I'm just going to add to the review I did for CIVIL WAR #3 back on Page 1 of this topic, now that details of it are raging in debate for pages on in this thread (and in another).
Oh, and I'm almost finished with the DAILY BUGLE SPECIAL, its packed with so much CW goodness for 50 cents that its a shame not to buy it or to criticize it too much. It really helps put a good perspective on the debates and stuff raging on CW. And it narrows down the fact that the moral dillemma of the storyline, which is a KEY bit of the arc that is NEVER forgotten about. Again, contrast that with HOM, when the "moral dilemma" of it was basically the "elephant in the room" that got ignored in the name of pointless chatter, embellishing useless details, and random, unsatisfying violence.
- Spider-Man's actions disappointed me but did not surprise me, although with everything that's happened to/with him within the past year, I really am not surprised by anything he does anymore. Beating up Capt. America, eating people's faces, growing claws, all in a day's work I suppose. The irony is that most times, the WORST damage that is done to a franchise character is when that character has been published for so long that the publisher seems to forget the point of it and seeks to "change" or "reinvent" him...and it always ends in heartache. The current EIC climate of Marvel feels that many of Marvel's PAST actions under past EIC's can easily be decoded as rubbish if they need to be, but any CURRENT ones are well thought out, modern gold. Hey, at least Jim Shooter didn't have 21st century pretentiousness, pal. Anyway, Joe Q feels that what made Spider-Man "unrelatable" was his marriage to MJ, "the supermodel" (although she wasn't always; in fact, she's had more career success since Joe Q's tenure than before, where she was often a struggling actress and B-movie/soap star). No, that never mattered to me that Peter eventually got married; he was in his mid 20's, they loved each other, why the hell not? No, what's made him "unrelatable" is boosting his powers every 2 years and then not even USING those powers (aside for the trademark webbing, you'd never know it was organic or mechanical unless they told you). What made him "unrelatable" are stories where he turned into spiders and gave birth to himself, where he got involved in mystical jargan that added unneeded crap to his classic origin, and growing claws and eating face-flesh. But the last straw is that he became a sell-out. In a way, its typical of a lot of people; when they're young teenagers, we're all into "rebellion" against "the man", the adults, marching to the beat of our own drum. And then we grow up, realize that like everyone else, we're greedy bastards who like money, and sell out our integrity to keep ourselves clothed and sane. The Hippies sure did it after Vietnam ended. But superheroes aren't always the same as normal people and their morals/powers sometimes give them more options. I always saw Spider-Man as someone who'd stick out for the underdog, someone who let life push him around as Parker but had more stones when he was in the mask, and wouldn't just march to the drumbeat of "the establishment", especially since despite all his good deeds he was often demonized in the media and had half the cops willing to arrest him. And while he did have some awe and respect for some other "mature" and more mainstream heroes, if he disagreed with them on some point or felt they missed some perspective, he'd say it. He'd usually be obnoxious and jokey about it, which was why many other heroes could barely stand working with Spidey, but he would. But fast foward to 2005-2006. JMS creates a "friendship" with Tony Stark for Spidey, presumably to get Spider-Man on the pro-SHRA side for the eventual CW, despite the fact that if he'd merely furthered the connection between Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four, which is longrunning and started in ASM #1 for chrissakes, it may have swallowed better. Basically, Stark gives Peter a job, free rent in his ivory tower in the sky, and a suit of nanobot armor. And then Spider-Man joins the world's premire super-team, the Avengers, even though he's been almost useless so far. And because of that, Spider-Man's willing to hold his "promises to Stark" as highly as he does Uncle Ben. Even to the point of bashing in other heroes if it means standing by Iron Man. I believe ASM's tie-ins will better establish Spider-Man's "inner turmoil" better than the CW main issues will; that's been the case so far, and it proves the point for crossover tie-ins.
My point is that in the past year, nearly everything that made Spider-Man interesting, from his supporting cast to his dual identity soap opera hassles and whatnot, have been stripped away and laid bare, almost with the bridges to return burnt down (unmaskings in front of the public are always a tedious conveluted mess to undo, yet comic companies still do them, and never learn). So its getting hard to surprise me with whatever Spidey has to do for storyline purposes, and for the first time in my life its hard to relate or root for him. Yes, I understand that he'll eventually fall from grace, "learn a hard lesson" and likely switch sides (so he and Wolverine can go back to being tag partners), but at this point you'd think he'd know better.
But in all honesty, I wasn't most preturbed by Spider-Man giving Cap some beat-downs. What got me the most was Spider-Man showing no regret for beating down the Young Avengers. I mean, he batted for them against Cap and Iron Man in YA. And he's been in their boat before, a young hero trying to go good and being misunderstood by everyone else. But there's none of that. He's just punching Patriot in the chest and that's that. He's pretty much become the very same type of stilted, one-sided hero he used to make fun of about 200 issues ago in his own series.
