Civil War review

Civil war is arguably the most controversial of the Marvel events and it covers a lot of political themes. In some ways it’s baffling that this is the kind of story they’re adapting into the newest movie. Especially since secret identities have barely been established as a thing yet (outside of the Netflix's Daredevil which isn’t likely to cross into the movies) but given that the movie is adapting the comic, and that there’s supposedly a sequel coming out (because lord knows the idea of a mass brawl between heroes hasn’t been run into the ground by Marvel yet) I decided to get a copy.

Because of the very political nature of this book, it’s often avoided in detail by reviewers, but… I’m going to cover this in as neutral a way as possible. I will not egg on either side for their decisions, so this review may not be as funny as some of my others, my apologies for that

This is neither a Rage review, nor a Guilty Pleasure review. In as many words my opinion of this comic is that it’s ok. I want to break down the story, giving as much detail as possible. In the end, if you haven’t read Civil War, you can make up your own mind which side was right in their actions.

There's also not going to be an overall rating of the comic, I have certain preconceptions that mean it's difficult for me to judge, and since most of my knowledge of Marvel comics does not predate this event, I don't think I'm much qualified to have a final say. What I do know is as of this point Thor was dead and Planet Hulk was happening, so those 2, arguably the two most powerful participants were off the table.

Note: I am only recently a Marvel fan, there will be characters in this that I do not know, so apologies in advance if I get some of their names wrong.

Also, just in case I wasn’t clear: SPOILERS!

We open in Stanford, Connecticut. A team called the New Warriors, trying to film a reality TV show,  have come across 4 super-villains: Cobalt Man, Coldheart, Speedfreak and Nitro, all former inmates of Rykers who broke out recently. The New Warriors discuss tactics to look good on camera but they’re spotted and the begin to fight. They easily take down Cobalt Man, Coldheart and Speedfreak but Nitro proves to be more difficult, he causes a massive explosion which takes out several city blocks.

Various super heroes arrive to search for survivors. I can name Cap (Steve Rogers), Falcon, Luke Cage, the Thing, Spider-woman, Iron Man, Iceman, Wolverine, Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers), Goliath, Jean Grey and Cyclops and no doubt others are helping the medics and fireman. Estimated casualties of 900, all for a “stupid reality TV show” as Cap puts it. The X-men are helping clear out the debris and sentinels (giant mutant hunting robots) have been called to guard them, since Wolverine threatened to kill the President at some point. Goliath says this may well be the straw that broke the camel’s back with tolerance of super heroes.

We see a woman on the news explaining that with the thousands of super-villains out there, a blanket ban would be impossible. However, training them and making them carry badges might work. A funeral is made for those lost in the event. Tony Stark is attending. Outside the mother of one of the victims calls him out. He supports the Avengers and has encouraged children to put on masks. The blood of the victims is on his hands too. J Jonah Jameson is loving this.

Johnny Storm, AKA the Human Torch is allowed into a nightclub with his girlfriend, some of them protest and begin talking to him like he was personally responsible. One of them stuns him by smashing a bottle over his head and a few of form a mob and start beating him up. This is the 11^th incident of this nature.

Various heroes have gathered at the Baxter Building, the rumours have gotten to them about what’s about to happen and a discussion ensues. Iron Man is championing the idea, as is Reed and Yellowjacket who, given his own history, should really have no say in the matter. Falcon, The Wasp and Wolverine are the biggest naysayers.

Spider-man suggests that it may force people to give up, whilst Sue argues that since the Fantastic 4 are public, it’s not that great a concern to her, it to Spidey who does not to see his wife or family dead (yeah... Won't those words come back to bite him?) Nighthawk thinks this may just be speculation but Daredevil suspects that it could be it for the old ways.

Meanwhile, Maria Hill asks Cap what the likely response would be. Reluctantly, Cap admits this would likely split the community down the middle, particularly those who work close to the streets like Luke Cage and Daredevil. Maria asks if there’s anybody he can’t handle. Cap refuses to arrest people who have spent their lives fighting for America, arguing that super heroes should stay above politics. Maria orders her mandroid squad to open fire on Cap but he manages to escape. Cap hitches a ride on one of the planes

Uatu, the watcher arrives at the Baxter building, his appearance does not bode well. In Washington we see Iron Man, Yellow Jacket and Reed and the White House talking with the President in his office. Cap landed the jet without any damage and took the pilot for a hamburger, that’s just how he is. They’re worried now that with Cap’s now a figurehead for anyone who disagrees with the registration. Iron Man advises them to press forward and leave Cap to them.

