Comic Book Review: Civil War #5

We shift to Spider-Man running through the sewers. Suddenly, Spider-Man is attacked by the Jester and Jack O’ Lantern. They two villains say that they may not love working for S.H.I.E.L.D., but they do love the chance to get to beat up on Spider-Man. Jester and Jack O’ Lantern lay a serious beatdown on Spider-Man. But, before they can take Spider-Man into custody, we see bullet blast open Jack O’Lantern’s head. We then see another bullet blast apart the Jester’s head. The Punisher is on the scene to rescue Spider-Man.

We shift to Invisible Woman and Human Torch in their new disguises given to them by Nick Fury. Unfortunately, they have to pose as husband and wife. (Gross.) We see them enter Captain America’s new H.Q. The Anti-Registration heroes are all meeting. They are discussing how Cloak and Dagger got caught by the Pro-Registration side. Captain America is angry that for every person they gain, they lose one to the capekillers. Suddenly, Punisher walks into the room and demands medical attention for a badly beaten Spider-Man.

Spider-Man is taken to the Infirmary. Meanwhile, the Falcon asks Punisher which side he is on. The Punisher responds that now the Pro-Registration side is enlisting the aid of known thieves and killers, he is now on the Anti-Registration side. The various members of Captain America’s team do not want Punisher with them. They don’t want to be so far gone that they are signing up with people like the Punisher. Captain America tells everyone to be quiet while he thinks about letting the Punisher join them or not. We then see Tigra hiding in the shadows while calling someone on her cell phone.

We cut to a squad of capekillers placing Daredevil into custody. Reed Richards and She-Hulk are on the scene. Reed mentions how the public is behind the Pro-Registration side and so is the U.S. government. That crime is at an all time low. That the only people causing problems are other super heroes in the Anti-Registration side. Reed laments that he wishes he never go involved. That he is sick that they are using the criminal lunatics in the Thunderbolts. That Hank Pym is doped up on anti-depressants. She-Hulk responds that public opinion would have forced S.H.I.E.L.D. to bring down every single super hero in America. That the public was sick of 16 year old kids blowing up buildings. That Reed and Tony Stark gave everyone a future.

We shift to Tony Stark accompanying Daredevil to the Negative Zone prison. Tony tells Daredevil that he hates hunting down his friends, but there was no other option. That the U.S. government was going to institute a complete ban on all super heroes and this Registration Act was the only other option.

Tony tells Daredevil of their plans for fifty super teams spread over all fifty states. Each one license and accountable to the taxpayer. It is the next stage of superhuman evolution: a Federal force from coast to coast. Tony asks Daredevil to join him and to lead one of these fifty teams. One of the guards then pulls out a silver dollar from Daredevil’s mouth and gives it to Tony. Daredevil comments that Tony now has thirty-one pieces of silver. Daredevil then says “Sleep well, Judas.”

Comments
The Good: Damn, Civil War #5 was an excellent read. Millar impresses me with the quality of his story on this title. The pacing is just right as Millar keeps the story humming along. We get to see Spider-Man officially switch sides, we see the new Thunderbolts in action for the first time, we finally see the Punisher make his presence known in this storyline and we get the Pro-Registration side fleshed out a bit more than before. Millar does a brilliant job delivering well crafted drama and dialogue along with some kick-ass action. This has always been Millar’s strength and he certainly didn’t disappoint with this issue.

Millar serves up some fine dialogue. Each character is nicely developed and has their own unique voice. The chemistry between the characters is impressive. Millar is also able to create an emotional story. The reader can feel the pain and conflict raging inside Tony Stark and Reed Richards. The reader can fell the desperation of Captain America. This all makes this issue an even more enjoyable read.

What impressed me the most is how Millar portrayed the Pro-Registration side in Civil War #5. I know it took a long time, but finally, the Pro-Registration side is painted as something other than a bunch of mindless Nazis. Millar portrays Reed and Tony as very sympathetic characters and actually is able to get the reader to understand exactly why Reed and Tony are doing what they are doing.

Reed shows his sadness with the entire situation. Plus, Reed makes excellent points that the Government supports them and more importantly the American public supports the Pro-Registration side and that crime is at an all time low. And that the only people causing trouble are the super heroes in the Anti-Registration side who are supposedly heroes that protect the general public from danger. Reed’s desire to not have to deal with all of this and to have his friends and family back humanizes Reed and makes him appear much more sympathetic than other writers like Bendis and JMS have portrayed him.

