Comic Book Review: Civil War #3

Civil War has been a huge hit here at the Revolution. Millar is delivering a highly entertaining storyline. Even after two issues, I am already enjoying Civil War more than Infinite Crisis. There is something to be said for just delivering an action packed thriller rather than some cosmic reality shattering story. I fully expect Civil War All right, let’s hit this review.

Creative Team
Writer: Mark Millar
Penciler: Steve McNiven
Inker: Dexter Vines, Mark Morales & Steve McNiven

Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: The issue starts with Spider-Man taking off his mask at his press conference. We then cut to Mr. Fantastic asking Black Panther to join Tony Stark’s team. Black Panther declines the offer. We then shift to Dr. Strange declining Yellow Jacket and Wasp’s offer to join Tony Stark’s team.

We then cut to Tony meeting with Emma Frost. Tony mentions how they used to have a deal to be booty call partners whenever they weren’t dating anyone. (Seriously, who has Tony Stark NOT slept with?) Emma turns down Tony’s offer to join his team. Emma then promises that the X-Men will remain neutral and will not join Captain America’s side. As Tony is leaving the Xavier Institute, Bishop asks to talk to him.

We then shift to Captain America, Daredevil, Hercules and Goliath all meeting at a diner in their new civilian identities that Nick Fury gave them. They get a call from home base that a petrochemical plant is on fire and three to four hundred people are trapped.

We cut to the petrochemical plant. Captain America’s team includes: Cloak, Dagger, Cable, Daredevil, Hercules, Goliath, Wiccan, Hulkling, Patriot, the Falcon and Luke Cage. Cable sees the sign for the plant that says it is a division of Stark Industries. Cable yells that it is a trap and suddenly we see Iron Man’s team. That team consists of She-Hulk, Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Thing, Wonder Man, Ms. Marvel, Atlas, Yellow Jacket, Wasp, Spider-Man, Doc Samson and a couple of other characters. Maria Shield tells her S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to hold their fire and that they are in support capacity only.

Tony tells Captain America that he is offering him one more chance for full amnesty and to join him supporting the Act. Captain America tells Tony that he has 5 minutes to convince him. The two men shake hands. Tony then notices a little device that Captain America placed on his glove. It is a S.H.I.E.L.D. electronic scrambler made in case Iron Man ever went rogue one day. And with that we have one massive braaaaaaaawwwwwl!!!

During the fight, Iron Man gets his armor back on line and lays one of the nastiest beat downs on Captain America. Just brutal. Hercules totally snaps and starts whuppin’ some serious ass on his way to save Captain America. Maria Hill then orders “Codename Lightning” to be deployed.

Suddenly a massive bolt of lightning blasts down from the skies and nails Captain America’s team. We then get a one page splash shot of the mighty THOR!!! (oh mah gawd!! He’s back!!) End of issue.

Comments:
The Good: Oh yeah! Now that is how you end an issue! Civil War #3 was a fantastic read. Pure excitement from start to finish. Obviously, the huge bomb in this issue is the much anticipated return of Thor. I am so excited. I have been waiting for the return of the big guy for quite some time.

I liked the beginning scenes of the various heroes turning down the offers to join Iron Man’s team. I liked how Millar is writing Mr. Fantastic as the detached scientist who doesn’t even know if his brother in law is doing all right or not. This is going to have some serious ramifications over in the Fantastic Four’s title.

The scene between Tony Stark and Emma Frost was classic! Millar does a wonderful job with the dialogue. I love that Millar creates the booty arrangement that Emma and Tony used to have whenever they weren’t dating. Seriously, Tony is so pimp. I’m very curious to know what Bishop wanted to tell Tony before he left. Millar dangled that out there to the reader and left us wondering. I’m not too sure what it could be about, but we will probably find out. A good writer always keeps the reader guessing.

I thought the civilian identities that Nick Fury cooked up for Captain America and his team were pretty funny. Imagining Hercules being an IT consultant and Captain America being a security supervisor for a mall is hilarious.

Obviously, the best scene was the big brawl. Millar does a great job showing how crafty Tony is to lure Captain America and his team out in the open. I like that Millar doing an honest job trying to portray Tony as a good guy. That Tony honestly believes that he is doing the right thing. I’m glad that Tony offered another chance to talk with Captain America rather than brawl. I also like that Millar made it Captain America the one who was spoiling for a fight instead of Tony. And the beat down that Iron Man put on Captain America was completely jarring. That was a violent scene that I never thought I would see. Iron Man just brutally pummeled his oldest comrade in arms. Millar did a wonderful job making this scene as startling and as harsh as it should be.

I liked Hercules’ response to seeing Captain America getting beat down. And who out there can handle a rampaging Hercules? Well, that would be Codename Lightning. Millar drops a huge bomb on the reader. Codename Lightning is revealed to be none other than Thor! I have been waiting for this for such a long time. Thor is a great character and it was fantastic to see him in that big one page splash shot that ended this issue.

It seemed the general consensus that Thor would appear in the middle of this mini-series and join Captain America’s side. This would even up the power differential between the two sides and would enable Captain America’s side to emerge victorious. Well, Millar surprised us all. Thor is on Iron Man’s team. Now, we could be in store for another swerve, but at this point, with Iron Man, Thor and Wonder Man all on the same team, there is no doubt that the power lies with the Pro-Registration side. I cannot wait to see where Millar goes with this plot line.

Millar delivers an excellently paced story. The flow of this issue was perfect. It started slowly building until it hit a high with the brawl between the two teams and then ended with a massive explosion with the appearance of Thor. Civil War #3 is a great example of how to deliver a well constructed story.

Millar crafts very nice dialogue which is enjoyable to read. Millar pays attention to details and nicely portrays each character. Millar is the only writer who has done an honest job showing both the pro and anti sides as “good guys.” Millar is the only writer that has actually impressed upon the reader what a highly complex issue the Registration Act is and that there is no one simple and correct answer. This is what makes Civil War such a compelling read. And this is also why Civil War is so much better than all the crappy spin-off Civil War titles like Frontline.

Steve McNiven’s artwork is incredible. Civil War #3 is a beautiful book to look at. McNiven is able to effectively portray the intense emotions in the various character’s facial expressions. McNiven’s art of the Iron Man beat down on Captain America was excellent. And the one page splash shot of Thor was perfect.

The Bad: I have absolutely no complaints at all.

Overall: Civil War #3 was a fantastic read. McNiven’s incredible artwork combined with Millar’s strong story makes for a highly entertaining and enjoyable comic book to read. Civil War is one of the best comic book on the market. I heartily recommend Civil War to anyone. Civil War is definitely worth your hard earned money.