#2 opens with a splash page with 2 super villains locked in chains, the fourteenth and fifteenth within the last 72 hours. Maria Hill concludes from this that Cap isn’t on his own. In New York, Iron Man, She Hulk, Mr Fantastic, Yellow Jacket, Ms. Marvel and Tigra have taken down a doom bot causing some collateral damage. The people cheer as they discuss their new place. Iron Man proclaims that Cap is wrong this time.

In the Baxter Building whilst the Thing is playing with Sue and Reed’s kids, Sue enquires about some of Reed’s projects, particularly ‘number 42.’ Reed tells her it’s classified and she heads to the hospital to see Johnny. At the daily bugle J Jonah Jameson is elated that his ideals of the world are coming to light. He thinks that all the smart heroes will sign up as Spidey swings by. Tony talks to Rhodey (I think, there’s no clear shot of his face and he’s not introduced by name) Tony prays that he’s doing the right thing. Midnight that night, super hero registration becomes law.

24 hours later the Young Avengers are pursued by a S.H.I.E.L.D. team, authorised to use non-lethal force to bring them in. They’re eventually captured by according to one of the guys elsewhere, Cap and Falcon are undercover at the scene. Cap is the driver of the van, he tosses out his co-driver as Falcon, inside helps unbound Wiccan, the magic user of the group, she uses a teleportation spell to get them out of there. Somehow they teleport right into the new secret base and yes, this is the first time they’ve been here, why do you ask?

Anyway, they’re at one of Nick Fury’s safe-houses that S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t know about. Cap’s attention is brought to a press conference Tony Stark is holding. He brings out Spider-man who’s ready to unmask to the world, everyone’s watching as he unmasks to reveal himself as Peter Parker.

#3 opens with Peter talking to the press. Mr Fantastic is in Wakanda talking to king T’Challa aka the Black Panther, he’s uninterested in registering and in the process having Americans interfere with Wakandan affairs. He tells Reed to call Susan about Johnny. As we see that Cap’s “Secret Avengers” have defeated a plot by the Sinister Six, Yellow Jacket and the Wasp are asking Wong about recruiting Doctor Strange. He absolutely refuses and says that Doctor Strange is fasting in an Arctic Lodge, hoping the sides might resolve their differences

Tony Stark is meeting with Emma Frost, hoping to recruit the X-men to his side. Emma tells him their stand is that joining them would violate everything they’ve fought for. X-men tries to argue about the incident in Stamford but Emma recalls the devastation of Genosha, which provoked no action from the Avengers. She asks only that they’re left alone and they promise not to join up with Cap.

Meanwhile, Cap, Hercules, Daredevil and Falcon are using disguise tech and getting used to new identities. Cap recalls about an appointment he had from with a kid from the ‘Make a Wish’ foundation, he promised they could play baseball but the area’s probably crawling with Iron Man’s Avengers. It’s the little things that have been stolen from them with the registration, the things that define them.

They get an alert that a petrochemical plant is down. Cloak and Dagger are on their way to teleport them to the scene. Johnny is out of his hospital bed, wanting to know where his sister went. Cable (who is part of the resistance for some reason) and Luke cage amongst pretty much all the resistance are also part of the search, Cable uncovers a Stark Industries logo and realises it’s a trap. Cloak and Wiccan are taken out by tranquilliser.

Iron Man and the pro-registration side all stand ready. Iron Man says he’s here to offer one final amnesty (stupid question but why the massive show of force?) Cap isn’t so happy about it, he plants a device that shorts out Iron Man’s armour, leading to a massive fight. Yellowjacket grows and fights with Goliath, The Thing and Hulkling fight, air support is warned not to engage as ‘codename lightning’ is on it’s way.

Spidey manages to hold off Cap whilst Tony’s armour reboots, the armour has recorded every punch he’s ever thrown and Tony is brutally beating Cap down. Hercules tries to fight his way through She Hulk and Spider-man to get to Tony. Many of them are struck by lightning as ‘codename: Thunder arrives’ a robotic clone of Thor.

And yes, I know, this is where the problems for some people start, I’ll be providing my analysis after my summary because I’d rather be concise with my views on this.

Thor clone attacks Falcon and Dagger. Cap gets up and Iron Man uses a sonic attack to keep him down until some debris crashes into them and a massive explosion throws them both back, the ‘Secret Avengers’ begin the fight anew. Hercules tells Falcon that they need to get Cap out, Goliath stands against Thor, and the Thor clone throws his hammer right through him, killing him.

