I enjoyed Civil War #1. I found it to be a more entertaining read than DC’s Infinite Crisis. Of course, I don’t have really high expectations for Civil War. I just want it to be like an entertaining summer blockbuster movie. And I think it is delivering in that respect. I expect for Civil War #2 to be slightly less entertaining since it appears that Civil War #3 is supposed to be a really big issue. Anyway, I’ve already had a couple of mugs of Café Bustelo and am ready for this review.
Creative Team
Writer: Mark Millar
Penciler: Steve McNiven
Inker: Dexter Vine
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10.
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10.
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10.
Synopsis: The issue starts with the Vulture and Grim Reaper beaten to a pulp and chained to a column. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents have arrived on the scene and have also located the Trapster chained to the sink in the men’s bathroom. The agents radio Commander Hill with this news. Hill says that this makes 15 super villains inside 72 hours that have been captured in this manner. Hill says that Captain America could not do this by himself in such a short time period. Therefore, their nightmare scenario has occurred: Captain America is not own his own anymore.
We then shift to New York City where Iron Man, Yellow Jacket, Mr. Fantastic, She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, Tigra and Doc Samson have just defeated a huge Doombot. The crowd cheers in support of the heroes. Iron Man says that is the sound of people starting to believe in super heroes again. She-Hulk mentions that aren’t they now just S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and not super heroes. Iron Man says that they are still super heroes who tackle super-crime. The only thing that has changed is that the kids, amateurs and sociopaths are getting weeded out. (Good point. I still like my sociopath heroes, though.) Tigra asks which of those categories Captain America falls into. (Ouch. Burn. Good one, Tigra.) Iron Man says that Captain America is simply wrong this time.
We cut to the Baxter Building where Reed is excited about Tony’s bug plan for the superhuman community. Sue isn’t happy that Tony’s plan includes jailing for many of their old friends. Reed says that it is unfortunate, but there is no other option. His projections show numerous social dangers due to their unchecked actions. That we are facing an apocalypse if their unlicensed activity isn’t brought under control. Reed is excited and impressed of Tony’s secret plan and the ideas that Tony and Hank Pym have been tossing around. That they are concept-machines. Sue asks what a CD marked “42” is. Reed says it is classified information.
We shift to the Daily Bugle where J. Jonah Jameson is excited about the new Super Hero Registration Act.
We cut to Tony Stark in his penthouse (Man, that guy lives a pimp life!) Tony prays that he is doing the right thing. We then see at Time Square at midnight flashing the news that the Super Hero Registration Act has become law.
We then shift to S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in hot pursuit of Patriot from the Young Avengers. The S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopters trap Patriot in a building and then launch gas bombs into the building and take out Patriot. We then see the rest of the Young Avengers captured and shackled and being led into S.H.I.E.L.D. prison van.
At an unknown location, we see “Daredevil” and some bald guy at a monitor watching the Young Avengers begin arrested. The bald guy says that Captain America and Flacon are already undercover on the scene. We then see two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in the front of the prison van driving away from the scene. The agent in the passenger seat is going on and on about how these kids are freaks. That they get no buzz off being legit. That these freaks only get off on the masks and that “mystery man” garbage. The agent asks the driver if he has heard about this “number forty-two” thing that they are constructing. The agent driving looks over at the agent and says “You know something, fella? You talk too much!” The driver is actually Captain America undercover as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. And with that the driver punches the agent through the door and the agent lands in the middle of the interstate into oncoming traffic. (Damn! Has our regular Captain America been taking ass kicking lessons from Ultimate Captain America?) We then see the Falcon in the back of the van freeing the Young Avengers from their special shackles. The Falcon tells Wiccan to transport them out of here. The S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopter following the prison van radios for back up support. Wiccan manages to teleport the entire prison van to some type of bunker headquarters. The Young Avengers exit the prison van and are greeted by Cable, “Daredevil”, Shroud, Dagger, Luke Cage, Goliath and Hercules (What? Why is he even involved in this? Like the son of Zeus would really care. By the way, it is painfully obvious that this is the group that Spider-Man would have joined.)
Captain America explains that they are in S.H.I.E.L.D. safe house number twenty-three. That there are twenty-eight of these safe houses across the globe. That only Captain America and Nick Fury know about them. That Nick Fury told them that they could use this place for as long as they wanted to. Also, Nick Fury is working on their new secret I.D.s. Dagger then yells to Captain America to come look at Tony Stark’s press conference on TV. We then shift to the X-Mansion where the X-Men are about to watch the press conference. We then shift to Sue Richards at the hospital visiting Johnny and she is watching the press conference.
