Uncivil War
Now that I've read Civil War: The Confession, I've finally completed all the Civil War tie ins...a good 2 months late... Plus I read Captain America #25. There will be spoilers for all that down below, but my new Simpsons icon based on the Poochie episode sort of sums up my feeling on things.
The premise of Marvel Civil War was an interesting one. After reckless heroes caused an explosion in Stamford, SHIELD forced all superheroes to register their identities with them and work for their services. In other words, a 9-11/Patriot Act allegory. Iron Man, who always looks towards the future and, along with his think tank of Hank Pym and Mr. Fantastic, came up with several ideas to make the world safe. He lead the side of pro-registration. Opposing him was Captain America, who refused to hunt down his friends and allies.
On the surface, it sounds good, but the follow up wasn't great. Mark Millar doesn't seem to like superheroes that much, and in the main mini, there was a lot of acting out of character. Some of the tie-ins were a bit better, particularly Frontline. I liked Frontline, but I didn't like that it not only got more issues than the Civil War mini, but it actually had more pages. Amazing Spider-Man got the most coverage, and it was a good story, even if Spider-Man revealing his identity to the world isn't a good idea for the long run. Straczynski re-used his ASM plots into Fantastic Four, which was a shame since those were his last issues until McDuffie came in.
Considering I didn't like how most of the characters were acting, the conclusion was good. Captain America was the bigger man by stepping down (although it was obvious the pro-side would win considering the future solicits I read for Thunderbolts, among other things). Cap doesn't see it to a trial since over in his own book, he was assassinated before he reached the court house. Not as big a deal as it seems (I had it ruined for me, but it's kind of hard to avoid a spoiler like that). Ed Brubaker already said he had this and 2 years worth of stories planned, so it's not like Civil War made him do it. This is only the beginning.
The new stage of Marvel is set. I don't like the idea of every hero being either a SHIELD agent or an outlaw. She-Hulk's book in particular suffers because she's away from her supporting cast in the law firm. And with other books of unregistered heroes, like Daredevil, Spider-Man, New Avengers, and Runaways, it's pretty hard to accept they'd be able to escape Stark's watchful eye. The excuse in Daredevil of the police not turning him in was pretty weak. At least it'll be a plot point in New Avengers (who have Dr. Strange to help them hide out). I liked Bendis' Confession, he did justice to both Iron Man and Captain America, but I'm not going to read his Mighty Avengers because he doesn't have a good grasp on the Earth's Mightiest Heroes concept. I'm sticking with New Avengers, though, he writes those characters well. Over in Fantastic Four, Reed and Sue have taken a break from the team and asked Black Panther and Storm to fill in for them. So far, so good. T'Challa is a friend of the FF's, and they went into space to follow up a plot McDuffie started over in Beyond!, so even though the cast changed, the spirit of the Fantastic Four is still very much alive.
More thoughts as I get further into the Initiative stuff.
The premise of Marvel Civil War was an interesting one. After reckless heroes caused an explosion in Stamford, SHIELD forced all superheroes to register their identities with them and work for their services. In other words, a 9-11/Patriot Act allegory. Iron Man, who always looks towards the future and, along with his think tank of Hank Pym and Mr. Fantastic, came up with several ideas to make the world safe. He lead the side of pro-registration. Opposing him was Captain America, who refused to hunt down his friends and allies.
On the surface, it sounds good, but the follow up wasn't great. Mark Millar doesn't seem to like superheroes that much, and in the main mini, there was a lot of acting out of character. Some of the tie-ins were a bit better, particularly Frontline. I liked Frontline, but I didn't like that it not only got more issues than the Civil War mini, but it actually had more pages. Amazing Spider-Man got the most coverage, and it was a good story, even if Spider-Man revealing his identity to the world isn't a good idea for the long run. Straczynski re-used his ASM plots into Fantastic Four, which was a shame since those were his last issues until McDuffie came in.
Considering I didn't like how most of the characters were acting, the conclusion was good. Captain America was the bigger man by stepping down (although it was obvious the pro-side would win considering the future solicits I read for Thunderbolts, among other things). Cap doesn't see it to a trial since over in his own book, he was assassinated before he reached the court house. Not as big a deal as it seems (I had it ruined for me, but it's kind of hard to avoid a spoiler like that). Ed Brubaker already said he had this and 2 years worth of stories planned, so it's not like Civil War made him do it. This is only the beginning.
The new stage of Marvel is set. I don't like the idea of every hero being either a SHIELD agent or an outlaw. She-Hulk's book in particular suffers because she's away from her supporting cast in the law firm. And with other books of unregistered heroes, like Daredevil, Spider-Man, New Avengers, and Runaways, it's pretty hard to accept they'd be able to escape Stark's watchful eye. The excuse in Daredevil of the police not turning him in was pretty weak. At least it'll be a plot point in New Avengers (who have Dr. Strange to help them hide out). I liked Bendis' Confession, he did justice to both Iron Man and Captain America, but I'm not going to read his Mighty Avengers because he doesn't have a good grasp on the Earth's Mightiest Heroes concept. I'm sticking with New Avengers, though, he writes those characters well. Over in Fantastic Four, Reed and Sue have taken a break from the team and asked Black Panther and Storm to fill in for them. So far, so good. T'Challa is a friend of the FF's, and they went into space to follow up a plot McDuffie started over in Beyond!, so even though the cast changed, the spirit of the Fantastic Four is still very much alive.
More thoughts as I get further into the Initiative stuff.