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

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?

Marvel Civil War: Clones, Racists, and Skrulls, Oh My?

CLICK HERE For The NEW Complete Marvel Civil War Review. (updated 2/21/07)


The following post was written after Marvel Civil War #4.

Where the hell are the real Tony Stark and Reed Richards? There is no way these people are the same guys we have all grown up reading.

How will we be able to look at Iron Man as a hero again?

No matter how you slice it, Reed Richards is responsible for the death of Goliath. He’s going to have to be held accountable.

I hope and pray that Marvel will give us a good explanation as to why everyone is acting so out of character.

Before you think I am breaking my own Commandment #7, let me state that I am really digging the story so far. It reads, looks and flows like a great movie. It has continually been unpredictable and given us some of the best cliffhangers in comic history. Nevertheless, I am starting to get worried as to how this thing is going to end. I do know...

The 5 worst ways to end Marvel's Civil War:

1. Peter Parker regains his secret identity when Ben Reilly returns to don the Spidey garb. This will allow both Spider-Man and Parker to be seen in public together.

2. We find out that these events never even happened. This super-power hating world is contained in a tether ball owned by Franklin Richards.

3. The Scarlet Witch wipes the mind of everyone on Earth and returns things to normal. Nah, they would never do anything that ridiculous.

4. We find out that Richards and Stark are from Bizzaro World. Damn, they actually might be acting screwy because they are from the Negative Zone.

5. Everyone’s a Skrull!

Regardless of how they end Civil War, Marvel needs to let it stick. I am sick of everything conveniently going back to normal.

In recent years, DC has been much better at character development than Marvel. Most Marvel books have been pretty much like a Star Trek episodes—totally interchangeable.

Now let me explain the picture at the top of this blog.

First, I want to make it clear that I am in NO WAY a fan of the Confederate flag or the South’s role in the real Civil War. I do however; think this picture shows just how idiotic some people’s views are concerning Marvel’s Civil War.

You see, I read a lot of blogs and forums, and over the past week I have been shocked at one recurring theme. It seems some of our fellow comic fans are convinced that the guys at Marvel are racists.

Apparently, Thor (who is a white supremacist wet dream—blond hair, blue eyes), killed Goliath because he was black. I thought it was a joke the first couple times I read it. By the fifth and sixth time, I was dumbfounded. What kind of glasses are you wearing to read Civil War #4 that way? In my opinion, you have to be quite a bigot yourself.

If the guys at Marvel were racist, do you think Luke Cage and Jessica Drew would have married and had a baby? Would Black Panther be a pivotal member of the Illuminati? I don’t think so.

Wait…Now that I think about it…Marvel did keep Bishop in Jerry Curls way to long.

What do you think?