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Civil War II
Civil War II
It Is Here!
The Marvel comic event everyone will be talking about.
A new Inhuman emerges, with the ability to profile the future, and the ramifications ripple into every corner of the Marvel Universe. Lines are drawn, bodies fall, and the Marvel Universe will be rocked to its very core.
Collecting: Civil War II 0-7, FCBD 2016
The Marvel comic event everyone will be talking about.
A new Inhuman emerges, with the ability to profile the future, and the ramifications ripple into every corner of the Marvel Universe. Lines are drawn, bodies fall, and the Marvel Universe will be rocked to its very core.
Collecting: Civil War II 0-7, FCBD 2016
296 pages, Hardcover
First published February 14, 2017
448 people are currently reading
1605 people want to read
About the author
Brian Michael Bendis
4,416 books2,569 followersA comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim (including five Eisner Awards) and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics. For over eight years Bendis’s books have consistently sat in the top five best sellers on the nationwide comic and graphic novel sales charts.
Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.
Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.
Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.
Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.
Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.
He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.
Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.
Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.
Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.
Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.
Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.
He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 518 reviews
October 9, 2017
3.5 stars
CHOOSE YOUR SIDE!
But seriously, we all know what side we're choosing.
Sorry, Carol...
Ok. Well, I read this a while back, but I couldn't decide how I felt about it. I mean, on one hand, it's a blatant rip-off of not only the original Civil War, but of The Minority Report storyline. So, before you even open it up you know there's a great deal of cheese that might have to be scraped off the top of the story to see what sort of meat is lurking underneath.
Or better yet, is that even real meat?!
Not to mention, it seems like Marvel is hell-bent on getting rid of every one of their oldest and most popular characters and replacing them with fresh new faces. Now, this is the comic book world we're talking about, and if there is ONE constant in that world it's that no one ever stays dead or gone, so there's no good reason to get any panties in a twist.
Unless of course you actually wanted to read a comic book with one of those characters in it, that is...
My point is, two major players bite the dust and one more ends up in what looks like a coma before this particular event is over with. Which, at first glance, basically gave me THREE more reasons to roll my eyes at Marvel and their current game plan.
And I also went into it knowing a lot of my friends were upset by what an asshole Captain Marvel was supposedly portrayed as in this thing. Personally, I'm not all that fond of the character, so this wasn't as upsetting for me as for some of her die-hard fans. But yeah, they weren't exaggerating, she's every bit the douchebag in this sucker.
But even with those problems, I thought it was a fun comic book. I was interested and fully engaged in what was happening the entire time I was reading. And for me, most of my complaints about any book comes less from an agreement with the story and more from boredom with the writing. If it can hold my attention (which is admittedly close to a 6 year old kid with ADHD) then I have to give that book credit. So, yeah. I guess I can say that I actually liked this.
Color me shocked!
I'm not sure if this is something that other readers go through, but when I assume that something will bore me and then it doesn't, I get a little happier than I might have if I had been more excited to read it. Then I wonder if the book was truly good, or if it just surpassed my (crappy) expectations, you know?
But for whatever reason, I thought this was an entertaining event, and it looks like it might be kinda fun to watch some of the effects of what happened here ripple out across the Marvel universe.
At any rate, I won't disagree with you if you thought this was crap because you've got a ton of valid reasons to dislike it. But for those of you who haven't read this yet?
You may want to give it a shot and see for yourself what all the kerfuffle is about.
CHOOSE YOUR SIDE!
But seriously, we all know what side we're choosing.
Sorry, Carol...
Ok. Well, I read this a while back, but I couldn't decide how I felt about it. I mean, on one hand, it's a blatant rip-off of not only the original Civil War, but of The Minority Report storyline. So, before you even open it up you know there's a great deal of cheese that might have to be scraped off the top of the story to see what sort of meat is lurking underneath.
Or better yet, is that even real meat?!
Not to mention, it seems like Marvel is hell-bent on getting rid of every one of their oldest and most popular characters and replacing them with fresh new faces. Now, this is the comic book world we're talking about, and if there is ONE constant in that world it's that no one ever stays dead or gone, so there's no good reason to get any panties in a twist.
Unless of course you actually wanted to read a comic book with one of those characters in it, that is...
My point is, two major players bite the dust and one more ends up in what looks like a coma before this particular event is over with. Which, at first glance, basically gave me THREE more reasons to roll my eyes at Marvel and their current game plan.
And I also went into it knowing a lot of my friends were upset by what an asshole Captain Marvel was supposedly portrayed as in this thing. Personally, I'm not all that fond of the character, so this wasn't as upsetting for me as for some of her die-hard fans. But yeah, they weren't exaggerating, she's every bit the douchebag in this sucker.
But even with those problems, I thought it was a fun comic book. I was interested and fully engaged in what was happening the entire time I was reading. And for me, most of my complaints about any book comes less from an agreement with the story and more from boredom with the writing. If it can hold my attention (which is admittedly close to a 6 year old kid with ADHD) then I have to give that book credit. So, yeah. I guess I can say that I actually liked this.
Color me shocked!
I'm not sure if this is something that other readers go through, but when I assume that something will bore me and then it doesn't, I get a little happier than I might have if I had been more excited to read it. Then I wonder if the book was truly good, or if it just surpassed my (crappy) expectations, you know?
But for whatever reason, I thought this was an entertaining event, and it looks like it might be kinda fun to watch some of the effects of what happened here ripple out across the Marvel universe.
At any rate, I won't disagree with you if you thought this was crap because you've got a ton of valid reasons to dislike it. But for those of you who haven't read this yet?