Although Spider-Man had a great point; when superheroes battle each other, the bad guys ARE the only ones who win. Of course, following that logic, why is he agreeing with a law that all but FORCES conflict amungst heroes? It forces heroes who otherwise had good intentions and were willing to fight the good fight to break the law and be underhanded.
- In terms of the "who started it" sequence of the battle, naturally there are both sides. Iron Man and his pro-SHRA heroes, Spider-Man included, didn't want a fight. Stark and Spider-Man wanted to talk, and I believe that was genuine. On the other hand, of course, they exploited Cap and his "Secret Avengers" morals to get them to rush to a "fake" disaster scene to save people. And their first action was to shoot down Cloak and Wiccan with tranqs. Tactically speaking, however, Cloak & Wiccan had to go down; SHIELD had lost Cap and his resistance because of Wiccan in CW #2, and if Cap's team had the option of "beaming out", they would, and the conversation (or showdown) would be drawn out and perhaps made more costly and deadly. Taking down Cloak & Wiccan was a military tactic which was efficient for their goal. Emotionally speaking, of course, it is not the sort of thing that would make Cap or his allies (like Hulkling, Wiccan's teammate and lover) in a terribly chatty mood. And even though the "cape killer" SHIELD soldiers were ordered to "hold their fire" and let the supers punch each other out, Cap's not psychic, and doesn't know that; he only sees soldiers with guns drawn on him behind a squad of heroes with a clear goal in mind. Plus, remember CW #1; Maria Hill had her team of men shoot at Cap the moment it became clear he wasn't going to "follow orders" and toe the line. So you could say Cap "read the writing on the wall". Despite the fact that Iron Man, Spidey and the rest honestly didn't want to fight them, it was obvious they were allowing no escape, and no option aside for total compliance, or being forced into custody.
Oh, and yes, Cap seemed edgy and itching for the fight the moment Cloak & Wiccan got dropped and they were ambushed. Truthful as it was, he hit Spidey with a verbal low blow. He wasn't much interested in what Stark had to say. He'd had a Fury-delivered cyberchip to disable his armor in his pocket, and suckered Stark into it with a handshake; considering his wholesome "milkshake" demeaner, its a bit underhanded. But Cap is also a soldier, and he knew an element of surprise was their only shot of winning the battle. And, quite frankly, considering how CW has gone since the first issue, the fight was inevitable from the moment the trap was set. Why prolong it? Why drag it out? Besides, Cap and Iron Man have been at odds plenty of times before; this just may have been the straw-breaking bit.
Yes, there is a bit less of an "emotional conflict". The Thing is all "angsty nuetral" in F4 issues, but has no qualms about boxing Hulkling silly on the battlefield. Spider-Man may be conflicted and need emotional support from MJ and May in ASM issues, but here he's able to knock aside young heroes and old allies, and spank Cap with his own shield, if they hurt his "sugar daddy". And despite the fact that the SHRA has many real life implications, we know it can't be indefinate and the story likely is not going to end with a moral of, "it is worth sacrificing liberty for order", because it goes against the principles of Liberalism (and if taken too far, reaches into outright Fascism).
At least the silly "mecho-legs" on Spider-Man's armor were of some use here.
- Amnesia aside, it just seems very hard to swallow that Thor would be a lapdog of SHIELD and battle alongside so many of his former comrades, especially Captain America, the "mortal" he probably respects the most. Of course, all the facts aren't in. For all we know, SHIELD & Iron Man are controlling Thor with nanobots or something. True, gods really don't "hide" behind masks when they perform their duties many times; they exist and the public is aware of it, but I really don't see Thor willing to attack "noble" heroes simply because they want to have some liberty and protect their loved ones.
But that aside, he's made a helluva entrance. Although a pro-SHRA Thor is something I really have a hard time buying unless there is a really conveluted explaination. Of course, I never thought I'd see the day when Spider-Man revealed his identity, lived in an ivory penthouse without money woes, and knowtowing to the feds and "cape killer" squads, but here we are.
- I never commented on McNiven's art. He seems to like having weirdo angles with people's faces, but aside for that, his stuff always looks incredible.
- The SHRA as it is is a law that can't stand indefinately at Marvel, but I could see a toned down version of it flowing well with the tapestry of their universe. A more optional SHRA that allows heroes to register and get training, HQ, comrades, and so on if they agree to it, same as endless supervillians with "amnesty" deals have gotten for years, and a policy that is able to discriminate against clearly dangerous, reckless heroes like Thunderclap and efficient heroes who just want some privacy to be independant, like Daredevil. Because having all one's superheroes ingrained fully into politics just like the army is not good for liberty or foriegn relations. Hell, isn't forcing all their "superhumans" into the government what Russia, circa the Cold War/Soviet Union years, used to do? And remember kiddies, the moral was always how wrong the Soviets were.
- As I said in my review, the tone of this year of Marvel is destruction, death, and dismantlings of what was. There's been a steady drumbeat of downers and after a while it starts to get you numb to it all, or angry. Marvel can't complain about how polarized or emotional fans are when they rely on stoking those flames for sales, often shamelessly.
