I’m a little more confused than usual, because I missed last issue. But it doesn’t seem to have made much difference. There’s still an odd little war brewing between Skywatch and IO, with a fair amount of collateral damage on both sides. And it’s only now – 15 issues in – that I comfortable saying that Skywatch are the bad guys. However, “bad” is a relative term. We’re dealing with clandestine organizations fully committed to their own agenda.

I won’t deny it’s well written. Were I to see this in a filmed format, I’d probably enjoy it immensely. But that bothers me, because it reads as if it were written for film rather than comics, and they are two separate visual mediums. Each one has its own rules and structure. One does not always easily translate to the other.

As a result, we the readers are treated to a rambling, non-sequential storyline. There are characters I don’t recall seeing before. Perhaps they’ve been off-stage too long. And those I do recall from several issues ago, I’m wondering what became of them. Those I recall from more immediate chapters, I’ve forgotten who they are and why they’re there.

To their credit, the creative team of Warren Ellis and Jon Davis-Hunt are all in. Together, they have maintained a consistent presentation of the story, strengthening the structure if not the overall narrative. Perhaps I just need to sit down with a handful of issues and read them all in a single sitting.