Marvel Civil War, No Bang, No Whimper. "Can't we all just get along?"

Civil War #7, the final chapter of the Marvel Comic series, hit the shelves this week. Has it lived up to the hype? Was it worth the delays? Let’s review the whole series from the start.

The Story So Far

The first issue of Civil War set a perfect stage. It starts with the New Warriors filming the latest episode of their “reality” television show. For the ratings, they decide to capture a band of villains on the FBI’s Most Wanted List. Microbe is ignored when he points out that these guys are, “…way out of our league.” Chaos ensues and concludes with Nitro blowing himself up. Unfortunate for the New Warriors (and kiddies on a bus) the explosion destroys a large chunk of Stamford Connecticut and is telecast live on TV.

This event leads the US government to pass the Superhuman Registration Act. No longer would the government allow those with super powers run around unbridled. This forces the heroes of the Marvel Universe to quickly take sides. Those in favor of the act line up behind Iron Man. The heroes concerned with maintaining their freedom are forced underground and form up behind Captain America.

The second issue kept the surprises coming. In the last few pages, Spider-Man takes his mask off and reveals to the world that he was Peter Parker. Wow! Who the hell saw this coming? Of all the super heroes in the Marvel Universe, Spider-Man needs his secret identity. He has the most to lose. His family is not made up of other superheroes and he can’t protect them with his money. They (and he) are totally vulnerable.

Tony Stark convinces Peter that it is his only choice. By not complying, he makes Mary Jane and Aunt May coconspirators. Tony would help him protect his family. Besides they lived in Stark Tower now.

The third installment was one hell of a fight. It ended with one of the best final pages in history. The God of Thunder, Thor, appears after a long absence and is ready to kick some major ass. It was spectacular. The buzz was ecstatic!

The first few issues of Civil War provided a much needed shot in the arm for the sickly comic industry. Tons of magazines, newspapers and television shows ran stories on the event. New readers were daily walking into comic book stores for the first time. Not even the recent deluge of comic movies was able to do that. Even more surprisingly, many of the disgruntled comic fans of the 1990s were returning.

The issues Civil War raised could not have been timelier. The parallels between the Marvel Universe and our own were easy to identify. The Patriot Act, the torturing of war criminals, the definitions of terrorists and freedom fighters, were all reflected. And as it is in real life, there were no villains in black and heroes in white. The Marvel super heroes, like us, were living in the shades of gray.

Then the delays started. Blamed on a hundred different things, Marvel pushed back the release dates for the remaining issues. Fans and store owners alike were outraged. But it didn’t slow sales. As usual, many quickly said it was all a sales ploy. However, it seemed the delays were to accommodate Steve McNiven. His tremendous art was taking longer than anticipated.

Issue four hit the shelves with mixed emotions. The art was stellar (as usual), but the story seemed rushed. It could all be summed up as one big fight that climaxed with the clone of Thor killing Goliath. Surprise, controversy erupted. Some accused Marvel as being racist and others said Marvel was playing it safe by killing a useless character. (Read my blog about it)

Issues five and six also seemed rushed, and like issue three nothing significant happened. They were mostly summaries of what was occurring in the regular titles. Reed and Sue Richards separated, Spider-Man realized he was wrong and turned on Stark, and the Thunderbolts new roster were a band of “controlled” super villains. Fans gave it a pass. It’s okay. We all understood that Marvel was building up momentum for the epic final battle in issue seven. Feel the anticipation.

The Story Now

A few days ago I got my hands on a copy of Civil War #7. I read it immediately. It was impressive from the very beginning. Captain America smashed Bishop’s head in the ground after yelling, “AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!” Ha, Ha! Awesome! Turn the page…

Then it was over. It was over and nothing happened! All the build up! All the controversy! The months of delayed gratification! For this!? It not only didn’t end with a bang, it didn’t end with a whimper. It barely ended with a fizzle.

In a nutshell, Captain America quit. Some random civilian causes Cap to realize all the destruction their Civil War had caused. So he quits. He says, “We’re not fighting for the people anymore…” pulls off his mask and allows himself to get arrested. WTF?

