3 out of 5

We split time between some action – Devon and Fenix running from demons in New Mexico – and back on the Zinco front, as Marsten prepares to do the big evil boss thing and forget shareholders and profits in favor of ruling the world (in B.P.R.D., occulty fashion, of course).

The tunnel vision of this mini-arc, which truly does not step away from these two plot threads and characters, is effective: the Devon / Fenix stuff is generally pretty tense and focused, which allows the building mystery of Marsten’s plans, and his creepy calmness, to be similarly effective in being intriguing.  However, while the Zinco part remains strong, it’s more of a cutaway; the bulk of our time is with Devon and Fenix, and these are – for now – two obnoxious characters.  Devon is a goddamned prat, and Fenix is a brat.  Once they finally bond over their shared snippyness, we get some valid character interaction, but that’s issue three.  Otherwise, it’s a lot of just wanting something else to happen so they shut up.  Something does (see: running from demons), giving us some truly tense, unpredictable moments, but there’s a bit of a disconnect between art and narration prior to that – a train wreck, in which everyone dies but the art doesn’t really sell that – and the shifts between the highs and lows of the action are too sudden, up to and including the abrupt ending.

With another issue, this arc could’ve probably balanced out better, but we’d still have to deal with two whiny, not-great characters.