You may want to give it a shot and see for yourself what all the kerfuffle is about.
July 21, 2017
I was planning to work up an exhaustive diatribe about Civil War 2, as I’m wont to do for mega Marvel crossovers, but decided I simply don’t have the energy. Also, I don’t have particularly strong feelings about the book one way or the other, which immediately puts it a cut above most of its recent ilk (he said cheekily). That said, hats off to the creative team for the storytelling gymnastics it took to stretch four issues worth of story to eight issues—it was such a breathtaking feat of poor pacing prestidigitation that I can’t even get that mad at it.
It occurred to me, at story’s end, that the Marvel U is a very, very different place now than it was when I was in my comics reading heyday in the 90s (quite possibly the worst possible decade in which to have a comics reading heyday, or any kind of heyday, really), and that, while disconcerting and troubling for irascibly nostalgic me, is a good thing. The biggest challenge for comic creators is the lifespan of a comic reader these days—not their actual lifespan, which one suspects is shorter than the average due to being fueled primarily by pork rinds and Mountain Dew Code Red, but, rather, the length of time over which they read comics. During the 1960s and 70s, kids would read comics for a few years and then move onto other pursuits, so you could recycle story ideas and didn’t have to worry so much about characters stagnating. Now that people read comics all throughout their lives, it’s much trickier to tell a story that’s as interesting and meaningful for a twenty-year reader of a book as it is for someone picking it up for the first time.
The Marvel U is now a much more diverse and darker place, and while the former is a good thing (even though I take objection to the pandering way in which it’s been done in a few instances, the heart is in the right place) and the latter perhaps a necessary concession to a scary world (though I generally read four-color funnybooks to escape said scariness), the bottom line is that change in this instance is both necessary and good, even if I’m no longer as engaged with these books and characters as I once was (which, in and of itself, is simply a reflection of the transitioning of life priorities).
Is this an unnecessarily maudlin and contemplative discussion about a comic where a dude in a robot suit punches a lady who can both absorb and project energy because they’re concerned about what a guy dressed like a spider and who hangs out with a guy named Gold Balls might or might not do? Well, yeah. But, I like to keep you on your toes by knocking you on your asses—sort of like the world’s weirdest contortionist-proctologist.
Excelsior!
It occurred to me, at story’s end, that the Marvel U is a very, very different place now than it was when I was in my comics reading heyday in the 90s (quite possibly the worst possible decade in which to have a comics reading heyday, or any kind of heyday, really), and that, while disconcerting and troubling for irascibly nostalgic me, is a good thing. The biggest challenge for comic creators is the lifespan of a comic reader these days—not their actual lifespan, which one suspects is shorter than the average due to being fueled primarily by pork rinds and Mountain Dew Code Red, but, rather, the length of time over which they read comics. During the 1960s and 70s, kids would read comics for a few years and then move onto other pursuits, so you could recycle story ideas and didn’t have to worry so much about characters stagnating. Now that people read comics all throughout their lives, it’s much trickier to tell a story that’s as interesting and meaningful for a twenty-year reader of a book as it is for someone picking it up for the first time.
The Marvel U is now a much more diverse and darker place, and while the former is a good thing (even though I take objection to the pandering way in which it’s been done in a few instances, the heart is in the right place) and the latter perhaps a necessary concession to a scary world (though I generally read four-color funnybooks to escape said scariness), the bottom line is that change in this instance is both necessary and good, even if I’m no longer as engaged with these books and characters as I once was (which, in and of itself, is simply a reflection of the transitioning of life priorities).
Is this an unnecessarily maudlin and contemplative discussion about a comic where a dude in a robot suit punches a lady who can both absorb and project energy because they’re concerned about what a guy dressed like a spider and who hangs out with a guy named Gold Balls might or might not do? Well, yeah. But, I like to keep you on your toes by knocking you on your asses—sort of like the world’s weirdest contortionist-proctologist.
Excelsior!
April 6, 2017
Marvel does Minority Report in Civil War II as a new Inhuman called Ulysses appears with the ability to see the future! The battle-lines are drawn between Captain Marvel, who wants to use Ulysses to stop future crimes before they happen, and Iron Man, who doesn’t want anyone arrested for crimes they haven’t committed yet – or might not commit at all! But after a disturbing vision of an iconic hero’s murder of another iconic hero, how accurate are Ulysses’ visions and is Tony Stark willing to risk his friends’ lives to find out?
Are you sitting down? This was a Marvel event book scripted by Brian Michael Bendis that was… actually ok?! I’m just as surprised, especially as I heard nothing but dogshit about this comic, but I would honestly rate the first half of Civil War II a solid four, maybe even five, stars! While clearly owing a lot to Minority Report, it’s an engagingly-written, fast-paced story with a couple of big-name characters getting killed off, upping the stakes and making you wonder who else is gonna get Ned Starked!
Then the story starts going south about halfway through as Bendis/Marvel Editorial decide to go the usual retarded event route of having tons of brainless, uninteresting superhero fights break out suddenly. BOO! Why do the Guardians of the Galaxy, Venom, Magik, Black Panther, and Storm favour Carol’s reasoning for arresting innocents? We don’t know because it’s never established, but I guess it was time for a big dumb superhero fight and they needed to make up the numbers. Throughout that fight I kept wondering which side of the fence characters were on as we never saw them make the decision one way or the other, they just seem to be fighting for the sake of it. Awful!
