Rise of the spoilers...
The Good
Spoiler alert: Rick Remender is a darn fine writer. The man can clump together any random assortment of no names or lesser knowns and manage to produce an exceedingly entertaining issue. The Abyss and its volley of villains are gone, but now we have the Descendants (including the hilariously epic "Emperor Doombot!").
Chaos in the base aside, the real treat here is Captain Britain and Hawkeye's team up as they travel to Earth 666. Love him or hate him, Remender's Frankencastle makes an appearance in this alternate dimension with a team of distorted Avengers. Seeing alternate takes on characters is always good fun and it's particularly true here with the undead team. Seeing Clint's arrogance bounce off of Brian's humble arrogance is a blast, especially with the Phoenix remark. This inter-dimensional trip also spawned a not so original yet still interesting side-plot. It's also nice to see Remender is taking big steps with the connection between Valkyrie and Flash Thompson... even if their bedtime fun was harshly interrupted.
Andy Kuhn's art is kind of all other the place when it comes to detail, but for the most part it provides a nice cartoonish feel to the book. Matthew Wilson's colors really help the images standout and there are some drastically vibrant panels to be found here (especially during a certain death scene and "Lady Deathstrike's" fight).
While he's the victim, I couldn't help but smirk as "Janet" smacked Hank in an all too familiar manner. Hank's face, busted and filled with tears makes you feel for the man, but at the same rate, I couldn't help but appreciate the moment and say to myself "yeah, he kinda had that coming."
The Bad
My biggest gripe here is Kuhn's art. Some panels look stellar with Wilson's coloring but all too often I found myself thinking the faces look a bit too ridiculous. This was especially true with a close-up of Max Fury's face, and a few panels with Hank Pym. A battle concludes with a fairly huge explosion, so I'm not sure how Flash (sans the symbiote) would remain conscious after it, let alone survive it after being so close to it. But hey, it's comics, right?
The Verdict
Overall, "Rise of the Descendants" is off to a solid start. Remender is diving the team to establish two drastically different plots that are sure to take this story down an intriguing path. Minor complaints about the artwork aside, the sharp humor, vivid coloring, character development and brief action sequence definitely make this worth checking out. Also, this serves as a good jumping on point, so don't be afraid if you've missed out on the previous issues.
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