Books : Civil War (Marvel Comics)

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Rating:

- Truly Marvellous
I give props to Mark Millar and Steve McNiven for their work in Civil War. With a storyline that proves difficult for you to choose whose side you're on, this book is captivating with its amazing story and awesome atrwork. Putting Millar and McNiven together was a stroke of genius...

Rating:

- Civil War? More like Civil Bore.
Comics have been around for a long time. One thing us comic book nerds have always wondered is who would win if they fought. Well Marvel comic's recent Civil War event tried to answer these questions. Mark Millar who also wrote the Ultimates was put in charge of the entire event. Well that was a big mistake. "Civil War" was a poorly written story that had many characters acting way out of character. Iron Man who is a personal favorite of mine was written often as an uncaring villain as opposed to the big time playboy who always cares. Captain America who was written as the "good guy" was written poorly often acting like a whiney baby that just wants his own way at the expense of his own people. They present a catastrophic event that led to the deaths of many adults and children. The New Warriors who had been doing a TV reality show, the proceeded to tackle a super villain much above their skill. In turn this led the government to create a bill requiring all super heroes to unmask themselves to the government. Millar had Iron Man join the registration side and Captain America joined the anti registration side. The story brings up many interesting questions that when explained by someone other than Millar makes perfect sense. Millar wanted the story to have the wow factor. The only wow he got from me was "Wow, I'm sure glad that is over." Joe Quesada the Editor-in-Chief of Marvel explained the event in a way Millar never could have. At a Comic-con panel in San Diego, Quesada explained the event in the case of the panel itself. He told us to imagine the door having masked guards with guns watching over us. Then we would approach them and say "Who are you?" and in turn they tell us "Don't worry about it, all you need to know is I am here to protect you," that the people would want to know who these masked men were to truly know whether they were there to protect us or for some other cause. I would recommend the reading of "Civil War" only for the continuity that you would need for the current Marvel Universe. Other than that the story is poor. Where we were told we wouldn't know whose side we would want to be on and support, Millar made it clear who the "Good" and "Bad" sides were. If you don't mind a mediocre to poor story with great art and want to stay in with Marvel Continuity then read "Civil War" if not don't bother, look into better events such as the upcoming "World War Hulk" which promises to have better writers.

Rating:

- Who's Side Are You On?
The Super Human Regisrtation Act has passed through congress and now any superhero not willing to register and work for the government is an outlaw and a renegade. Iron Man is for the initiative after a reality TV show of mid-level superheroes tries to capture a nest of bad guys and turns a neighborhood into Hiroshima, killing hundreds, including children. Captain America is against the initiatie and believes it to be a facist movement being born. Conflicts arise! Oh yeah! Hero vs. hero. This is the stuff great comic books are made of. See Spder-Man reveal his true identity on national TV! See The Punisher just waste bad guys without remorse! See the entire Marvel Universe torn down the middle! Killer artwork and killer story!

Dig it!

Rating:

- One book to bring them all and in teh darkness bind them
The problem with this book is that it gives you a birdseye view of the events of the Civil War that shook the Marvel Universe, but to fully understand all the plotlines and references you'll have to lay down some more cash and get the other Civil War Collections. Actually to fully understand everything you read here you'll have to go back to before the civil war and ... Oh you get the idea.

So, this book is essential in that it sets the new statis quo for the MU, but also frustrating (all though marketing-wise very smart) as you'll just have to know the rest of the story.

Rating:

- We might not like the "Civil War" and its aftermath, but we will all have to deal with it
For me it was ironic that "Civil War" came out as the publicity machine was reving up for the release of "Spider-Man 3," because for this outing Spider-Man is "back in black," which of course was the result of "The Secret Wars," the first big Marvel event. That costume change did not really go over well and eventually the black costume became Venom, which was probably the biggest legacy for that 1984-85 limited series, since most of the effects were short term (e.g., the Thing staying on Battleworld and being replaced in the Fantastic Four by the She-Hulk). But then the series was really created to promote a new series of toys, so it is easy to dismiss. The same cannot be said for "Civil War," whatever you think about it. So you may not like it, but you fans of Marvel Comics are going to have to deal with it.

