The cosmic mind-bending of this series reaches its zenith here, in what is a kind of end issue before Secret Wars.  With Secret Wars ready to put a halt to the stories of most Marvel series, the approach for this particular issue is to wrap up the ongoing story before heading into the crossover event.  True to the spirit of this series though, the approach is far from conventional.  Readers will be impressed almost immediately by what is a format change from the usual for comics.  The underlying principle behind this issue is something akin to a temporal loop, and the presentation of the issue follows perfectly alongside this story.

Following along with the events of the previous issue, the Silver Surfer is now responsible for the fates of those for whom he has decided to be a herald.  Billions of aliens fled from the consumption of Glactus only for the destroyer to find them again, refugees on another planet.  They managed to escape, but with the Surfer as their guide they were required to find another planet to inhabit.  The stresses of the interstellar travel take their toll on all involved and the Surfer is required to bend time and space to find a solution to their desperate situation.  What results is a sequence of similar events presented through the uncommon approach to the design for an issue.

While this does have a good sci-fi feel, it also comes off as a bit too repetitive.  There is some need to establish exactly what is going on, but it seems as though the reader if forced through the temporal loop one or two times too many after they have figured it out.  This different approach allows the reader to suffer a little bit with the refugees, which is probably the point, but it could also be a bit aggravating to some.  Nonetheless, this issue does what needs to be done, and wraps up a plot in a pretty efficient manner, even while giving something new to think about.  Such a story might be considered great in a different setting (perhaps a Star Trek episode), but the creative team does as best as it can with the space that it has in this medium.  While not a standout issues, this fits well with the others in the series thus far and it is an interesting read for those that love the more esoteric aspect of scieince fiction.

Story: Dan Slott and Michael Allred  Art: Laura Allred  
Story: 8.5 Art:  8.5 Overall: 8.5  Recommendation:  Buy