Puny Human Writers

So issue five of World War Hulk finally came out. I was underwhelmed, as I have been the entire limited series. But at least I wasn't as disappointed with it as I was with Civil War (Seven issues of nothing, just to lead into revamping of a bunch of other titles). And at least it wasn't as long.

Stuff actually happened. New York is in ruins. Heroes are dead... or at least it looks that way. No one ever actually said, "He's dead, Jim" so I guess they could just be sleeping.

I have a couple major problems with the series. The first is the timeline. When is this happening? I picked up the last issue of Illuminati a week or two ago, and it revealed a hero that is featured in WWH as a skrull. And this week's New Avengers featured an attack on New York... which didn't seem very damaged. Isn't there somebody at Marvel with a big corkboard posting lists of what collateral damage needs to be shown from month to month?

The other major problem I had with World War Hulk was the art. I used to like John Romita Jr. as an artist, back when he did Daredevil, and, to a lesser extent, his run on Uncanny X-Men in the 80s. Now that he's made a name for himself, his art looks lazy, rushed and sketchy. Many characters are indistinguishable, and faces are flat and featureless. I understand he's known for his speed, not his quality. Why was the last issue delayed so long?

Delays have been a major embarrassment for Marvel as a company. They have lot a lot of credibility as a professional operation. I'd have to lay the blame for this at their boss, Joe Quesada. Apparently he doesn't care about maintaining consumer confidence. One of many problems I have with his management. Can we please have an actual editor become editor in chief at Marvel again?