A lot of new discoveries about the mythology and science that China has been crafting are made in this issue and it all makes perfect sense and fits in incredibly well. The backstory of the mysterious "O" is hinted at and Nelson finds an S-Dial (perhaps someone will dig up a "V-Dial" soon?) There's more development between Nelson and Roxie as well.
The Bad:
I really dislike Alberto Ponticelli on this title. It's not that he's a horrible artist, but it's just that his designs for China's heroes are all rather boring, at least in comparison to the two previous artists. I mean, since he started drawing the book, we've had three heroes who all look like the same tall white man wearing three different costumes (Flame War, the Glimpse, Copter). I wish he'd try to think less literally when reading China's descriptions.
The lettering has also been rather inconsistent and distracting at times. Usually, when Nelson or Roxie are in hero forms, their speech bubbles would be written with lowercase letters, as opposed to the standard all-caps. It fluctuates in this issue. Also, they spelled Edison with two "d"s.
The Centipede's helmet thing looks ridiculous. I'm not really sure why he needs to wear it all the time, even when he isn't in battle. He looked way cooler without it.
Verdict:
Aside from a few technical issues, I can't find much to complain about. I really hope more people would buy these books so it doesn't get cancelled, because I get the feeling that China is just getting started.