Like the first Civil War, Civil War II’s biggest flaw is in having an obviously “right” and “wrong” side. Arresting people for crimes that haven’t happened is of course wrong, especially given that Ulysses’ visions aren’t always bang on, so there’s really no conundrum over which side the reader is going to take (unless that reader is into totalitarianism)!
Also like Mark Millar’s Civil War, Bendis demonises the “wrong” side’s leader, Captain Marvel, to the point where Carol read like a completely different character. That’s a really weird move for Marvel to make at this point. Carol’s gonna get a LOT of attention very soon once the Avengers Infinity War movies and the Captain Marvel movie come out so why is Bendis depicting her as a fascist in one of Marvel’s most high profile books?? Among the many twists to this tale, his character assassination of Carol Danvers was probably the most shocking, particularly that scene when she brings in an ordinary person, who did nothing, and begins barking at them that she’ll make up evidence to convict them if she has to like some punk cop! How else is anyone meant to view Carol in that moment other than as a crazed villain drunk on power? And she does nothing to redeem herself later either!
Once the fighting starts the story never really recovers, especially that final battle which was contrived at best – I mean, what was Tony hoping to accomplish? There’s also the obligatory sizzle reel of forthcoming Marvel storylines, none of which looked appealing. But there is another surprise reveal thrown in that was intriguing, drawn by Andrea Sorrentino. I won’t say anything more than that but if you know what title Sorrentino’s been drawing for the last year, you’ll get a hint of what I’m talking about. And Ulysses’ fate was pretty cool too.
The art was really the most impressive aspect of Civil War II. David Marquez’s enormous talent lends the book a dazzling, slick look so that it always looks incredible and the few pages Andrea Sorrentino drew also looked amazing in that breathtakingly melancholic, photo-realistic style he has with landscapes.
The moral argument at the heart of Civil War II is a no-brainer but Bendis crafted a pretty compelling story that was good for at least half the book and David Marquez made it shine with his first class art. It’s not a great book but it’s also not bad either and it’s definitely better than its predecessor. Compared to most Marvel events, Civil War II is an outlier in being readable and not completely horrible – I’d say it’s worth a look for that alone!
Are you sitting down? This was a Marvel event book scripted by Brian Michael Bendis that was… actually ok?! I’m just as surprised, especially as I heard nothing but dogshit about this comic, but I would honestly rate the first half of Civil War II a solid four, maybe even five, stars! While clearly owing a lot to Minority Report, it’s an engagingly-written, fast-paced story with a couple of big-name characters getting killed off, upping the stakes and making you wonder who else is gonna get Ned Starked!
Then the story starts going south about halfway through as Bendis/Marvel Editorial decide to go the usual retarded event route of having tons of brainless, uninteresting superhero fights break out suddenly. BOO! Why do the Guardians of the Galaxy, Venom, Magik, Black Panther, and Storm favour Carol’s reasoning for arresting innocents? We don’t know because it’s never established, but I guess it was time for a big dumb superhero fight and they needed to make up the numbers. Throughout that fight I kept wondering which side of the fence characters were on as we never saw them make the decision one way or the other, they just seem to be fighting for the sake of it. Awful!
Like the first Civil War, Civil War II’s biggest flaw is in having an obviously “right” and “wrong” side. Arresting people for crimes that haven’t happened is of course wrong, especially given that Ulysses’ visions aren’t always bang on, so there’s really no conundrum over which side the reader is going to take (unless that reader is into totalitarianism)!
Also like Mark Millar’s Civil War, Bendis demonises the “wrong” side’s leader, Captain Marvel, to the point where Carol read like a completely different character. That’s a really weird move for Marvel to make at this point. Carol’s gonna get a LOT of attention very soon once the Avengers Infinity War movies and the Captain Marvel movie come out so why is Bendis depicting her as a fascist in one of Marvel’s most high profile books?? Among the many twists to this tale, his character assassination of Carol Danvers was probably the most shocking, particularly that scene when she brings in an ordinary person, who did nothing, and begins barking at them that she’ll make up evidence to convict them if she has to like some punk cop! How else is anyone meant to view Carol in that moment other than as a crazed villain drunk on power? And she does nothing to redeem herself later either!
Once the fighting starts the story never really recovers, especially that final battle which was contrived at best – I mean, what was Tony hoping to accomplish? There’s also the obligatory sizzle reel of forthcoming Marvel storylines, none of which looked appealing. But there is another surprise reveal thrown in that was intriguing, drawn by Andrea Sorrentino. I won’t say anything more than that but if you know what title Sorrentino’s been drawing for the last year, you’ll get a hint of what I’m talking about. And Ulysses’ fate was pretty cool too.
The art was really the most impressive aspect of Civil War II. David Marquez’s enormous talent lends the book a dazzling, slick look so that it always looks incredible and the few pages Andrea Sorrentino drew also looked amazing in that breathtakingly melancholic, photo-realistic style he has with landscapes.
The moral argument at the heart of Civil War II is a no-brainer but Bendis crafted a pretty compelling story that was good for at least half the book and David Marquez made it shine with his first class art. It’s not a great book but it’s also not bad either and it’s definitely better than its predecessor. Compared to most Marvel events, Civil War II is an outlier in being readable and not completely horrible – I’d say it’s worth a look for that alone!
January 7, 2017
A massive threat appeared in New York,
but the superheroes were warned about it by the Inhumans and were ready to defeat it.
During the celebratory after party everyone wants to know how the Inhumans knew the threat was coming...
and they told them.
A new Inhuman named Ulysses can see the future and it can change everything.
