Delivering the same kind of ridiculous action of past issues, the crossover of Cartoon Network heroes and villains continues in Super-Secret Crisis War #5, from writer Louise Simonson and artist Derek Charm. At his point, the plot is finishing up, this being the penultimate issue of this limited series. It’s a good comic with lots of little touches in characterization and art, but unfortunately it’s starting to lose some steam. The latest issue of this series is still cute, funny and nice to look at, but it’s starting to thin with monotony.

The plot seems to have barely moved forward in any substantial way by the end of this issue. The villains are still threatening the heroes with the same stakes, and the heroes are still reacting in more or less the same fashion. There are bits of new developments here, like in the progression of a twist with Mojo Jojo’s character, but it’s nothing all that exciting. Despite this, there are still some fun and clever bits of character interaction and dialogue that provokes a smile and reminds why this series is worth reading. The plot is just a bit stagnant at this point.

The art is still great to look at, even though there aren’t really any new tricks at play. Aku still snakes around panels in very cool page layouts. Spreads and splashes across two pages are still used liberally and to great effect, offering creative as well as wildly colorful and popping environment designs. Little touches impress, like Ed’s delightfully doofy expression in the background of a large image, or Mandark’s hyperbolic expression of shock or success. The comic’s visuals are exactly what one would want for a series like this.

There is joy to be had in Super-Secret Crisis War #5’s colorful cartoon exploits. It’s a fun book that manages to really impress in certain respects. It just can’t manage to escape the impression that its plot is much more than mildly interesting filler.

Story: Louise Simonson Art: Derek Charm
Story: 6.0 Art: 8.5 Overall: 7.0 Recommendation: Buy

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IDW Publishing provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review