Naruto Review #1: Issue #557 "Jokey Boy" Review

The first of many reviews I hope.

The battle between Gaara of the Sand village and the deceased, former Mizukage rages on.  I love the explanations about how the various ninjutsu attacks work, in the case of this issue, the Mizukage's clone of oil and water.  It provides a good basis for explanations on how these attacks are eventually defended against or defeated.  Mashashi Kishimoto always had a long history of prepping his stories with plausible attacks and how they could be defended against/defeated.

As far as stories go, this one is about average.  It shows good character consistency, the fact that Gaara is a long range strategist and uses the environment around him.  This story, however, is one in a number of "battles" in the fourth Ninja War that is taking way too long to finish.  While the battles are extremely entertaining, they only enhance an already complex mythology that probably won't be expanded upon.  While deepening the mythology provides a "fan fantasy" factor, it does little to move the actual story along.  If a story remains stagnant for too long, or too much time has elapsed between critical issues, then fans may shy away from the popular series.  I don't see this happening, but still, like many other fans I'm sure, I wish the story would progress a bit quicker.
Overall, I'd give it a three out of five stars.