Civil War II really wasn't good. I'm currently interested in all things about the Inhumans so I was excited to see they were taking a central role, but they really didn't. Ulysses could have been from any group of super powered individuals and it wouldn't have made a difference, although I'm sure this put the spotlight on the Inhuman characters more. Not sure that was a good thing.
So the conflict centers around Captain Marvel and Iron Man, but in truth it was largely about a type of profiling. Ulysses visions showed a future, but is it ok to arrest someone for something they haven't done. Captain Marvel believed Ulysses visions were absolutely true and started arresting and detaining people before they could commit crimes. Iron Man wasn't sure and honestly his side of the argument was always a bit confusing. I don't really know outside of an early major incident why Tony Stark was fighting the use of the visions.
In the end Civil War II was an undeveloped excuse for the heroes to fight each other.
but the superheroes were warned about it by the Inhumans and were ready to defeat it.
During the celebratory after party everyone wants to know how the Inhumans knew the threat was coming...
and they told them.
A new Inhuman named Ulysses can see the future and it can change everything.
Civil War II really wasn't good. I'm currently interested in all things about the Inhumans so I was excited to see they were taking a central role, but they really didn't. Ulysses could have been from any group of super powered individuals and it wouldn't have made a difference, although I'm sure this put the spotlight on the Inhuman characters more. Not sure that was a good thing.
So the conflict centers around Captain Marvel and Iron Man, but in truth it was largely about a type of profiling. Ulysses visions showed a future, but is it ok to arrest someone for something they haven't done. Captain Marvel believed Ulysses visions were absolutely true and started arresting and detaining people before they could commit crimes. Iron Man wasn't sure and honestly his side of the argument was always a bit confusing. I don't really know outside of an early major incident why Tony Stark was fighting the use of the visions.
In the end Civil War II was an undeveloped excuse for the heroes to fight each other.
Read
July 21, 2016GIVE! TONY! A! BREAK! JESUS! FUCK!
July 29, 2022
Basic plot. A new Inhuman, Ulysses, get powers to see visions of the future and the heroes of the Marvel U use the visions to stop incidents like a Celestial from destroying Earth. Tony Stark questions if these visions will actually happen or not and Carol Danvers decides to start arresting everyone for what they did in these visions.
I'm a huge Bendis fan but I'm shocked in how poorly written this thing was. It was just, "Here let me shock you with one life altering situation after another. And let's take any Marvel character over 30 out of the equation so they can be replaced with younger, hipper versions that will appeal to teenagers." The story here is not very coherent. I feel like there's probably tie-in books that really need to be read to get the full story. Captain Marvel just decides she can start arresting people for stuff they might do, even though there is no legal precedent that would allow her to do so. The characterization for a LOT of the characters is off just so Bendis can drive his narrative. It seemed pretty obvious to me is that the next big Marvel event will be with Hydra Cap and Miles Morales and seeing the vision in here fulfilled just not like the heroes in the book think.
There were 2 bright spots in the book. One, a reference to the facial hair bros. Hilarious! Two, David Marquez's art and Justin Ponsor's colors especially make the book look gorgeous. Although, I do feel like maybe Marquez couldn't keep up with the art because the same two page spread shows up three times and another one shows up twice. Unfortunately, though great art can't save a poorly written book written only for "shock" value.
I'm a huge Bendis fan but I'm shocked in how poorly written this thing was. It was just, "Here let me shock you with one life altering situation after another. And let's take any Marvel character over 30 out of the equation so they can be replaced with younger, hipper versions that will appeal to teenagers." The story here is not very coherent. I feel like there's probably tie-in books that really need to be read to get the full story. Captain Marvel just decides she can start arresting people for stuff they might do, even though there is no legal precedent that would allow her to do so. The characterization for a LOT of the characters is off just so Bendis can drive his narrative. It seemed pretty obvious to me is that the next big Marvel event will be with Hydra Cap and Miles Morales and seeing the vision in here fulfilled just not like the heroes in the book think.
There were 2 bright spots in the book. One, a reference to the facial hair bros. Hilarious! Two, David Marquez's art and Justin Ponsor's colors especially make the book look gorgeous. Although, I do feel like maybe Marquez couldn't keep up with the art because the same two page spread shows up three times and another one shows up twice. Unfortunately, though great art can't save a poorly written book written only for "shock" value.
February 5, 2017
I honestly hate this story. Why do writers like to make Tony suffer so much? They over-exaggerate Tony and Carol's personalities just to get them at each other's throats.
Okay, the 2004 series had its problems but it at least succeeded in giving both sides merit making the loses meaningful.
In this run, after it's shown that Ulysses only sees a possible future, Carol still seems to wholeheartedly believes precautions should be always be taken. Guilty before proven innocent. Do you expect me to believe that Carol is as stubborn as Steve is sometimes, Bendis? Even Steve here thinks that side is wrong. Oh right, Hydra Cap, but still. I don't know a whole lot about Carol but she feels out of character. The fact that she is wrong and still pushes this makes the deaths in this series seem pointless. It still hurts but what was the point of them dying because of what might have happened.
I will say that the artwork is beautiful. It hurts so much but I just can't stop looking at it.
2 stars for story, 5 stars for artwork
Okay, the 2004 series had its problems but it at least succeeded in giving both sides merit making the loses meaningful.
In this run, after it's shown that Ulysses only sees a possible future, Carol still seems to wholeheartedly believes precautions should be always be taken. Guilty before proven innocent. Do you expect me to believe that Carol is as stubborn as Steve is sometimes, Bendis? Even Steve here thinks that side is wrong. Oh right, Hydra Cap, but still. I don't know a whole lot about Carol but she feels out of character. The fact that she is wrong and still pushes this makes the deaths in this series seem pointless. It still hurts but what was the point of them dying because of what might have happened.
