Thursday, September 21, 2006

Civil War: The Bigger Picture

If you have not read Civil War #4 yet, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER. I have been waiting just as patiently as everyone else for this, especially after the way #3 ended. How cool was it to see Iron Man beating the hell out of Captain America? And the scene in the restaurant with the secret identities was cool too. When I first read #4 however, I was unhappy with what I was seeing.

I mean, that's not really Thor? The big death was Goliath? I felt let down by Marvel after waiting for a month.

But when I re-read it, I realized a few things. First off, this was no where near what I had been expecting after the end of last issue and with subsequent issues of FF and Spider-Man that took place after CW#3. Sure, it set up things like Spidey swapping sides and the FF splitting, and even had me thinking that Falcon was the one who bit the dust. But everything gets better with age. I like that it is not Thor. It gives Tony's faction something of a villainous side. Since when do heroes clone other heroes to fight other heroes? The last page also adds to this (btw, I know I saw Songbird, Taskmaster, Bullseye, Lady Deathstrike, Jack O'Lantern, and the new Venom, but who was the other dude in the back?). It would of course make sense if Marvel had the Pro-Reg heroes being controlled by a powerful villain, but that is the easy way out (and something that I may not forget for a while, so Marvel, if you are reading this, you better not dissapoint). This issue really showed us as the audience as well as the characters in the book what was at stake: This really is WAR, and Marvel is making a stand. The new Thor saw it that way, as did Cap, who was a bloody, pissed off mess the whole book. It costed Goliath his life because of his point of view. I think this issue really hit home when Sue Storm and Torch split the FF though. It was something that could have been predicted, just as the unmasking of Spidey was, at least for me. And the single coolest part of this issue? When Falcon picked up Cap and started flying away, he says 'Fall back and regroup! We've got to get out of here or we're all going down!' And what does the faux Thor say? 'You ARE all going down'. I had to crack a smile with that one.

Marvel seems to know what they are doing with this, as the post CW world is shaping up to be something completely different, but also something completely new and exciting. So far, they have revealed Spider-Man's identity (which we know will somehow be revoked, probably because they are setting him up as the 'traitor' to Iron Man, but damn it was a jawdropper anyway), killed an entire team in the first issue, and seemingly tore apart the Fantastic Four as we know it (another moment that will eventually be revoked, but I have been waiting for something different in FF for a long time, I just hope they can do something astounding like they did with the Avengers). I am really into this event. Usually, most endings and big shockers are easy to guess in this day and age because it seems that everything has been done before, but Marvel has managed to snag me, and I am on board. You all may say DC rules the world, but I am still screaming 'Make Mine Marvel'!

5 comments:

invisiblist said...

At first I was disappointed in the issue also. We've kinda been trained thus far to expect an adrenaline rush and to wait for the OH SHIT moment when we pick up CW.

But like I've said elsewhere, it's the end of act 2 here, I believe. It's not gonna be balls-to-the-wall right here, people. It's gonna be a low point.

But seriously, I'm failing to understand the people that are saying that CW is starting to suck after ONE issue. ESPECIALLY DC fans.

Really, DC fans? WORD? You motherfuckers picked up how many issues of that new Flash now? Yall hung in through two crises that the majority of you admit were lackluster? (I personally like Identity, but I read it in hardback. I bet it did suck in monthlies.)

But yeah, anyone after one delay and a less-than-Wachowski issue that's saying that they're considering dropping is either a liar, a drama queen, or just a little hasty.

Kenny said...

You know, there were a few weak aspects to Civil War #4, but nothing worth jumping ship over.

I think the backlash has a lot to do with the recent uproar to CW shipping delays. People were just clenching their teeth WAITING to hate.

Scene -- said...

yeah, it really wasn't that bad. i didn't really like that iron man and richards are them are coming off as straight villains...i know someone somewhere promised us that both sides would be represented fairly and equally...but at the end of the day i can't be salty at that. i mean, the story had to go *somewhere* at somepoint.

Melanism said...

The only thing that has been bothering me lately about the Civil War is if Reed and Tony had put as much effort into capturing and imprisioning villains as they have their fellow heroes then Stamford might not have have happened either.

ctoole said...

I know some of you promised not to pick up the side stories, but you should check out Wolverine's CW run. They've already revealed someone or some organization that stands to gain from hero registration, not to mention another player who may show up on the CW chessboard.

I've kinda picked the anti-reg side, but I would hate for Spidey to switch sides, but that's what everyone seems to be expecting. I was hoping that Cable wasn't going over to Tony's side either. I'm not crazy about flipflopping, although I'm happy to see Sue and Johnny's decision. I imagine now we will see the anti-reg people do something as heinous now to balance things out.