Tony Stark introduces Spider-Man. Spider-Man says how it is time for super heroes to go legitimate and earn back a little public trust. That Captain America advocates people with powers being completely unchecked. We see J. Jonah Jameson looking at his TV stunned. Spider-Man then unmasks and says “My name is Peter Parker, and I’ve been Spider-Man since I was fifteen years old.” We then cut back to JJ Jameson’s office where he has passed out. We then get a one page splash shot of Peter standing there with his mask in his hands asking “Any questions?”
Comments
The Good: Civil War #2 was a very good issue. I loved the opening scene. I like how Captain America and his team are not only catching super villains, but there are putting a seriously wicked ass whipping on them. And Hill’s reaction to the thought of Captain America with his own team was perfect. Hill is in for a huge fight and she knows it.
The scene with Tony Stark’s team was a great contrast to the opening scene. Unlike Captain America’s team that is nasty, violent and works in the shadows, Iron Man’s team is more clean cut and works out in the open. The crows cheering Iron Man’s team was a nice touch showing how the Act does make the general populace more comfortable with the thought of super powered humans running around our cities.
The scene between Reed and Sue was also well done. Millar does a great job writing Reed. Showing Reed’s excitement and his brain that works on a totally different level than ours. It all comes to do science and numbers and they both support Tony Stark’s position. Sue is obviously much more reserved, and I think we see the beginning of an eventual rift between Sue and Reed over this issue. We also get teased with this project “42” that is so secret that Reed can’t even tell Sue about it. Sue’s subtle reaction was perfect. You could really tell that she was hurt by this secrecy.
I also liked the scene with Tony in his penthouse. Millar is doing a nice job showing Tony’s hope that he is doing the right thing. This shows that Tony has clearly thought a lot about what he is doing. That this isn’t simply some rash decision and that he has the best intentions in mind.
The scene with the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents arresting the Young Avengers was cool. Nice action. Once again, Captain America looks like a total ass-kicker with the way he punches the agent through the van door and into the highway full of traffic. Millar writes such a good Captain America. I thought it was pretty neat that Captain America’s team is using one of Nick Fury’s safe houses. You knew that Nick would side with Captain America over this issue. Fury is definitely a powerful ally.
The final scene with Spider-Man at the press conference was well done. It was rather powerful when he unmasked himself. I never ever thought I would see Spider-Man publicly reveal himself. And the reaction of J. Jonah Jameson passing out was hilarious!
Millar is doing an excellent job writing. His dialogue is strong and flows well. Millar is doing a great job with the various characters in particular Captain America and Tony Stark. I like that Millar is giving Tony a fair shake. Much more of a fair shake than Jenkins over in Civil War Front Line is giving Tony. Millar is doing a nice job justifying why Tony is taking this path of supporting the Act. Millar also writes an excellent Captain America. If Ed Brubaker were to ever leave Captain America, then I want Millar to take over that title. Millar clearly writes the regular Captain America like he does the Ultimate Captain America. And I have no problems with that. Millar gives our regular Captain America super strength as evidenced by the scene in the van. Plus, Millar gives our regular Captain America something he has usually lacked: balls and a nasty streak. I love it.
I am also enjoying the pacing. It is a nice steady build up to issue #3 which is going to showcase a big battle and the death of a character.
Steve McNiven’s artwork is simply incredible! This is a gorgeous comic book to look at. McNiven’s excellent art compliments Millar’s solid writing and makes this a great comic book. McNiven packs so much emotion and intensity into his artwork. This really strengthens the impact of Millar’s story. The way he draws Sue with Reed was just right. You could see in her face and he body language how hurt she was. You can feel the emotions of each character with McNiven’s great facial expressions. Whether it is J. J. Jameson’s rage or Tony Stark’s worried concern. It all just leaps off the page.
The Bad: I only have one complaint. That Peter Parker would ever unmask himself publicly is simply unbelievable and totally contradicts the Spider-Man that I have known and read since the 1970’s. And Peter’s reasons for unmasking were weak and unconvincing. Peter Parker would never support the government regulating Super Heroes. He has always been the loner. The street level hero. The hero hunted by villains and police alike. It simply makes no sense whatsoever. And all the guys in Captain America’s team are the heroes that Spider-Man has always associated with: Daredevil, Luke Cage, Cloak and Dagger.
I know Marvel is trying to make us believe this sudden turn in Peter Parker due to his newfound relationship and loyalty to Tony Stark. But, it just doesn’t work for me. Marvel’s effort to get me to buy into this sudden turn by Peter Parker is simply too weak. It definitely is not enough to get me to disregard over 30 years of the central theme of Spider-Man of him being a loner and rabidly guarding his secret identity. I think this was a poor decision by Marvel. Marvel just wanted to do something huge with one of their big name characters and this lead to them having to force a square peg into a round hole in order to achieve it.
Overall: A good story plus great artwork always equals to a strong and entertaining comic book. I really enjoyed Civil War #2. I must give Marvel credit; I am having much more fun reading Civil War than I did reading Infinite Crisis. Civil War is definitely a title worth checking out.