I will say that the artwork is beautiful. It hurts so much but I just can't stop looking at it.
2 stars for story, 5 stars for artwork
February 28, 2022
I really don’t like the two Civil War events. I usually like to make my reviews lengthy to go in-depth, but this dull-ass shit ain’t even worth it. Like the other Civil War event, this is the dumbest story ever that takes itself way too seriously. It’s just a shitty version of Minority Report with superheroes. The only thing that works here is the art.
The worst part is the only reason this exists is that Marvel was cashing in on the civil war movie. The funniest part about that is the center crux of the conflict in this event, Rhodey’s injury, was derived from an out-of-context moment from the trailer for the Civil War movie. That’s how fucking desperate Marvel is for that comic & movie crossover money (that they don’t even get by the way and never ever will get because literally no one heads to a comic shop after watching a superhero movie in the real world). So dumb and I’m surprised more people didn’t notice. Also making Captain Marvel a fascist dickhead right before her movie was one of the dumbest things Marvel ever did.
Shit book made for greedy reasons. I hate both this and the original Civil War so fucking much.
The worst part is the only reason this exists is that Marvel was cashing in on the civil war movie. The funniest part about that is the center crux of the conflict in this event, Rhodey’s injury, was derived from an out-of-context moment from the trailer for the Civil War movie. That’s how fucking desperate Marvel is for that comic & movie crossover money (that they don’t even get by the way and never ever will get because literally no one heads to a comic shop after watching a superhero movie in the real world). So dumb and I’m surprised more people didn’t notice. Also making Captain Marvel a fascist dickhead right before her movie was one of the dumbest things Marvel ever did.
Shit book made for greedy reasons. I hate both this and the original Civil War so fucking much.
March 19, 2022
This was something..
I mean I didn't hate it but yeah re-reading it after reading it in single issues when it came out.. it does change some thoughts of mine from then to now.
So the premise is that there is a new Inhuman Ulysses who can see the future and using him they can predict the future and he kinda helps the Avengers to stop Thanos and some Celestial but that leads to some heroes getting killed and when he predicts something with another hero and what happens next changes everything between Tony and Carol. Carol wants to use the boy to forecast the future and apprehend the criminals before they commit it but Tony feels its just profiling..
And then what happens next well the war and taking sides and more possible future and finally the epic climax and the big fight there and the aftermath and the consequences of it all.
I kind of have mixed feelings overall like some characters are written so out of character like Carol.. like she will never act like it, but here she is written like an .. (pardon my language)..a** who just punches things without thinking and well her characterization is weird.
But the premise is good, the face off okayish and then the consequences even better as we see things to come (and having read most of them its good) and then the epic war between friends and the fall out and the tensions and what not and the new status quo of the Marvel universe in various books at the time.
Overall its a good premise and story, with some off beat characterization bt great fight and everything at stake and repercussions still felt to date in MU and also some interesting after-maths but the art overall is so good and I loved it, one of my favorite aspects of the book so yeah its a good one time read.
I mean I didn't hate it but yeah re-reading it after reading it in single issues when it came out.. it does change some thoughts of mine from then to now.
So the premise is that there is a new Inhuman Ulysses who can see the future and using him they can predict the future and he kinda helps the Avengers to stop Thanos and some Celestial but that leads to some heroes getting killed and when he predicts something with another hero and what happens next changes everything between Tony and Carol. Carol wants to use the boy to forecast the future and apprehend the criminals before they commit it but Tony feels its just profiling..
And then what happens next well the war and taking sides and more possible future and finally the epic climax and the big fight there and the aftermath and the consequences of it all.
I kind of have mixed feelings overall like some characters are written so out of character like Carol.. like she will never act like it, but here she is written like an .. (pardon my language)..a** who just punches things without thinking and well her characterization is weird.
But the premise is good, the face off okayish and then the consequences even better as we see things to come (and having read most of them its good) and then the epic war between friends and the fall out and the tensions and what not and the new status quo of the Marvel universe in various books at the time.
Overall its a good premise and story, with some off beat characterization bt great fight and everything at stake and repercussions still felt to date in MU and also some interesting after-maths but the art overall is so good and I loved it, one of my favorite aspects of the book so yeah its a good one time read.
August 16, 2019
Before I get into this review, I'm going to bring up the Trolly Problem. I am sure a lot of you have heard of the Trolly Problem, either in a high school or university philosophy class or The Good Place. If you haven't, here's what this (ridiculous in my opinion) thought experiment is.
You're standing by railway tracks. You see a trolly/tram is coming and it's going to hit and kill five people because the breaks are broken. You are standing by a lever that will make the tram turn and kill one person instead. Do you pull the lever?
Why am I bringing up the Trolly Problem? Well, that's what Civil War II felt like. It brought in moral complexities with just as much moral contrivance, and really its own version of the thought experiment.
Before I go in deep with this review, I actually want to compare it to Civil War and how these two arcs are different.
Civil War at least made sense
You know what I like about Civil War? Both sides had areas to them that made sense that you could side with Steve or Tony but still see merit in where they were coming from. I was Team Cap but honestly? Tony had points about training. The problem at hand for me was absolute government control and I felt a pay roll would make superheroes no different from cops. Then there was also the issue of secret identities. I can understand why civilians would want to know who was protecting them but that also puts the families of the heroes at risk.
Civil War didn't try to bring moral complexities into it, and both sides kind of had things you agreed and disagreed with. It was balanced. Where does Civil War II go wrong?