He can’t do that. That is not the way Cap goes down. Good or bad, that’s not the American way. Keep in mind; Cap is not just responsible for himself, he is responsible for the lives of all the heroes who have given up their lives to follow him. Damn, Peter Parker alone goes from the proverbial frying pan to the fire and then flops out into hell.

What if Captain America had this attitude during World War II? What if after we stormed Normandy or we saw the destruction in Europe he decided to just quit? Hey, Hitler might be evil incarnate, but think of the real estate. I know a lot of you think I am blowing this out of proportion, but I’m not. What about personal freedoms? What about standing up for what’s right? Are the rights of the many worth more than the rights of the few? Is peace our goal regardless of the cost?

Possibly Mark Millar is trying to comment on the current fiasco in Iraq? I hope not. It really doesn’t work as a solution. I am more inclined to believe that he was forced to bring the whole thing to a quick resolution. But that sucks as an answer as well.

To me, the best part of Civil War has been the tie-ins. Amazing Spider-Man, Avengers, Fantastic Four, and Black Panther to name a few, have been great. I can’t imagine trying to read Civil War without reading all the other stories. In fact, reading them all made the whole series a lot better.

What do you guys think? Am I way off?

Do you think they are going to kill Aunt May? The new issue of Amazing seems like they might. I believe Civil War should have ended with the death of Mary Jane. What a perfect way to show that heroes need their secret identities.

What do you think will happen with Tony Stark? Is there any way he can be trusted again? I think not. This might be a good opportunity to turn him into a villain. Probably not with the new movie and all.

Let me know your opinion.

Richard

Pride of Baghdad: The Lion King Meets Apocalypse Now!

In my opinion, PRIDE OF BAGHDAD is a must read!

I finished it last night and I was blown away. I sold out of it immediately when it was released a couple weeks ago. So when I got my shipment this week, I broke my own rule and grabbed the first one.

This graphic novel is based on a true story you probably remember from the news a couple years back. In 2003 a pride of lions escaped from the Baghdad Zoo during one of the US bombings of Iraq. This story follows The Pride’s short journey into freedom.

Artist, Niko Henrichon (Barnum!), creates a beautiful and believable world that has the cuteness of The Lion King but the horrifying reality of Apocalypse Now.

Vaughan (Y: The Last Man, Runaways) again proves that he is one of the best of the new generation of writers. His dialogue flows so naturally and effortlessly, and best of all, his use of metaphors doesn’t get in the way of the story.

I must say that I was a little surprised that Vaughan took the high road and avoided being too political. It would have been easy to turn this into a Bush bashing story. Whether you believe President Bush is a liberator or conqueror, it would be hard to disagree with his subtle points. No matter how right or wrong this war may be, there are—and will continue to be—innocent casualties. It is easy to forget about them when we refer to them as collateral damage.

Many people are missing the subtleties of Vaughan’s symbolism. In my right opinion, he is not declaring Saddam Hussein and his ilk as victims. Yes, the Iraqi military liked to use the term, “The Lions of Baghdad.” However, this particular pride of lions represent the guiltless Iraqi people who were enslaved by Hussein. In fact, one of the stories main protagonist, remembers a brutal attack she received by certain “brother” lions. Uday and Qusay perhaps?

This parable also uses other animals to symbolize various countries of the world. The bear represents Russia and The Pride deals with him similarly to Iraq’s dealings with Russia. Also, note the actions and words of the monkeys, the turtle, the horses and even the birds. Let’s discuss who they represent.

The graphic novel format is the only way this story could be told. It wouldn’t have had the same impact as a monthly series. My only complaint is minor. The story reads a little too fast. You could easily read it in one or two sittings. However, this is mostly due to the great flow of the story. You really should read it more than once to catch all the nuances.

Go pick it up at your local comic shop. If they don’t have it, ask them to order it for you. If that doesn’t work, contact me and I will sell you a copy and mail it to you for free.

Later