Thor prepares to bring lightning down on all of them but Sue protects them and they make their escape with Cable going into Cloak’s mind or something. Sue is exceptionally angry and Spider-man isn’t happy either. People weren’t supposed to get hurt. Uatu watches from the sidelines, sad.

As Iron Man’s Avengers are being treated for their injuries Yellowjacket, the Wasp and Spider-man look on. Yellowjacket isn’t happy either. Spider-man says this is not what he signed up for and maybe he’s chosen the wrong side. At the Secret Avengers Headquarters, Nighthawk and Cassie Lang make it clear that they’re leaving to join pro-registration side.

In New Jersey, Goliath’s funeral is being held. They couldn’t shrink him down, so he’s taking up 38 burial plots but Tony paid for it all. Mrs Sharpe, the mother that was so critical and actually is going to keep coming back argues that if he’d gone ‘legitimate’ he’d still be alive. He gives Tony her son’s favourite toy, an Iron Man figurine, to remind him why he’s doing this.

Sue writes a letter for Reed. She’s disgusted about what happened and has decided to leave, her children are left in his care and she begs them to give them what attention he can. She begs him to fix this situation before more people end up dead. Reed and Tony remark how they’ve lost a lot of members and the tide’s beginning to turn towards Cap’s side. They have only one course of action now, a temporary resort. Their new team, the Thunderbolts, a team a super villains wearing control chips or something

#5 opens with Sue and Johnny escaping an ambush of S.H.I.E.L.D. mandroids, with the loss of the super hero force, they’ve been deployed across the city. They manage to escape, just. Nighthawk and Cassie aka Stature arrive to join pro-registration. Tony should be there but down below Spider-man’s telling him he wants to quit.

He has no issue working with S.H.I.E.L.D. but feels that locking superheroes in the negative zone and the Thor Cyborg clone is too far. Iron Man tries to persuade him but eventually he fails he fails and heads into the sewer tunnels. Maria deploys the Thunderbolts. Jack-o-Lantern and some other guy I don’t recognise and isn’t referred to by name find Spider-man and have him on the ropes until they’re both shot by the Punisher. Spidey passes out

Johnny and Sue use their disguises to be undetected by the S.H.I.E.L.D. team, their new identities are of a married which Johnny finds kinda creepy. They find Cap’s new HQ and hear that cloak and dagger were caught and arrested. These S.H.I.E.L.D. units mean he’s lost as many heroes as he’s gained these past few days. Hulkling suggests he raids the FF files (he’s a shape-shifter) but Cap has another mission for him, same with the Invisible Woman. The Punisher bursts in with Spider-man, saying he needs medical attention.

He’s joining their side now that Iron Man’s crew are using known killers but he’s secretly been helping in a ski mask for a few days (presumably he’s the one who caused the debris from the last issue) he has the black ops training to get into the Baxter Building. Cap decides to think about it.

In Hell’s Kitchen Daredevil is arrested and taken through the portal to the prison 42. Daredevil gives Tony a silver dollar. He has 31 pieces of silver now, referring to Judas from the bible.

#6 opens in Arizona. I’ll skip over a bit here but basically they’re creating super humans so that they have an Avengers team in every state. Reed has been working for some time on implanting a neural blocking into the Thor clone to stop him killing again. Iron Man reports that crime rates are very low. Reed says the President has granted him 12 minutes to speak to his family before they charge in, with everyone else fair game.

The Punisher is climbing up a ventilation shaft or something, he’s wearing a suit making him invisible to security cameras and motion sensors. He makes it to the central system and begins downloading data on 42, he reports that the security levels mean they’ll need more people to achieve their operation. Cap says he has that in hand.

The Invisible Woman is speaking to Namor, trying to convince him and the Atlanteans to help. He refuses, not wanting anyone taking advantage of their ‘relationship.’ Falcon reports that X-men had also said no but the Black Panther isn’t happy about Goliath’s death so he and Storm (his wife) will support.

So, they’ve managed to attain key cards to the Ryker’s prison negative zone portal. They only have one chance before a raid ends them. Spider-man is given a chance to back out, since he’s still woozy from the fight but Spidey wants to make up for past mistakes. A couple of criminals come to offer their aid, not wanting the country to become a police state but the Punisher shoots them. Cap punches him hard but the Punisher will not fight back. Spidey reasons he’s probably the reason Cap went to Vietnam but Cap dismisses it and says he’s just insane.