This is chaos and not the good kind
At the very basic surface level, I agree with Carol. If we're assuming Ulysses' visions do 100% show the future, it's not right to knowingly let people die. I also didn't agree with Tony when he outright blamed Carol for Rhodey's death or Jen's coma that came as a result of her trying to change the future. This goes back to the Trolly Problem; it's a situation where you either allow death to happen or risk death of people who might've not died otherwise.
This creates a lot of issues. Initially... Carol's intentions were good. She went to Thanos with Absolute Certainty he was going to go after the cosmic cube or whatever he was going after. Then the other instances which I'll get to soon have their own issues. But since we are on Carol, let's talk about her and Tony in this run.
What is this character assassination
I have a lot of questions, mostly why did Tony kidnap Ulysses? That put nothing but a bad taste in my mouth. Referring back to Civil War, neither Tony nor Cap did anything so outrageously horrendous that you were forced on one side, even temporarily. Again, Civil War worked because it allowed space for how you may feel about certain things. When Civil War II isn't relying on characterisation, it relies on where you might fall in the Trolly Problem thought experiment.
People actually use this mess of an arc to "prove" Carol's actually a "villain" when really, this is a dose of bad characterisation that Tony was put through too. Neither of them come out looking good after any of this.
We're gonna accidentally put in deeper philosophical questions but not really deal with them
I don't know if the things I'm going to point out were at all intentional. They probably weren't but they were included anyway. The only thing that was put in for certain was if it was okay to incarcerate a felon over only thinking about doing a crime. That's it.
Rhodey's death is a weird one to me. It was so clearly added to contribute to the conflict. Really, what were the chances of him being the one to die? What were the chances of any of those who went dying? I get why he was chosen to cause the conflict but I still hate it.
What does any of what I said have to do with philosophy? Simple: military deaths in unjust wars. Rhodey volunteered himself to go. How is his death any different from people who die in unjust war? Do I think this was the writer's intent? Absolutely not. I do however think it does create a layer of moral complexity.
Now onto are much more blatant example: Bruce's death. Needless to say, his death brings in the complexities of assisted suicide. This obviously gets messy and included in the conflict of 'well Clint wouldn't have shot him if he wasn't going to Hulk out, which wouldn't have happened if we'd never come'. Again, this gets into the messy grey area but since there was an entire trial around it, it brought in philosophy around assisted suicide. with what we know of Bruce as a character...it's dark. This only goes darker when the publics hatred of Bruce and Hulk come to fruition. It's kind of overlooked how the public loves Clint solely for killing Bruce, only made more apparent in The Fallen.
Lastly, the vision where Miles is shown killing Cap. I really don't think it was an accident the Afro-Latino character was profiled in a crime he didn't commit, I really don't. I want to believe the writers are at least that self aware. But it's difficult to think they are. Because, yes, profiling is mentioned, but not as in detail as it could be, or who would be most affected by this new method of catching the bad guys. I do kind of feel any chance of talking about this though was thrown out the window when a white woman with what looks like a good job was included. It was turned into how Carol was now going to go after anybody, not only because they have not shown signs of even potentially committing the crime, but because they haven't.
Could this shit show have been avoided?
I really do not get why they just didn't test Ulysses powers and find out how accurate his visions are are. I personally think more objective decisions could've been made knowing that. Tony didn't want to alter history at all, sure but he also seemed concerned with the likelihood of them becoming true. Carol wanted to prevent bad futures altogether. I don't think there could've been a completely civil agreement or anything but all of this could've been avoided.
In conclusion, this arc doesn't exist to me. The only good thing that came out of it was the Fallen one shot but that's my Bruce stan bias speaking.
If you made it this far, don't waste your time on this, read a synopsis on the basic events and just skim when other character's runs intersect with this.
You're standing by railway tracks. You see a trolly/tram is coming and it's going to hit and kill five people because the breaks are broken. You are standing by a lever that will make the tram turn and kill one person instead. Do you pull the lever?
Why am I bringing up the Trolly Problem? Well, that's what Civil War II felt like. It brought in moral complexities with just as much moral contrivance, and really its own version of the thought experiment.
Before I go in deep with this review, I actually want to compare it to Civil War and how these two arcs are different.
Civil War at least made sense
You know what I like about Civil War? Both sides had areas to them that made sense that you could side with Steve or Tony but still see merit in where they were coming from. I was Team Cap but honestly? Tony had points about training. The problem at hand for me was absolute government control and I felt a pay roll would make superheroes no different from cops. Then there was also the issue of secret identities. I can understand why civilians would want to know who was protecting them but that also puts the families of the heroes at risk.
Civil War didn't try to bring moral complexities into it, and both sides kind of had things you agreed and disagreed with. It was balanced. Where does Civil War II go wrong?
This is chaos and not the good kind
At the very basic surface level, I agree with Carol. If we're assuming Ulysses' visions do 100% show the future, it's not right to knowingly let people die. I also didn't agree with Tony when he outright blamed Carol for Rhodey's death or Jen's coma that came as a result of her trying to change the future. This goes back to the Trolly Problem; it's a situation where you either allow death to happen or risk death of people who might've not died otherwise.
This creates a lot of issues. Initially... Carol's intentions were good. She went to Thanos with Absolute Certainty he was going to go after the cosmic cube or whatever he was going after. Then the other instances which I'll get to soon have their own issues. But since we are on Carol, let's talk about her and Tony in this run.
