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Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2006 7:23 pm Post subject: Marvel's Civil War (SPOILER ALERT)
Anyone else reading Marvel's Civil War? I think Marvel is finally getting its groove back after the misfire that was House of M. Here's my list of what makes this event great:
- Lots of plot twists - Spiderman revealed his identity publically, Thor returned from the dead (sorta), and the Fantastic Four has been split in half. And there's still 3 more issues.
- Simple, comprehensible plot - This isn't like Infinite Crisis, where you have to know 20 years of back history in order to figure out what the hell's going on. The conflict is centered around the passing of a new law requiring anyone with superpowers to register themselves with the government. Some superheroes are for it, but others are against it. Easy.
- NO X-MEN - Well, almost no X-men; Cable is currently on Captain America's team, and the X-men have made some brief appearences. Besides that, though, the book is blessedly mutant-free.
- Thought-provoking questions - While the plot of Civil War might be simple, the question at its heart is anything but. Should superheroes be accountable to the government? There are good arguments to be made for either position. On the one hand, registration brings in all sorts of possible problems - the possibility of being drafted for black ops work, the risk to loved ones, etc. On the other hand, registration means that superheroes who go rogue can be held accountable, and it inspires public trust.
Joined: May 25, 2002 Posts: 348 Location: Somewhere in Maryland
Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 8:57 am Post subject: Re: Marvel's Civil War (SPOILER ALERT)
Thus far I've liked it as well. I find myself REALLY looking forward to the next issue. I'm even picking up the "crossover" issues in other mags, too, which hasn't happened since Crisis.
- I was wondering who was going to play "red shirt" first, and lo and behold, Bill Foster gets capped. (I've never been enthusiastic about him because he's always been written as basically a black Hank Pym. Granted, I still bought Black Goliath when it came out. Yes, I AM old, thank you.)
- As much as I've enjoyed things, I have to admit that when they revealed Thor to be a clone, I almost threw the comic away. I mean, cloning a god? How do you clone a god's control of weather? What did they do, clone the hammer, too? (Did I not read enough of the plot to know that?)
- I think the split between Sue and Reed has been EXTREMELY well-done. None of her petulant "I'm leaving you because you're a big poopoo head" stuff, just very well-reasoned, well-stated arguments. (Ben's leaving the US is interesting as well. I'd have never thought he would be a "fark the entire lot of you" type.) Good stuff.
- I know it's a tough sell, but the writers really need to play up why anyone would want to support the registration act besides "I'm scared of confronting the government." I mean, one of the core concepts of superheroism is that these people do this stuff because they can shelve their personal fear to do what's right.
- I just know that eventually it will be revealed that someone is mind-controlling Stark. He's become the uber-dickhead in this entire saga, and he's the most easily-manipulated of all Marvel heroes.
- I think we are rapidly approaching the point when Stark (who is playing Batman in this saga and has apparently been collecting extensive information about every hero and villain in the Marvel universe) turns all that info over to the press and the government and "outs" every super in the world. My guess is this will happen around the third comic from the end.
- Thus far, my primary complaint has been how far behind schedule the series has fallen already. Endless production delays REALLY piss me off.
Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2006 10:36 pm Post subject: Re: Marvel's Civil War (SPOILER ALERT)
BillyBob wrote:
Thus far I've liked it as well. I find myself REALLY looking forward to the next issue. I'm even picking up the "crossover" issues in other mags, too, which hasn't happened since Crisis.
I recommend She-Hulk #7 and 8. In #7, She-Hulk goes to court to stop an anti-Warriors website from releasing the names of the surviving New Warriors, and in the hilarious #8, J. Jonah Jameson blows his top when Spiderman is revealed to be Peter Parker... and then he learns that his son has married She-Hulk!
Also good is the Young Avengers/Runaways crossover, in which the two teenaged super-teams team up in order to fend off a psychotic teen super-soldier from one of SHIELD's less friendly divisions.
Quote:
As much as I've enjoyed things, I have to admit that when they revealed Thor to be a clone, I almost threw the comic away. I mean, cloning a god? How do you clone a god's control of weather? What did they do, clone the hammer, too? (Did I not read enough of the plot to know that?)
Considering that Reed Richards has led his team to Heaven and Hell and back, and considering that Stark has Thena Eliot, an Eternal, on his staff, the question of cloning gods has probably been solved by now. As for the hammer, it appears to be a replica - there's a panel in issue 4 that shows technicians working on it.
- I think the split between Sue and Reed has been EXTREMELY well-done. None of her petulant "I'm leaving you because you're a big poopoo head" stuff, just very well-reasoned, well-stated arguments. (Ben's leaving the US is interesting as well. I'd have never thought he would be a "fark the entire lot of you" type.) Good stuff.
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I know it's a tough sell, but the writers really need to play up why anyone would want to support the registration act besides "I'm scared of confronting the government." I mean, one of the core concepts of superheroism is that these people do this stuff because they can shelve their personal fear to do what's right.
