Civil War a 7 issue mini series
by William the Bloody
Before I start, I just want to point out that this is a review for "Civil War: the seven issue mini series", NOT "Civil War: the universe spanning crossover event." Everything I'm going to critique will be stuff included in the seven issues ONLY. Got that? Okay then.
It all begins with the a group of young super heroes called the New Warriors. The New Warriors star on their own reality television series which is kind of similar to "Cops." Basically camera crews follow them around and record them fighting bad guys. Nothing wrong with that, but well, in the pursuit of higher ratings, the New Warriors take on a group of super villain prison escapees who are way out of their league and a city block gets blow'd up real good... including an elementary school full of little kids. Needless to say, the public is outraged, and a movement spearheaded by the mother of one of the dead children starts to pressure law makers into outlawing super heroes in general. However, the fact that super powered villains will still be running around would make the idea of banning ALL heroes questionable, so a compromised is reached. An act is presented to Congress where all people possessing super powers/abilities who fight crime must register with and become an agent of the federal government. The idea behind this act would be to make sure that super heroes are properly trained and will have to answer to the government for their actions. However, those who have been "on the job" know that having your identity a matter of public record can be very dangerous when that super villain you beat up breaks out of prison and can track down your family in the yellow pages. The super hero community is split down the middle in response to this act. Iron Man believes that it only makes sense that the public demand the people protecting them be trained and answerable to the government, while Captain America thinks the very notion of forcing a person who is willing to risk their life for others to register and become a possible puppet of the government goes against the very freedom America is supposed to be about. As the act is passed into law, every hero in the Marvel Universe is forced to choose a side, knowing that eventually they will have to fight their opposers, most of whom have been their friends for many years. The Choice: go with Iron Man and uphold the law, or go with Captain America and uphold freedom? Whose side are you on?
The Good: While the idea of forcing super powered people to register with the government isn't really new to the Marvel U (read any random X-men comic from the 70s and 80s), this take on the idea was at least an interesting one. In this age where America has the Patriot Act which can be interpreted in include any number of restrictions and privacy violations, it is also a relevant slant. I can also see where both sides have the pros and cons: siding with the law means that heroes will be government agents and not only be paid for their services, but also trained in combat and defense, however this also means your real name will be a matter of public record which means that villains can track down your family and people can sue you (RE: the beginning of the movie the Incredibles? Where Mr. Incredible rescues the suicidal man who in turn sues for injuries received during the rescue?). Could you imagine risking your own life to save a stranger from a collapsing building only to have them turn around and sue you afterwards because they twisted you funny and now have a sore back? Fewer people would fight the good fight if they had to put up with that crap. Also, the act mandates that these people who do not register are therefore criminals and anyone aiding and abetting them will be considered as such as well. They do not get a trial. No due process. They either sign up or go to prison, and not just any prison, no. It's a special prison Reed Richards built in the Negative Zone, in other words, the super hero community's very own Guantanamo Bay, which was an angle which I found intriguing. I've heard quite a lot of inter chatter regarding Reed Richards, Tony Stark and Hank Pym's bahaviour through the whole thing. Why would they build such a prison? Why would they clone Thor? Etc, etc. Well, I counter with this: Why WOULDN'T they? ESPECIALLY Reed. I mean, here we have three brilliant scientists given practically unlimited resources and funding and carte blanche to bring in rogue heroes by any means necessary. As scientists, their minds simply reeled at the endless possibilities. Reed must have been drooling. I've also heard complaints about how the series reached its end. The Final Battle we all were up in arms in anticipation for and everyone is complaining about how it came to an end. Well, I can sort of see it. It could be mildly disappointing seeing as to how it wasn't so much as one side beating the other into submission as an epiphany and a surrender, but to me, it made sense and held true to the character's, er, character. Oh, and the art is pretty good, too.
The Bad: The only way I can properly explain the problem with a mini series like this is to equate it unto other Marvel ventures, that of the "Secret Wars" and "Secret Wars 2." Civil war would have been much better to me if it could have been more self contained like the original "Secret Wars" twelve issue mini series. Just about everything you needed to know about what was going on during the "Secret Wars" conflict was right in the pages of those twelve books. "Secret Wars 2" on the other hand, just gave you the backbone and you were practically required to read every tie-in book out there to get the whole story, and brother did they ever try to tie-in EVERYBODY. "Civil War" is the same deal as "Secret Wars 2." If you want the whole story, you need to read every comic Marvel publishes with a Civil War logo on it. Want to know more behind the Punisher's motives in this scene? Then you HAVE to read "Punisher War Journal," et cetera. Well played, Marvel. Bastards. A few continuity points to mention: what about the Pym particles? Goliath was killed and buried while giant-sized.... but Hank Pym has Pym Particles which make things shrink! It's how he became tiny Ant Man! Also, Tony Stark visits Emma Frost at the X-mansion to see where the X-People lie in the conflict... but Carol Danvers already asked her in the pages of "New X-men," and she gave pretty close to the same speech. It would have been nice, and rather simple, to have included a line of dialogue such as "I'm going to tell you what I told Ms. Danvers..." or something. But no.
In the end, many interesting ideas were put out there, and the finale left some pretty neat changes to be played with. I'm really interested to see where things in the ol' Marvel U will go now that the dust has settled. If they play their cards right, something like this could very well lead to some incredible story lines. I'm just worried that such a HUGE event will have to under go a messy retcon in two years' time. *CoughONSLAUGHTcough*.
B+