What is this character assassination
I have a lot of questions, mostly why did Tony kidnap Ulysses? That put nothing but a bad taste in my mouth. Referring back to Civil War, neither Tony nor Cap did anything so outrageously horrendous that you were forced on one side, even temporarily. Again, Civil War worked because it allowed space for how you may feel about certain things. When Civil War II isn't relying on characterisation, it relies on where you might fall in the Trolly Problem thought experiment.
People actually use this mess of an arc to "prove" Carol's actually a "villain" when really, this is a dose of bad characterisation that Tony was put through too. Neither of them come out looking good after any of this.
We're gonna accidentally put in deeper philosophical questions but not really deal with them
I don't know if the things I'm going to point out were at all intentional. They probably weren't but they were included anyway. The only thing that was put in for certain was if it was okay to incarcerate a felon over only thinking about doing a crime. That's it.
Rhodey's death is a weird one to me. It was so clearly added to contribute to the conflict. Really, what were the chances of him being the one to die? What were the chances of any of those who went dying? I get why he was chosen to cause the conflict but I still hate it.
What does any of what I said have to do with philosophy? Simple: military deaths in unjust wars. Rhodey volunteered himself to go. How is his death any different from people who die in unjust war? Do I think this was the writer's intent? Absolutely not. I do however think it does create a layer of moral complexity.
Now onto are much more blatant example: Bruce's death. Needless to say, his death brings in the complexities of assisted suicide. This obviously gets messy and included in the conflict of 'well Clint wouldn't have shot him if he wasn't going to Hulk out, which wouldn't have happened if we'd never come'. Again, this gets into the messy grey area but since there was an entire trial around it, it brought in philosophy around assisted suicide. with what we know of Bruce as a character...it's dark. This only goes darker when the publics hatred of Bruce and Hulk come to fruition. It's kind of overlooked how the public loves Clint solely for killing Bruce, only made more apparent in The Fallen.
Lastly, the vision where Miles is shown killing Cap. I really don't think it was an accident the Afro-Latino character was profiled in a crime he didn't commit, I really don't. I want to believe the writers are at least that self aware. But it's difficult to think they are. Because, yes, profiling is mentioned, but not as in detail as it could be, or who would be most affected by this new method of catching the bad guys. I do kind of feel any chance of talking about this though was thrown out the window when a white woman with what looks like a good job was included. It was turned into how Carol was now going to go after anybody, not only because they have not shown signs of even potentially committing the crime, but because they haven't.
Could this shit show have been avoided?
I really do not get why they just didn't test Ulysses powers and find out how accurate his visions are are. I personally think more objective decisions could've been made knowing that. Tony didn't want to alter history at all, sure but he also seemed concerned with the likelihood of them becoming true. Carol wanted to prevent bad futures altogether. I don't think there could've been a completely civil agreement or anything but all of this could've been avoided.
In conclusion, this arc doesn't exist to me. The only good thing that came out of it was the Fallen one shot but that's my Bruce stan bias speaking.
If you made it this far, don't waste your time on this, read a synopsis on the basic events and just skim when other character's runs intersect with this.
January 19, 2017
This was a case of fantastic art being dragged down by a terrible storyline.
Marquez is a genius! He is definitely on my list of favorite artists! He is a large part of the reason I fell in love with Invincible Iron Man (2016).
Then Marvel took him off that to draw for this. Why???
This storyline was a thinly veiled attempt at drawing in moviegoers and a poor attempt, at that. Anyone who can Wikipedia something knows the plot lines have nothing to do with each other. I have my problems with the 2004 Civil War storyline but I've always given it credit for the fact that the conflict was actually a conflict. There were grey areas and no one was entirely right (although some Cap fans would disagree with me on that).
This storyline, it was clear that Carol was wrong. Why? Because she bases her choices on what this Inhuman kid sees and we later find out his predictions are imperfect. Don't base your actions on flawed logic. It's that simple.
Anyway, the plot line is an Inhuman kid, Ulysses, can see what he thinks is the future. He goes to the Avengers (or whatever the hell this group of heroes is calling itself these days. I can't keep up anymore) because he sees Thanos coming to earth. The futurist, Tony, is against taking this into account because the future is always changing. Carol thinks we should because if there's a chance to stop something bad from happening beforehand, why not take it?
Why not? Because several people are hurt, killed, improperly jailed because of what this kid saw. I won't spoil all of it but some important people are lost because of this flawed logic and this book does not earn their deaths. At all.
Carol is so far out of character that I was 99% sure it would be revealed that she was actually a Skrull. Cap is HYDRA, let that sink in. The ANAD tinies Kamala, Miles, and Sam are wondering how they finally became Avengers in time for this mess to ruin it all. (Same, by the way. I was really enjoying that ANAD series before this). The Inhumans are there. I don't really care for them. I was interested in the 2011 series but that was before Marvel pushed X-Men aside and tried to use the Inhumans to replace them.
Anyway, characterization was all over the place. Bendis did this because otherwise Carol's actions don't make any sense. The Carol Danvers I know and love would have never behaved this way or done half the things she did in the book. Especially not to Tony, someone she considered one of her closest friends.
I have to hope the deaths that take place in this book are fixed later but I doubt it. I know which characters Marvel considers valuable enough to keep around and the outcome of this series shows that.
I have to hope the flawed characterization is fixed because this book made me wonder why I even bother reading new Marvel books.
