All right, let's get right to the story, shall we?
We've got someone killing cosmic and mythical entities with irradiated bullets. The Punisher tells Dr. Strange that only ten people could make the shot that killed the creature that they're inspecting, and, as I mentioned in a previous review, several of the people on the mysterious boss' teams are likely candidates. Not surprisingly, Aaron narrows down the list here to Bucky, seemingly the most obvious candidate from the start.
But, it clearly isn't that simple. Bucky and his team had just discovered that someone killed a living planet, and he's the one that put the pieces together to make that discovery. It seems unlikely that he would purposefully reveal the answer to a mystery if it would make him a suspect. Along those lines, he seemed to be possessed by the point that he goes rogue; Deodata certainly drew him as somewhat deranged when he "kills" Nick Fury at the end of this issue. Moreover, we actually see the image of the person shooting the planet (though it's unclear from whose perspective we're seeing this image), and it appears to be Star-Lord doing the shooting. It bolsters the idea that Bucky and possibly Star-Lord were acting under someone's influence when they committed their crimes (if, in fact, they committed them).
Even if they are actually our killers (or part of them), it's unclear who's pulling their strings. The Orb claims that he didn't kill the Watcher, seemingly establishing that he and Dr. Midas (his employer) got to the Watcher's "mansion" on the Moon after he was killed; they likely just harvested the eye. We actually see the guilty party here, though he's, of course, cloaked in shadows; we only really learn that he appears to be the head of a larger organization. We also have no motive. After all, if the mysterious figure killed the Watcher, why leave behind his eyes, particularly if they can reveal the secret that you killed him to keep hidden?
The only real secrets revealed in this issue are done so thanks to the Orb activating the Watcher's eye. Marvel is clever in using the eye not only to fuel the various tie-in issues, giving them more of a reason to exist than your usual tie-in issue, but also to show that the chaos coming from these revelations undermine Nick's attempts to get to the truth. Everyone is busy dealing with their own stuff, and Nick is left to wonder why he himself didn't see anything as he tries to stay on target. Of course, the fact that Bucky allegedly kills him at the end of this issue will make that a little harder.
I'm generally enjoying this issue, but it's probably time to stop relying on shadowy (literally) figures. Between the "mysterious boss" and the mysterious villain, it's getting hard to tell who's who. I don't want to rush the reveal, particularly since Aaron's done a good job answering some questions before raising other ones so far in this series. But, the story is a little muddled at this point, with everyone's motivations largely unclear. We'll need a little more clarity soon lest the plot gets too murky to stay in sight.
**** (four of five stars)
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