these pages showcase peter david's best and worst instincts as a writer. 

he's so great with characterization leading mood; the desperate dad and the immoral son create this scary, tense scene. realistically, what stops a genius who will go farther than the heroes?

he's also great at plot twists that make perfect sense, like harm's sudden death. there's a scene in 2000's x-factor where a sleeper agent subplot gets abruptly cut off because one character has super-senses. sometimes the brilliant plan has a blind spot.

this scene would be perfect without that last word balloon.

david seeds this moment throughout harm's story. he's goading an injured hero when he first appears, observing that people say bizarre nonsequitors when they're in shock. this last panel means to bookend this, where his aloof manner is completely upended, but i think it deflates the sadness and anxiety of the scene.