Millar also does an incredible job with Tony Stark in this issue. Again, Millar is able to humanize Tony and make the reader understand and sympathize with Tony’s situation. Tony was faced with two choices. One, a total ban on all super heroes with S.H.I.E.L.D hunting all of them down. Or two, the Registration Act. It makes complete sense that Tony would choose the Registration Act.

The idea of costumed super powered vigilantes running amok in American cities causing massive amounts of collateral damage with absolutely no accountability is insane. To think that would be allowed in the real world is totally unrealistic. The idea of training super heroes and making them accountable to the taxpayers makes sense. Suddenly, Tony’s position made way more sense than it has ever been written before.

Millar also managed to make Spider-Man look like the unhinged irrational person and Tony the calm rational individual in their scene together. Iron Man wanted to talk, while Spider-Man wanted to fight. Iron Man tried to conduct a rational conversation while Spider-Man descended into an irrational rant. This scene was certainly radically different than how JMS has been handling these characters over on Amazing Spider Man.

And on the flip side, Millar makes the Anti-Registration side look a bit more like a bunch of egotistical, fanatical extremists who care more about themselves and their privileged position as uncontrolled and unfettered costumed vigilantes rather than what is for the best for the non super powered masses who remain at the mercy of costumed heroes when they battle costumed villains.

Captain America looks like a zealot who is losing touch with reality and is more concerned with the fight rather than the reason behind the fighting. Adding the Punisher to the Anti-Registration act forces several of the heroes on the Anti-Registration side to question if they have crossed way over the line and become nothing more than reckless extremists who believe in the mantra of “By any means necessary.”

Add to that the way Daredevil is portrayed at the end of the story. To me, Daredevil comes across as a total zealot. After Tony finishes his logical plan for a trained and accountable network of super heroes across the country, Daredevil reacts with pure blind passion and ego. Daredevil calls Tony a Judas. Tony crossed the line.

Daredevil and the rest of the Anti-Registration side view themselves as a modern day aristocracy. A privileged class who are superior to use average humans. A group of super powered royalty who believe they have the unfettered right to do whatever they so desire as long as it is in the name of “helping” the general public no matter the collateral damage that they may cause in the process.

For the first time, I actually saw the Anti-Registration side as a bunch of unhinged and egotistical zealots who clearly place them on a higher level than ordinary humans. I was stunned that Millar would take this route, but very pleased since it immediately made this story much more interesting and complex. The Pro-Registration side came off looking much more reasonable and sane than the Anti-Registration side in this issue.

I loved the injection of both the evil Thunderbolts and the Punisher in this storyline. Watching the Punisher put bullets through the heads of Jack O’ Lantern and The Jester was sick! Millar certainly made the Punisher a serious bad-ass. That was a very fitting intro for a character like the Punisher.

McNiven’s artwork is fantastic. I love his style and he creates a wonderfully rich and textured look. He draws great facial expressions which convey plenty of emotion in each character.

The Bad: I have no complaints with the writing or artwork on Civil War #5. But, what I do have a problem with is the alarming lack of internal consistency in the Civil War storyline. I don’t know if that is due to the Editors doing a terrible job or if there are too many cooks in the kitchen and each writer wants to push their own agenda rather than delivering a cohesive storyline.

In this issue, Millar clearly has Spider-Man as the aggressor in the scene with Iron Man. Iron Man doesn’t want to fight and only wants to talk. Spider-Man is ready to brawl. This is totally opposite of what JMS gave us in Amazing Spider-Man #535 where it was a cold and threatening Iron Man who aggressively smashed through a bunch of walls in order to crash into Spider-Man. JMS has Iron Man as the aggressor and looking to lay a beatdown on Spider-Man.

Another major difference is concerning the Negative Zone facility. Millar has Tony Stark tell Spider-Man that the Negative Zone facility is merely a temporary measure. However, JMS over in Amazing Spider-Man #535 has a startlingly menacing Tony Stark threaten Peter with the fact that heroes who don’t support the Act will be locked up in the Negative Zone facility forever.

So, which is it Marvel? These Civil War #5 and Amazing Spider-Man #535 clearly contradict each other. That is inexcusable. This is either poor work on part of the editors, or JMS clearly has one agenda that doesn’t coincide with the story that Millar is trying to tell.

Overall: Civil War #5 was a great read. Strong writing combined with impressive artwork always makes for a satisfying comic book. Millar impresses me with his effort to try and make Civil War a more complex and engaging story than what other writers like Bendis and JMS have given us in the various tie-in issues. Maybe there is some slight hope for this Civil War storyline after all.