At the heart of the "Civil War" storyline is the Superhuman Registration Act, which was passed by the U.S. Congress in the wake of what happened at Stamford, Connecticut. While filming a reality television show, Nitro of the New Warriors exploded, killing hundreds of people and most of his teammates. Public opinion turned against superheroes and with the vocal support of Iron Man, the SRA was passed. Specifically it required all persons with superhuman abilities to register with the U.S. government, reveal their secret identities, and receive proper training in law enforcement if they want to keep on being superheroes. The law applies to all superheroes, whether they have natural abilities, acquired their powers through science or magic, or even if they just such technology. Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, Hank Pym, and She-Hulk become the key supporters of the act, and Tony Stark persuades Spider-Man to reveal he is really Peter Parker on television. However, Captain America refuses to join the S.H.I.E.L.D. strikeforce to bring in the superheroes who resist registration, instead becoming the leader of the opposition.

Basically "Civil War" forces most of the characters in the Marvel Universe to choose sides and then live with the consequences of their decision (not all are able to do that, either because they die or because they change their mind). Written by Mark Millar, pencilled by Stev McNiven, and inked by Dexter Vines, the seven issues of the "Civil War" series are collected in this trade paperback edition. I did not read most of the "Civil War" tie-ins. Beyond the Spider-Man titles I did read "Civil War: Front Line" and various one-shots and other comic books focusing on the conflict between Iron Man and Captain America (and the "epilogue" off of that). I understood the position that Tony Stark was articulating and could respect the need to curtail, but my sentiments conformed to those of Captain America, especially once Iron Man and S.H.I.E.L.D. started sending prisoners to the Negative Zone and hired supervillains to bring in the renegades. The way the situation escalated at a geometric pace from civil debate to warfare in the streets also hit me as the cure being worse than the disease, but for me the major deduction here ended up being the way this big issue was resolved, which I found to be quite unfulfilling.

In an interview after the series was completed Millar described the "Civil War" event as being about what happens when "the people swamp freedom for security," and I have to say that my gut reaction is that security without freedom is not appealing to me and I have an inherent animosity towards anybody who wants to force me to choose between the two (plus I think of government as being inherently inept rather than inherently corrupt). It is easy to see the allegorical nature of the story, but I think what Millar is doing is grounded more in the attempt to come up with a more realistic response to the idea of superheroes, who by definition would be vigilantes even if they are fighting for truth, justice, and a recognizable ideological system of beliefs. The idea of superhero registration has been a part of stories regarding comic book superheroes from "Watchmen" to "The Incredibles," so this is not a new idea. But Millar et al. have made it an irrevocable and unavoidable part of life in the Marvel Universe. Superheroes can become part of the new initiative that puts a team of superheroes in every state, they can go underground like the New Avengers, they can head for Canada like Arachne, or they can retire like Firestar, but they will not be able to avoid it.

Once again I think the biggest consequences are for Spider-Man, now that his identity has been revealed. The students in my Pop Culture class read "Essential Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 1" and come up with a model for defining elements in a Spider-Man comic to which they compare a current issue of the comic, and they are having trouble wrapping their minds around the whole idea that J. Jonah Jameson now knows Peter Parker is Spider-Man. Storm and the Black Panther might have replaced Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman in the Fantastic Four in the short term, but you cannot undo the idea of Spider-Man's identity being revealed as easily as you can change back from a black costume to the familiar red and blue one. I might get used to this new state of affairs, but given my fond memories of those pivotal moments when the Green Goblin and (Volume 2) Aunt May discovered Peter was Spider-Man, along with those when Mary Jane and (Volume 1) Aunt May revealed to Peter they knew his secret, I do not think I will ever approve of it.

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