Civil War
by Mark Millar
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Book Summary Information
Author: Mark MillarBrand: Marvel
Illustrator: Steve McNiven
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-04-11
ISBN: 078512179X
Number of pages: 208
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Book Reviews of Civil War
Book Review: I'm really not understanding all the vitriol about this series.
Summary: 5 Stars
CIVIL WAR is a fantastic concept that was executed brilliantly by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven. The idea that an entire community could be torn in two by a single event is not new and has quite the historical precedent. I don't believe, as many do, that the series' intent was to form some kind of political commentary on current events. I believe that The Stamford Incident and the SHRA and the prison in the Negative Zone are not meant to be paralleled to anything that has arisen out of the recent political agendas. That some people are drawing the parallels are, I suppose in a way, was inevitable. I mean when you have hyperbole like CRISIS, you don't automatically think of the Cuban Missile Crisis, do you?
There are two schools of thought here as far as the critics of this book: Those who believe it to be political commentary (and they hate it) and those who believe it to be a very high-intensity tale of friends who become foes as well as the belief sometimes that "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" (and they like it).
Tony Stark and the big brains like Reed Richards and Hank Pym are futurists and believe the Superhuman Registration Act (requiring all superhumans to register their identities, powers and obligations to the U.S. Government) to be the natural evolution of the superhuman community. Stark also believes personally that if unchecked, the superhuman community would be headed toward a more potentially catastrophic confrontation between superhumans and the government. Peter Parker looks to Tony Stark as a mentor and essentially offers himself as their poster boy/sacrificial lamb by publicly unmasking himself in support of the SHRA.
Steve Rogers is an idealist, while also being a realist. He believes first and foremost that a masked HERO who retains his anonymity out of the sake of their family or friends that may be subject to objectionable reprisals should be allowed to keep that. These are men and women who have risked their lives for years in many cases not for money or glory, but for justice (this was obviously NOT the case with the more current members of The New Warriors) and they do it out of having a sense of what justice should be as opposed to carrying it out for a local, state or federal agency. But also Rogers is a realist. He has seen what previous government administrations have done with super-powered individuals and how even he himself has been used in a negative way for political gain. So he fights registration, as most of the more "street-bound" crimefighters do, like Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and many many others.
At times, the characters do things that are out of character... the most glaring (and rage-inducing) example of this being Spider-Man in issue 3 happily kicking Captain America in the face, and then later, after he's switched to the anti-reg side, he happily kicks Mr. Fantastic in the face. That really upset me how Millar seemed to treat the character of Spider-Man during such a confrontation, basically saying that Spidey is blase' whether he's fighting villains or his former friends. However, Spider-Man is the average joe of the Marvel Universe, and he is otherwise represented very well as he essentially feels what we feel. We see the sense in registration. It has merit. But we also see the longer-term effects, and how, after an event like Stamford, this kind of large-scale confrontation would be inescapable. And also, to what lengths would we go to make our point?
But CIVIL WAR, if nothing else, definitely keeps the reader in tightrope-walking suspense and many moments in the story have a major "Holy S--t!" factor (e.g. the severe beating of Johnny Storm, the appearance of Thor, the newest incarnation of the Thunderbolts, the savior of Spider-Man, and the ultimate outcome) and it, unlike most other multi-character crossovers, really DOES affect the future of the Marvel Universe. I applaud Marvel, Millar, McNiven and all the contributing peripheral authors like Brian Michael Bendis, Paul Jenkins, and Ed Brubaker that ultimately made this seven-issue series much more than it is. One day, hopefully, there will be an ABSOLUTE-style edition of CIVIL WAR that would, ideally, contain all of the other one-shots and mini-series that sprung from CIVIL WAR.
Summary of Civil War
The landscape of the Marvel Universe is changing, and it's time to choose: Whose side are you on? A conflict has been brewing from more than a year, threatening to pit friend against friend, brother against brother - and all it will take is a single misstep to cost thousands their lives and ignite the fuse! As the war claims its first victims, no one is safe as teams, friendships and families begin to fall apart. The crossover that rewrites the rules, Civil War stars Spider-Man, the New Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and the entirety of the Marvel pantheon! Collects Civil War #1-7, plus extras.Superheroes Books
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