DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT for 11/15/06 Part II:
CIVIL WAR #5: Also a month late, technically, is the 5th issue of "a Marvel event in 7 parts", granted, 7 parts doesn't count all the crossovers, and the tie-in mini's, and the one-shots, and the prelude mini's and crossovers, and the epilogue mini's and crossovers to come, otherwise it'd be a Marvel Event in 101 parts (and counting). The high point of the series is still #3 or so, and this issue is a perfectly readable and exciting edition to the story, with a lot of little character appearences along with the big moments. And unlike ASTONISHING, I actually like the long breaks between issues because I can only tolerate so much of this story at a time. I will say that ANNIHILATION #4 was aces better.
One reason why? A problem that plagues a lot of modern comics is that an individual issue may rely entirely on the surprise of a character or sequence that is pretty much already shown on the front cover. True, this has happened for ages, but it becomes a huge problem with stories like this. What the cover shows; Spider-Man being attacked by villians who we now know are Thunderbolt SHRA flunkies. An alternate cover shows Punisher saving Spider-Man. These have been circulated for months by mighty Marvel; in the case of the first cover, at least 4 months. Therefore, we go in already knowing this, so treating it as a SHOCK inside the pages that Spidey is attacked by Thunderbolts and that Punisher saves him really doesn't work. It's not a shock. We knew this going in. The first issue of the FF PRELUDE TO CW had this exact same problem; it spent 22 pages to tell us that Dr. Doom was back and wanted Thor's hammer...a fact the cover made clear. That's not to say that the sequences in CW weren't well drawn, or well paced, or sucked. They didn't. I am simply pointing to the fact that writers have got to stop treating something the cover reveals as a surprise and actually have something else to be the major surprise of the book. To quote Millar, "it's not 1942 anymore". It's 2006. Improve with the times.
Fortunately, unlike HOM, enough happens in each issue that it makes each one worthwhile, and one could say that the details are what help carry it. Invisible Woman & Human Torch are now full "rogues" to SHIELD and eventually fall in with Cap's Secret Avengers (which Tigra has apparently infiltrated to spy on). Continued from ASM, Spider-Man FINALLY rebels against Iron Man and stands up for his virtue that he feels locking up anti-SHRA heroes in the Negative Zone is going a step too far. Iron Man attempts to justify his actions here by claiming that the SHRA was a compromise and if he'd gone against it, the U.S. government probably would have outlawed all superhumans period after Stamford. One problem with this is that one has to take Stark's word on this, the same guy who secretly hired Titanium Man to attack Washington in order to score a point. The second is that after so many attacks in Marvel Superhero land and the fact that some heroes have been government sanctioned for long stretches of the time, an anti-superhuman crackdown seems incredibly ludicrous and impossible to enforce. Do you include mutants and risk "hate crimes"? Are they aware that banning them in the U.S. would just make the nation a clear target for metahumans from other nations? In a universe like Marvel's that has had known superhero activity for the last 60 years, it just seems like massive overkill. After countless events clearly show that extremist Islamic men are responsible for about 99.9% of current terrorist attacks, has the U.S. banned all practice of Islam or rounded up everyone who pratices the faith? No. And they never would. So it seems silly to imagine the MU's gov't, corrupt as it has always been, going that far after Stamford. Especially since they've always been willing to pardon any supervillian willing to be a stooge. Or make endless attempts at more super-soldiers. Or allied with the Avengers for decades in real time (they were unofficial federal agents basically). One could imagine every Liberal in the universe poo-pooing it, to say nothing else. Besides, trying to enforce such an act could easily cause hundreds of Stamfords and cost as much as hundred's of Iraqs...at once. But, whatever. The 50 State Inititive was given away in WIZARD, so that is no surprise, either; making a federal super-team for every state, so they're not just stretched between CA and NY with a few random C-Listers in-between. This step is actually interesting and it's a shame the MU didn't think of it sooner. And, yes, after 4 issues of acting like a Nazi Doctor, Reed finally reveals a shred of remourse for his actions, an issue after instantly suspecting "something up with Parker" when he showed remourse at Goliath's funeral. Sorry, Millar, this just doesn't cut it, especially as Slott's She-Hulk has seemed far less gung-ho than she seemed here. She's cooperative, just not as zealously so. Let's say my problem is...consistantcy. Had Reed & Iron Man shown some more human concern before, I'd buy it and I think others would have too. But tacking it on by the 5th issue of a 7 parter ain't going to cut it. Especially since, once again, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO ROOT FOR SOMEONE WHO HIRES SUPERVILLAINS TO DO THEIR DIRTY WORK. That makes them no better than Red Skull, Zemo, Dr. Doom, Kingpin, Dr. Octopus, or any number of "boss" types who do that. True, you have BAD Girls, but they're mercenaries and Diamondback has dated Cap before. And no Marvel fan sees Punisher as a supervillian, but an anti-hero like Wolverine. If they wanted the pro-SHRA to seem more naunced, they went too far with cloning Thor and using supervillians as grunt footsoldiers. You can't root for that. Imagine if the feds used Jeffery Dahmer to save kids in a fire. Would everyone call him a hero? Or be disgusted?
