Civl War Fallout: The Initiative Week 3, "Sorry About That Cap."

Well if it’s Thursday, it's time for our weekly Marvel Civil War recap. Compared to Captain America’s death, it was a pretty slow week. That being said, I will briefly go through each book listing them in what is my right opinion of Crappiest to Best.

Ghost Rider #9 hit the shelves this week with the “Casualties of War” banner. This issue goes a long way to fulfill Joe Quesada’s words, “Death should mean something…” by bringing back Jack O’ Lantern. He has been dead what, three months? Of course it’s not really him but Satan possessing his body (hate it when that happens). If you don’t read Ghost Rider usually, don’t waste your time.

Moon Knight #8 also is listed as a “Casualties” title. This is due to the random appearance of Captain America. Apparently before he died, Cap wanted to take some time off from running from the law to hunt down Marc Spector. Cap just wanted to tell him that he didn’t like his methods and to stay out of the Civil War. Then he leaves without even a goodbye. If you don’t read it, don’t buy it.

Thunderbolts #112 is a pretty good read. Warren Ellis is the savior of this book. He has taken an otherwise ridiculous premise and made it enjoyable. Let me first say that I am sick of Norman Osborn. Why is this guy not rotting away in some prison? He does not deserve a second chance—let alone a hundredth. His psychosis is getting a little old as well. Oh no, he is talking to himself, I wonder what’s going to happen?

Am I the only one that doesn’t buy it? Would America really embrace these killers? The Thunderbolts started with a group of villains pretending to be good guys. Now it’s a bunch of bad guys being forced to take care of the government’s dirty work. For some reason we are supposed to believe that people love them. They have action figures for God’s sake. Kids love Venom and Penance and hate Captain America? I don’t think so.

Marvel likes to brag that they are a mirror of the “real world” with super powered individuals in it. Well in the “real world” we reject Supreme Court nominees and Presidential candidates if they inhaled 30 years ago. We crucify them if they were ever divorced or got a hard on. But we are to believe that Tony freaking Stark could become the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. He has so many skeletons in his closet (and in the ground), it is unbelievable.

New Avengers #28 clears up the confusion several of us had last week. Spider-Woman goes back to rogue Avengers to tell them Cap isn’t dead. He is in The Raft. With the help of Dr. Strange they go to free their leader. Once there, Wolverine gives him a sniff and immediately knows that the body isn’t Cap’s. Yep, Ms Marvel lied. Iron Man pops out of hiding with a few hundred buddies to arrest them. I have really enjoyed the New Avengers from the beginning. However, I really don’t like Leinil Yu’s artwork. It just doesn’t work for this title.

Punisher #5 also came out this week, but for some reason it did not have a “Civil War” banner. It clearly is related to the story—a lot more than Ghost Rider. I wonder if Marvel is trying to throw us off. Castle sees Captain America get killed on the jumbo-tron in Times Square. I’m telling you, he is going to be the next Captain America. Previous issues showed us the Punisher’s love and respect for Cap. We know he does have Cap’s cowl. I’m just saying.

Check out the interesting cover from an old What If:

Marvel Spotlight: Civil War Aftermath is something you should pick up this week. I usually pass on most spotlight books. However, this one provides a great recap of the events of Civil War. This is especially great if you haven’t been going to the clinic to sell your plasma so you could afford to buy every book with the “Civil War” logo. Check it out.

Civil War: The Confession is probably the best book of the week. Buy it quick because it is pretty hard to find. It was never solicited in Previews and a lot of stores did not know about it. It gives us a pretty sobering picture of Tony Stark pouring his heart out to the corpse of Steve Rogers. However, I do think it is a little to quick for Stark’s change of heart. It is almost as quick (and convenient) as Cap’s change at the end of Civil War. Still a good read.

With all the Captain America talk last week, I didn’t get to talk about the other “Civil War” titles. I want to comment on two of them.

First, Fantastic Four #543 was a piece of crap. There is no other way to put it. Yeah, I understand that it is the 45^th Anniversary of the FF. But, we are supposed to believe that Doom actually sat down for a television interview! Oh, and the fugitive Luke Cage was interviewed as well. Give me a break. I also think it is a little to quick for Sue to run back to Reed.

Lastly, let’s talk about The Mighty Avengers #1. The majority of the emails I received about this book were complaining about the same thing…you guessed it, the thought bubbles. Wow, I guess you guys hated them. I really wanted to defend Bendis. I really like his stuff. He is a great writer and will do great on this book, but the bubbles have to go. I am also having a hard time with looking at these guys as heroes. I don’t think they are. As good intentioned as they may be, they need to be held accountable for their actions.

What do you think?

Richard

Iron Man: Foggy and The Phoenix CLONES?

Some more Iron Man Movie News.

Director Jon Favreau (Foggy from Daredevil), has asked Famke Janssen (Jean Grey from X-Men) to be the love interest for Tony Stark. She would be playing Bethany Cabe who first appeared in Iron Man Vol. 1, #117.

Cabe and Stark meet at a convention and quickly become romantically involved (fancy for "get it on"”). Cabe is also one of the first people to figure out that Iron Man is not just Stark's body guard but Stark himself. She is also the woman who helps Stark overcome his alcoholism.

I am not sure Janssen is the right choice. We all know that Famke has the talent and body to be in a superhero movie (and apparently a post sex-change dude in Nip Tuck). However, come on, she's Jean Grey for God's sake! For us geeks it was hard enough seeing Rebecca Romijn-Stamos in Punisher after she was in the X-Men movies. But now that I think about it, who cares? They are both easy on the eyes.

To fix this, all Favreau needs to do is have her be a clone of Jean Grey. That way Foggy and The Phoenix can “"get it on!"”

Also, Terrence Howard will be in the movie as Jim Rhodes (War Machine).

The Movie is set for a May 2, 2008 release.

What do you think?

Foggy Says, "Robert Downey Jr. is Iron Man!"

In case you haven't heard by now, Robert Downey Jr. will be Iron Man in the upcoming Jon Favreau movie.

My initial reaction to this news was not very good. In fact, I thought it would be a disaster. However, it has started to grow on me. For obvious reasons, Downey would be perfect to portray Tony Stark fighting his demons.

Even though Downey is a tremendous actor, I am not totally sold on whether he will be able to pull off the billionaire industrialist role. I am afraid he might come across as a parody of the "evil rich guy." Tony Stark is not a Wall Street (greed is good), type of guy. He is a subtle mix of Hugh Hefner and Richard Branson.

I am always confused as to why most comic book movie directors show no respect for the rich history available to them. There was absolutely no reason why Batgirl was not Commissioner Gordon’s daughter. By the simple act of making her related to Alfred, Joel Schumacher, spit in the face of 60 years of established storyline.

I do however, feel that most stories need to be updated for a new generation. Marvel has done this successfully with their Ultimate line of books. A perfect example is Sam Raimi’s decision to alter how Spider-Man produces his web. It was much more believable than a teenager inventing spring released gadgets that he attaches to his arm.

I feel the best thing going for this movie is Jon Favreau. Like Sam Raimi and Christopher Nolan, he is perfect to direct this movie. I can't think of anything he has made that I didn’t like. He also seems to be going out of his way get input from the fan base. I just hope he is faithful to Iron Man’s 40 year history.

But tell me this; if Favreau has a role in the movie, will he have to explain why Foggy Nelson (his role in Daredevil) has a clone elsewhere in the Marvel Universe?

What do you guys think?