I think you're mistaken. Not many of the act's supporters are motivated by fear of the government. Reed Richards, for example, is supporting the act because it's an opportunity to try out new frontiers in science. Hank Pym supports it because his own troubled career has convinced him that heroes need to be held accountable for their mistakes (similar motives drive Ms. Marvel. Deadpool and the Heroes for Hire joined up to make some money rounding up those who refuse to get registered. The Great Lakes Champions joined in hopes of boosting their reputation in the superhero community. Bishop joined the effort in order to prove that there are mutants who are willing to police their own. And Peter Parker, despite his long-held reservations about revealing his identity, joined to show the world that he's not the menace that folks like J. Jonah Jameson has made him out to be.
As for the latest converts, it might seem like Cable, Stature, and Nighthawk are afraid of fighting the government, but there are other factors behind their decisions. When Stature says she doesn't want to fight superheroes and cops, she doesn't mean that she's afraid of them. Keep in mind that, like her father, she came by her powers illegally when she stole Pym particles. While she initially joined Cap's forces out of disgust at the excessive force employed by SHIELD against young heroes, at the end of the day, she wants to prove that she's responsible and willing to respect the law. For Cable, it's just logic - he can't do squat against Thor, especially since all the cybernetics in his body make him vulnerable to electricity. Plus, I can't imagine he likes taking orders from Cap. And for Nighthawk, it's a matter of self-interest - he never had all that much to lose from the Registration Act in the first place, and he's gained nothing in following Cap.
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I just know that eventually it will be revealed that someone is mind-controlling Stark. He's become the uber-dickhead in this entire saga, and he's the most easily-manipulated of all Marvel heroes. - I think we are rapidly approaching the point when Stark (who is playing Batman in this saga and has apparently been collecting extensive information about every hero and villain in the Marvel universe) turns all that info over to the press and the government and "outs" every super in the world. My guess is this will happen around the third comic from the end.
I doubt Tony Stark is under mind control. It's more the case that he's a businessman in the superhero industry, and the Stamford incident, coupled with other big disasters (like the Hulk's rampage in Vegas) is hurting the industry, and self-regulation seems to be the best way to stop the government from taking serious measures to curb superhero-related problems. It's like how the Videogame industry adopted the ESRB system in order to keep Congress off its ass after . I can imagine that in Tony's mind, the Registration Act would make the superheroes much safer by restoring public trust and thus limiting the kind of resentment that breeds supervillains.
I don't think he's going to "out" all the superheroes either. Keep in mind, the Registration Act only requires superheroes (and villains) to reveal their identities to SHIELD. Publically outing every super in the world would not accomplish anything besides turning all the other heroes against him and completely eroding the public's trust (because you can bet people will freak out and get angry when they find out just how many aliens, robots, and other humanoids are living among them.)
Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 7:46 am Post subject: Re: Marvel's Civil War (SPOILER ALERT)
Kind of short on time but I have liked it pretty well myself. I am anooyed by the delays though and they seem to have fallen from the "cohesive universe" thing because of it but it has worked pretty well so far.
Only thing I have against the series thus far (other than the delays): The Return of Captain Marvel... as the warden of the Negative Zone prison???? C'mon...
Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 3:17 pm Post subject: Re: Marvel's Civil War (SPOILER ALERT)
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best rating I give Civil War a big fat "MEH!"
Oh, and please do not get me started on the very lamest of the lame Civil War: The Return.
Granted there were those "fanboy/man" moments, but it would have been so much better if JoeyQ and Marvel Editorial had stuck with the original publishing plan and taken the time to do this right, rather than the obvious attempt to steal some of DC's thunder. (Yeah, yeah Marvel has the sales, but buying crap is still buying crap).
I was a Marvel Zombie, and I do love my Marvel Comics characters, but for sometime DC has been telling the better stories. Civil War would have been better coming out later and better coordinated.
Not that I'm hating on Marvel. Planet Hulk and the Annihilation series are/were awesome.
See....if Marvel had waited until the Hulk got back from exile and then the Stamford incident took place, the need for the SHRA would really make some sense and the Pro-Side would not have been portrayed so lopsidedly "bad".
However Marvel Editorial did not want the Hulk to be present so.....(like after what was done to him Bruce/Hulk would have taken anyside or trusted anyone.)
Sigh...I have to take over Marvel Comics!
Anybody want to help??
Joined: May 25, 2002 Posts: 348 Location: Somewhere in Maryland
Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2007 8:46 am Post subject:
I have gone back and forth on it. I have liked much of what they've done, but some things have been obviously forced crap, like Captain Marvel's return. (Oh, and don't get me started about Speedball's transromation into a character from an S & M story.) In fact, the latest issue of Fantastic Four actually had something really intriguing about why the entire Civil War is happening, which made it a lot better of a storyline. Sadly, it's also coming out at the very end of the line.
I guess I really wanted to see some kind of resolution to the storyline, but what we'll get is a contrived "we'll keep registration but it'll be voluntary" situation so neither side "wins."
But in my opinion, Marvel is still doing a better job with their line than DC is doing with 52. They've started so many different storylines with so many different characters, all in the hopes that someone will "stick" that the series has lost direction at times. Maybe now it'll be more focused because it's in the home stretch. Who knows?
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