Plus, it doesn't answer the dilemma that Spider-Man was hardly a fan of the gov't or police for ages and usually stuck his neck out for the little guy; he sold out, and the payback's almost murder.
Anyway, so it was good seeing Spidey get in a lick on Stark, although since he's been on the team for a damned year in real time he should've known about the windows, but a minor quibble. I liked Maria Hill's snarky comment about "not needing Thunderbolts if they flood the streets with SHIELD soldiers like they are". BINGO. If they'd been this efficient ages ago, there'd be no need for superheroes if Luke Cage couldn't even take a piss without having a hundred storm in, much less Shocker doing a bank-robbery. The cover seemed to promise highly emotional drama as Spider-Man is being hunted by A-List baddies like Venom, Green Goblin, and Bullseye; the latter two being arch foes, with legal authority. Turns out he's just attached by Jester and the 3rd (or 4th) Jack O'Lantern, which carried far less drama. Sure, he's fought them, but its not the same. And the reason why is clear; they wanted Punisher to get a body count, and no one would dare have him fire a slug through Osborn's head. But, Punisher frankly makes more sense in the "exists to kill loser villians" role than Scourge ever did. Apparently Punisher was the "Ski-Mask Man" from before, which many posters predicted months ago. But I don't mind that, as it makes sense that he'd hate seeing "supervillians get badges" and perform gov't sanctioned beatings on heroes who don't toe the line (again, you CAN'T condone this; imagine if the feds gave some mobsters authority to pummel and detain a suspect). Ultra-Girl, Stingray, Hulkling, and Photon have notable cameos, as well as Stature & Nighthawk do when they meet Mr. Hogan (himself a former metahuman; anyone remember "The Freak"? Got a few feet taller, bad temper, super strength? Oh, well). Must stink for Cassie being the ONLY member of her team to ditch Cap. I wonder if this division will be mentioned in their relaunch. The last page's climax was well done; I grew tired of some of Millar's "full page macho man poses" that he has done to death in ULTIMATES 2 so it was nice to see something subtle. As DD was at the meeting before he was arrested, I wonder if he is a mole to simply free the imprisoned heroes...something you CAN root for. When Marvel pretends they aren't "playing sides" here, they assume you can't understand what Millar is writing and have never read or watched most fiction in your entire life. A moron, basically.
A good issue, and Millar is always good for action (although one more incest reference and I'll think that's his fetish, kind of like Frank Miller and his "Madonna-****e" complex), and after the bar was lowered dramatically by the underwhelming HOM, anything else is an improvement. But ANNIHILATION has been outdoing CW in enjoyment for me since the first issue, and the best surprises aren't ruined to boot (and it's not late). So many characters may be thrown into turmoil by CW that it's either going to be a good reform or a load of hackneyed convelution. Some C-Listers will come out smelling like roses, though. If they survive.
Next Post: GHOST RIDER #5, MOON KNIGHT #6, NEW AVENGERS #25, & X-MEN: FIRST CLASS #3.
Really looking forward to the next arc.
t: And...Blade vs. SANTA?!!? 
: This oughta be a sight to behold. 
