James Robinson is, indisputably, one of the greatest world-building plotters in comics, as his amazing run on "Earth 2" showed. As a result, criticism of him generally into two categories related not to his plotting, but his scripting: excessive exposition and wooden dialogue. We get some of the first category here, but, oddly, it helps shows his significant improvement in the second category.
Cap spending most of the issue telling the Human Torch his plan in detail was pretty unnecessary, given that we are also seeing it put into motion as Bucky searches for Aarkus. But, honestly, Cap sounds more like how I imagine Captain America sounding than most authors usually make him sound. It's got just the right amount of old-man crankiness and aw-shucks idealism, but with a warmth and intelligence that reminds us why people have been following him into battle for 70 years. Moreover, Cap's interaction with Bucky and the Human Torch conveys the brother-in-arms vibe that Robinson understands has to be at this book's core. I feel like I'm reading about their exploits in 1940s Germany, even if it's 2010s Hala. It's a good sign, and it gives me hope that Robinson will also find a way to reduce his reliance on expositive scenes in the future.
Per my introductory comments, the plot is (not surprisingly) compelling, from using Aarkus to transport the team to the Kree homeworld to revealing that the God's Whisper no longer works on the Asgardians but does the Eternals. It's still unclear what the Kree intend to do with Ikaris (and, potentially, the other Eternals), but I'm excited by the throw-down that we'll likely be seeing next issue.
*** (three of five stars)
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