The Good: Some good moments throughout.
The Bad: Way too much expository babble, useless footnotes.
The story: G-Force has driven Spectra out of the mega-metropolis of Central West, and now it's time to clean up the mess--from residual problems suffered by the formerly brainwashed citizens to dealing with introductions to the Rigans. And a loose end: Commander Korak, who was left for dead early in the comic run, returns to take his revenge on Zoltar.
The ISO is having a rough time trying to heal the brainwashed victims of Central West, who now suffer withdrawal from the virus's effects. Anderson is called away from his research of a cure by General Tomak, who wants to elaborate on his earlier declaration. Tomak explains that he's a Rigan who landed on Earth hard enough to punch a hard-baked hole into the side of a mountain, then converted his body to pure energy and inhabited the body of the original Tomak, who lay dying from an automobile accident. Rigan "ether scouts" repaired the damage caused by the wreck, and added the nano-thingies that repaired Tomak's eyeballs a couple of issues ago. To a still-skeptical Anderson, Tomak explains the origin of the Spectran soldiers (way too "inspired" by the latest Star Wars movie to be innovative) and then hands over an antidote to the brainwashing virus drug used by Spectra.
Meanwhile, Mark perches, Batman-style, over the city and beats up looters. Princess and Keyop help in the relief effort while Tiny broods over his girlfriend (missing during the attacks). And Jason goes off on a little quest to reveal his Inner Marshmallow.
The characters: Still fall victim to far too much badly-worded, redundant blather. Anderson and Tomak talk way too much in an effort to sound sophisticated, and wind up sounding nerdy. I'm having a rough time buying Tomak's tale. Mark's exposition slows the action. And the footnotes sprinkled throughout the book should be disposed of altogether--either tell the tale completely or leave it out and let the action explain it.
However, there are moments when the talking stops and the story is told through action. When that happens, it's effective. In his scene at the end of the story, Jason doesn't utter a single word, and it works. It also provides the perfect closing moment and an interesting contrast: the less talking there is, the more effectively the story gets told.
The art: The style is a bit calmer, with more spacious panels this time around.
The cover Alex Ross renders Tiny from a bug's-eye view. Very flattering pose on the big guy.
The bottom line: The story still needs a lot less talk and more action, but is better than the previous issue. This issue shows some trends I would like to see continue.
