Let's rewind time to last Free Comic Book day. Marvel released issue zero of an upcoming crossover event calle Civil War II. This was an event that had garnished a LOT of flack as it conveniently was coming out around the release of the film adaptation of Mark Millar's iconic arc in Captain America III: Civil War, so this was Marvel's attempt to quell some of the flames of people. What we got was INCREDIBLE. It had some excellent dialogue, some brilliant foreshadowing of a conflict that revolved on persecution of pre crime, and it got everyone revving their engines to go. Well with Civil War main arch wrapping up here this past month, it is sad to say that as an arc it felt very similar to being a girl at prom. It started off as this really cool thing, that was really fun and cool, but as the night went on it became more and more of a mess, and by the end when it got us back to his place, it ended so abruptly that the rest was awkward conversation and a feeling of slight regret on our part as readers.
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| so much promise... so much disappointment |
The first issue of Civil War II does an AMAZING job laying the framework of what could have been an awesome arc. The whole point of Civil War II is that the Inhumans have found a new inhuman who has the ability to see the future. This inhuman experiences visions and the Inhumans provide the intel of these visions to SHIELD where they outsource the information to super hero teams to stop crime before it happens. Captain Marvel, whose alpha flight initiative was all about trying to prevent things from happening rather than being a reactionary force, was excited about the prospect of this. However, Tony Stark (being a futurist) could not see how going after someone prior to a crime being committed could be acceptable as the future is an uncertainty that no one can quantify to 100 percent (yes this is pretty much Minority report with as cape on it). Though it may not be the most original story, the first issue ended with a huge BANG as the Avengers and Ultimates go to accost Thanos, whom the inhuman has had a vision of, and during the battle She Hulk is put into a coma, and best friend of Tony Stark and current romantic Interest of Captain Marvel, James Rhodes, is killed by the Mad Titan. Unfortunately this is as exciting as things get in Civil War II.
Throughout the rest of the series the comic really tries to match the weight of that first issue, but each time they do it hits with less impact. The closest that the book comes to matching that finale was the death of Bruce Banner in issue 4, but even then it is done and over with so quickly that it honestly is not the end you would expect for an original core Avenger. What made it even worse was the fact that for a title called Civil War II there were NO real fights to speak of. Every time you had double page long panels with heroes lined up to fight one another, before a punch was thrown the fight was either brought to a halt for some expository dialogue or another vision from the Inhuman screamed "DEUS EX MACHINA" and suddenly it was time to go back to plotting how to prevent the event or stop Carol Danvers' pre crime witch hunting. Even the last fight of the book between Tony and Carol is cheapened by having other heroes show up to essentially be panel filler and just look cool when they are supposed to be stopping that fight from getting out of hand.
Eventually you even start to see pivotal players of the Marvel universe just up and leave (a decision I had considered more than once, but when you've invested time in 4 issues out of an 8 issue arc you might as well dredge it out) namely Peter Parker Spider Man (which is really infuriating considering that Miles goes through some really bad stuff and could've really used some Spider mentoring toward the end). However, what really irks me about this arc, is that the writing can be really good, and keeps you thinking that maybe something cool will happen if you just give it another chance (similar to that aforementioned prom date). There were just enough incredible moments in the main story that made you be like, well I guess I got to read the next issue. It also probably gave us one of the best Steve Rogers moments we have had since the Hail Hydra fiasco, with him talking to a VERY shaken Miles Morales who had just experienced vision of standing over a dead first Avenger by his own hand and consoling him.
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| quite possibly the best and saddest moment of Civil War II (because you forget that Cap is currently a dick and then have to remember that all over again) |
It would be one thing had this arc been done by someone who had never handled a big crossover event, or someone who was relatively new to the comic game, however Marvel is not dumb and they would NEVER do that at this point in the game. So who is responsible for this travesty? Brian Michael Bendis. What is so disappointing about this is the fact that Bendis is one of the BEST writers in the comic book world. The guy's work on Ultimate Spider Man is legendary, his death of Peter Parker arc brought me personally to tears, and his creation of Miles Morales was handled masterfully. That's not to mention a flawless run on Daredevil, and much more. While in recent years his work has been called to question (namely in his work on Guardians of the Galaxy), I was still expecting MUCH more from Bendis, especially since the last few issues focus so heavily on Miles Morales, his own creation. Not to mention Bendis extended the series forcing the series to go past it's initial final date, which caused a problem as two titles that were released prior to Civil War II's ending contain spoilers for the ENTIRE arc.
All this aside, Civil War wasn't a total bust. The spin off stories that I read were all great. The Fallen and The Accused mini stories about the will and testament of Bruce Banner, and the trial of Hawkeye for killing Bruce were awesome One shots. Captain America: Sam Wilson gave us a beautiful and tear jerking moment where Sam Wilson delivers an amazing eulogy for James Rhodes at his funeral; Captain America: Steve Rogers showed just our Hydra Cap is manipulating the war to keep eyes off of his coups attempt he is planning against Red Skull.There are some pretty damn well written moments in the main arc itself, as I mentioned earlier, and finally the titles that have been coming as a part of the aftermath: Infamous Iron Man, Champions, Occupy Avengers, and Hulk are pretty damn fantastic so far. Ultimately the problem is that with a title name like Civil War II this arc had a huge legacy to live up to, and by the finale of the arc this felt less like a Civil War and more like parents fighting for custody rights during a very messy divorce. Hopefully with the mixed and poor reception of this Bendis will step back and focus on his solo books (Infamous Iron man is amazing on that note, definitely worth the pick up).
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| brilliant Cover art for the issue where Sam Eulogizes Rhodey |
Next up on Comic Relief we have some more Marvel and I think that it's going to handle something that will probably spur some controversy.
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