2 out of 5

Accidentally bought it, now reviewing it.  It happens.

I dig MCP.  It’s a little dorky, because the stories are very Marvel U – this isn’t the somewhat one-shot feeling of DC Presents – but that’s exactly why it can be fun, the rather inclusive comic bookyness of it.  But this also makes it very hit or miss, depending on your writer / character dedication.  I thought this issue had the tail end of a Gerber story; it doesn’t.  It doesn’t really have any great stories.

Part 5 of 8 of a Wolverine and Ghost Rider tale that also features some kung fu dudes…  Jumping in the middle of this, fine, everyone’s teamed up to hunt down some bad dude, and 90s Marvel-guy Howard Mackie has a nice, fluid sense of writing.  I’ll forgive the narrator-hopping, because I assume that was set up in previous installments.  .But Mark Texeira’s art in this seems crazy rush.  It dabbles with a kind of stylistic flourish that almost seems purposeful, but a few pages in the layouts and angles just seem to fall apart.  Not a horrible few pages, but nothing to make you curious about what you missed.

Part 1 of an intended 10 of a Gerard Jones Shanna story.  Typical Jones, overwrought, and predictable Shanna fare, dealing with poachers.  Paul Gulacy’s art looks pretty great here – Jones’ script jumps between like 20 points of view in 3 pages, not doing much to interest the reader in the pieces of the story, but Gulacy’s layouts are pretty badass.

Part 5 of 5 of an FF story.  Some alien has been “testing” the family, and now he’s trapped in the Baxter building and the team has to save him.  Not familiar with writer Robert Dentale or artist Tom Morgan.  The former writes comic pap easily enough, but there’s some gag moments in a couple spots that make me wonder if he’d be better suited to something more humorous.  Same with Tom Morgan, whose swooping figures remind me of Bob Rozakis (right, ‘Mazing Man?)… but who can’t really handle the actionry too well.

One shot of Lockjaw by Scott Lobdell and Jose Delbo.  Lockjaw strips should be funny.  Don’t give me this serious pap about him helping a cop rescue homeless people from a building fire.  Delbo’s art is consistent for the more static pages, but he loses us during the fire sequence.  Still, he draws Lockjaw with what looks like a giganto mustache, so I forgive that.

Average.  Which, for better or worse, means a 2 for MCP.