White Tiger #6

White Tiger #6
WTF? Why has it taken so long for this series to be released? It's killed any possible forward momentum that might have been developed in the story. And has squandered any chance of this character and her writer, Tamora Pierce, being picked up for an ongoing series. Actually, judging from this single issue, an ongoing series wouldn't have been such a bad idea. White Tiger has developed relationships throughout the first five books in this series, many of which come to fruition in this issue. Unfortunately, in the larger scope of things, it matters not. After all, this entire series takes place before Civil War reared its ugly editorial head up to throw a monkey wrench into the works and spoil any positive plots being developed in favor of plot hammering.
Even though I hardly recall the previous issues, the recap page in this issue tells me all that I need to know. And this issue is nearly a complete tale in and of itself, something which I always appreciate. I guess it wraps up plot threads from the rest of the series, but I really couldn't tell you. The only problem is, for such an action centered climax, the art by Alvaro Rio, Ronaldo Adriano Silva, and Don Hillsman really doesn't work. Although it's clean, there's too much going on in each panel, and too few of the critical events being shown clearly to make it work. Without the dialogue, I'd have no idea what was going on here. And even with the dialogue, I had to reread several pages in order to figure it out. And I hate doing that.
An okay end to this miniseries, but at the end I'm left with an overwhelming feeling of EH. And what's this? The trade paperback comes out in less than a month? So why should ANYBODY buy this particular issue? Way to stab yourselves in the foot, Marvel. Good job.