Tony opens a Park in honour of the dead from the first issue. We cut to Doctor Strange’s sanctum in the North Pole, Uatu is talking to him, he’s been fasting since it began. He needs to stay out because he could end it with a single swipe. There is no right or wrong to this debate. He prays that the victorious side be the one that spills the least blood tonight.

On Ryker’s Island the Secret Avengers make it through the portal but it’s another trap (and for this, I’m not using the Akbar clip) they placed Tigra as a mole in their team, but Cap knew all about it because Yellowjacket told them. Hank Pym had been knocked out in Arizona, he’s the Hulkling. With his voice prompts he’s able to deactivate the holding cells and release the prisoners, the battle is now more even.

OK, issue 7 is pretty much a big fight scene, so forgive me if I’m skipping a few bits here but as they fight Black Panther and Dagger begin redirecting the portal to the Baxter building, some S.H.I.E.L.D. agents spot them and close down the portal, forcing Cloak to perform a mass teleport. They all arrive outside of the Baxter building.

Iron Man orders the fight contained and civilians evacuated before taking down the Human Torch as Wonderman takes down cloak. Cap is on the ropes until Namor and his forces arrive to even the odds, but Iron Man plays his card too bringing in some of the 50 states Avengers and the newly reformed clone of Thor. Cap and Iron Man fight but this time the Vision sides with anti-registration for some reason (he’s a robot) and shorts out Iron Man. Hercules manages to take out the Thor clone as I think it’s Taskmaster who has his sights on Sue. Reed stretches in and takes the blast for her and he is knocked out.

As Cap is about to finish the fight ordinary citizens pounce on him, he doesn’t want to hurt them but it’s too late, midtown is already partially destroyed in the fight. Cap sees this and decides to surrender. They may be winning the fight but they’re losing the argument. He tells the others to stand down.

Reed writes a letter to Sue, thanking her for accepting the amnesty given to super heroes following Cap’s surrender. They begin to work with providing an Avengers team in every US State, of course there’s still resistance including Spidey (in his black costume, but don’t worry, Spider-man 3 will see that doesn’t last long), Luke Cage and Doctor Strange for some reason. Cap is in prison, soon to be assassinated. And Tony has been named director of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Analysis

So why is this such a controversial story? Well it’s down to this, a lot of people were rooting for Cap to win and he didn’t, Tony won and he didn’t just win, he won in a way that makes it seem like he was absolutely in the right and Cap in the wrong. And the problem with that is, it isn’t true, at all.

The robotic clone of Thor I think was the big thing here, it really overcomplicating what was already a meaty story.  And this was the start where Iron Man’s side was becoming vilified in this book that and recruiting supervillains in a suicide squad style control method, you can see why the majority seemed to think that wasn’t the side to root for.

Having said that, Cap’s side has flaws too. The biggest issue they had is how unbalanced Cap was getting. Cap is a very ideological kind of superhero but his response to Frank Castle in particular was of a man who could not accept a viewpoint different to his own, you could argue he and Iron Man are very similar.

Could you argue the behaviour of the two is out of character for them? Probably but like I said, I’m only a recent Marvel fan so I’m letting it largely stand on its own merits.

So why did most people side with Cap, I think we have to look at the tie-in issues. Unfortunately, I have not read them but from what I understand they vilified Iron Man, sometimes to a ridiculous degree. I presume the Spider-man books, wanting to justify him switching sides, did this in particular. Then again, particularly the Punisher books focused on unbalanced Cap (I’m basing this off reviews btw, I do not own copies).

I suppose the problem was the Super Hero Registration Act was not given to the writers or the audience. There was no official document and this lead to different writers interpreting it differently.

Then comes the problem they had with the latest Secret Wars too, delays! Lots of fun, fun delays. Reading from a trade it’s a lot easier to ignore pacing issues but this book had months of delays and when a lot of main titles rely on it, it’s not an easy issue to avoid.

Now, I can’t say anything about the movie or the sequel, I’m writing this in February, but what I can say is there’s a lot of potential in this kind of title, but it has to be handled better than this. Make sure both sides have their positives and negatives throughout, make sure all writers are on the same page about the subject of debate. And for the love of god, don’t have Spider-man unmask again!

We all know that Spider-man unmasking leads to…

F*ck you Joe Quesada

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Images/clips used in this review are from Civil War and One More Day and belong to their respective owners. All images/clips in this review are subject to fair use