IRON MAN/CAPTAIN AMERICA: CASUALTIES OF WAR: One of two CW one-shots this week, although this was the better and argueably the best thing I read from Marvel this week. And the irony is that it's a great story that if you get too critical, doesn't make sense. The gist of it is that sometime after CW #5, Iron Man radios Cap on some handy "super secret Avenger line" that went unused for years, just to lure him to the old, destroyed Mansion so they can hash out where they stand, both in terms of the war, their philosophies, and above all their friendship, which until now most CW writers pretended was a convience at best. Tactically and logically, this makes no bloody sense. There is no way you can seriously buy that in the midst of the civil war after issue #5 and some of the last tie-in's that Cap & Iron Man would just stop, meet & talk, and not set a trap for the other. IM could have simply brought a few allies and ended the war in an hour. And Cap was just foolish not to bring back-up, considering how quickly IM and the fed heroes usually were to cut off escape avenues. One could have bought it had they chatted up a few months ago, but it seems hard to swallow now. HOWEVER, and this is a big "however", what saves the story is the fact that we really haven't seen these two talk like HUMAN BEINGS for ages now, nor seen a story that acknowledges that they once were honest-to-goodness FRIENDS (hell, read some issues of Millar's CW and you get the impression that Steve & Tony always hated each other deep down). The level of continuity is incredible, having both characters bring up arguements and flashbacks from way back into the 60's to now, with a checklist in the back in place of footnotes. Perhaps unsurprisingly, such a powerful dialogue between the two leaders of the CW is written by NONE of the core CW writers (Millar, Bendis, JMS, or Jenkins) and instead by Christos N. Gage, who I have never heard from before. True, the story rehashes some of the debates about both sides of CW that we have heard before, but both Cap & Iron Man do it well, using logical "life" evidence to back themselves, so it doesn't seem the same. Plus, neither character is simply played crudely; Iron Man isn't depicted as evil & manipulative, and Capt. America isn't glaringly stubborn or thuggish. They come off as what Marvel has tried to make them be; former friends who find themselves at a philosophical crossroads and now are begrudging enemies. They explore both of their demons, the lives of other heroes, and so on. It really is a conversation that in the hands of some writers would come off as boring and repetitive, but Gage gets it right. Haun's art is also top notch, and amazingly none of the creators are creditted on the cover, usually a sign of being small fish. Cheung's covers rock, and I got the Cap one. The finale has them fighting in a way that parallels an old sparing match, and yes, it doesn't make logical sense for IM to just let Cap go, and for both of them to just sigh, walk off, and go off to trying to kill each other's pawns. But y'know what? This story gives "realism" the finger in the name of actual characterization, and it's about damned time some Marvel books did that again. We're not here for realism. We're here because we love the characters. It may be a one-shot, but it is essential CW reading; admittedly, it probably would have made sense had it come out sooner, although Bill Foster's death from CW #4 was a major plot point. And there is a minor quibble where Iron Man claims the act doesn't require the registered heroes to "go public", when I believe BLACK PANTHER made it seem like that is precisely what the law now says. Of course, Hudlin maybe missed some memo's for all I know. Gage even acknowledges how stories have changed since the 60's as Cap & Iron Man note how a past altercation cleared up after a single cheesy exchange; other writers might have been pompus about it, but Gage avoids it. A solid read for me. And Marvel didn't even overprice it!
The guy causing us the grief?? The guy that killed Bill Foster???? 
sigh.....
