Civil War - Final Thoughts?

[Elliot Kane]

I just found Paul O'Brien's review on X-Axis. Very well thought out, very well reasoned. So I figured it was worth posting here

[Gray Lensman]

I think it's a good review, and correct in the substance of it.

However, I think the ending is absolutely dire. The main problems with it, as I presently see it, is that Marvel is asking us to believe that...

1) Captain America is going to, in the middle of the fight, come to the sudden realization that the Civil War is destructive and therefore not worth fighting. Oh, and that the Registration Act should be allowed to stand solely because the people supposedly like it. Cap is the guy who does what he believes is right regardless of whether it's popular or not. And wouldn't a master strategist like Cap have considered the risk of civilian casualties before the fight started?

2) That all of Tony Stark's villainous actions should be swept under the rug or forgiven because he was doing good/following the will of the people. Oh, and that said villainous actions should be rewarded by a cushy job at SHIELD. I don't know about you, but I know I wouldn't trust the guy who created murderous clones, sent psychopaths to hunt friends down, etc. with every registered hero's private info.

3) That a general amnesty would be magically granted upon surrender. I thought Stark had exactly 12 pardons? This really needed explaining, and it doesn't.

Basically the moral of this story is... betraying, cloning, killing, and interning your former friends is okay if your heart is supposedly in the right place. So this is what passes for heroism in the Marvel Universe now?

One side giving up might be a reasonable ending if the two sides were both portrayed as heroic. Problem is, they're not. The worse Tony Stark gets, the more ludicrous Cap's surrender becomes. Because now Cap is endorsing all of Stark's ruthless methods... and I don't think that he would, in character.

I think Millar badly botched this story in the execution. The logic does not hold. And whatever good might come out of Civil War, ultimately this story makes no inherent sense. That said, I grant that the massive hype and the delays added to the negative reaction.

And now we have more massive events on the way. Sadly, I doubt those will be any better...

[Venom65437]

I agree with both Paul and Steve.

Civil War was really crappy IMO, Spidey unmasking, Captain America just quitting, trying to play Iron Man as a good guy.

Marvel is really wearing me out with all these "events" that are a bunch of "shock" moments but not much substance. They keep trying to change up the status quo, but when they do they never let the dust settle, each event is just a set up for the next event.

Ugh....

And Steve is right, in CW #6, they said they would grant 12 pardons.

[Terrordar]

But remember boys, at the end of the day? Marvel whored out its characters to sell books. And isn't that what this is all for?

[Gay Titan]

thoughts? Glad it's over and glad I saved my $$$. The only thing I liked about the entire saga was the development from Speedball to Penance.

[Elliot Kane]

Was it just me, or was the last issue boring? Rambling, disjointed, poorly structured... What on Earth happened to Millar's ability to write a good fight scene?

Worst issue of a dire series.

[Gray Lensman]

Yes, I would say that's a good assessment of the last issue. I think the series was just too crammed with characters and no space to properly coordinate or explain any of it. The action was all over the place.

Me, I look at the last issue this way. When it takes three pages from a Marvel editor over at Newsarama to try to explain confusing and illogical story elements that should be apparent in the comic itself, it's a bad comic.

Marvel can whitewash this however they like... but this series is a disaster.

[Venom65437]

Well I didn't think issue 7 was boring with the big throw down, but I didn't think it was good either.