Sidenote: I see people saying Marvel's book sales are going down the tubes because they keep "replacing" their heroes with new versions of them and I highly doubt that's the reasons. The responses to Riri, Kamala, Amadeus and Miles have been largely positive. I think the problem with Marvel is they keep giving us shit like this. These universe wide arcs are ruining my enjoyment of their books because every time I find a new series I like, I have to wonder how long it'll stick around before another arc puts everything on hold. How many series were paused/ended/cancelled after Secret Wars? I put off buying ANAD Avengers and Silk vol. 2 because I knew this arc would shove its way into them. Stop it. Let us enjoy something for a while before making all your books comply with whatever bullshit arc you've come up with now.
While we're at it, stop making super heroes fight each other! Civil War, Avengers v. X-Men, Inhumans v. X-Men, Civil War II. Quit it! Let them fight villains for a change!
Luke Cage said it best in Power Man and Iron Fist (2016) #6
This book was a waste of time. The ending feels pointless. It ruined Carol for me and it took out some of my favorite characters in the process. It's not Bendis' best work and it wasted Marquez's talent.
Don't waste your time.
Marquez is a genius! He is definitely on my list of favorite artists! He is a large part of the reason I fell in love with Invincible Iron Man (2016).
Then Marvel took him off that to draw for this. Why???
This storyline was a thinly veiled attempt at drawing in moviegoers and a poor attempt, at that. Anyone who can Wikipedia something knows the plot lines have nothing to do with each other. I have my problems with the 2004 Civil War storyline but I've always given it credit for the fact that the conflict was actually a conflict. There were grey areas and no one was entirely right (although some Cap fans would disagree with me on that).
This storyline, it was clear that Carol was wrong. Why? Because she bases her choices on what this Inhuman kid sees and we later find out his predictions are imperfect. Don't base your actions on flawed logic. It's that simple.
Anyway, the plot line is an Inhuman kid, Ulysses, can see what he thinks is the future. He goes to the Avengers (or whatever the hell this group of heroes is calling itself these days. I can't keep up anymore) because he sees Thanos coming to earth. The futurist, Tony, is against taking this into account because the future is always changing. Carol thinks we should because if there's a chance to stop something bad from happening beforehand, why not take it?
Why not? Because several people are hurt, killed, improperly jailed because of what this kid saw. I won't spoil all of it but some important people are lost because of this flawed logic and this book does not earn their deaths. At all.
Carol is so far out of character that I was 99% sure it would be revealed that she was actually a Skrull. Cap is HYDRA, let that sink in. The ANAD tinies Kamala, Miles, and Sam are wondering how they finally became Avengers in time for this mess to ruin it all. (Same, by the way. I was really enjoying that ANAD series before this). The Inhumans are there. I don't really care for them. I was interested in the 2011 series but that was before Marvel pushed X-Men aside and tried to use the Inhumans to replace them.
Anyway, characterization was all over the place. Bendis did this because otherwise Carol's actions don't make any sense. The Carol Danvers I know and love would have never behaved this way or done half the things she did in the book. Especially not to Tony, someone she considered one of her closest friends.
I have to hope the deaths that take place in this book are fixed later but I doubt it. I know which characters Marvel considers valuable enough to keep around and the outcome of this series shows that.
I have to hope the flawed characterization is fixed because this book made me wonder why I even bother reading new Marvel books.
Sidenote: I see people saying Marvel's book sales are going down the tubes because they keep "replacing" their heroes with new versions of them and I highly doubt that's the reasons. The responses to Riri, Kamala, Amadeus and Miles have been largely positive. I think the problem with Marvel is they keep giving us shit like this. These universe wide arcs are ruining my enjoyment of their books because every time I find a new series I like, I have to wonder how long it'll stick around before another arc puts everything on hold. How many series were paused/ended/cancelled after Secret Wars? I put off buying ANAD Avengers and Silk vol. 2 because I knew this arc would shove its way into them. Stop it. Let us enjoy something for a while before making all your books comply with whatever bullshit arc you've come up with now.
While we're at it, stop making super heroes fight each other! Civil War, Avengers v. X-Men, Inhumans v. X-Men, Civil War II. Quit it! Let them fight villains for a change!
Luke Cage said it best in Power Man and Iron Fist (2016) #6
This book was a waste of time. The ending feels pointless. It ruined Carol for me and it took out some of my favorite characters in the process. It's not Bendis' best work and it wasted Marquez's talent.
Don't waste your time.
February 23, 2024
I truly do not know where to start in reviewing this book. My two favorite comic book gurus at Graham Crackers counseled me not to purchase this title, but I didn’t heed their warning. I should have listened!
When Civil War came out, it was an excellent story on moral responsibility, civil liberties and national security plus it tied in with current events such as the Patriot Act. This second story is all about profiling, which certainly is an issue right now with the world’s fight against terrorism, but is done so in such broad strokes as to lose its message.
Before I get started on the plot, I want to first say the artwork by Marquez and Ponsor is excellent, and actually is better quality than the first Civil War book. The coloring is rich, and the faces are realistic with the body types drawn more appropriately instead of unrealistic proportions than some artists do when they depict superheroes. However, there were some editing choices that puzzled me. There were some cool two-page spreads, but some were used several times over. When the story was in issue format, they obviously liked some pictures enough to include them in different issues, but when collected into graphic novel form, they should have eliminated the redundancy. Plus, the front cover fell prey to a recurring Marvel problem – it doesn’t match the story. The wrong Spiderman costume was drawn in (Miles was in this book, not Peter), and Quill from Guardians of the Galaxy is shown on Iron Man’s side when he was actually on Captain Marvel’s side.
Quick plot recap with some spoilers: A new Inhuman, Ulysses, emerges with the ability to see into the future. When he warns the Inhumans and Avengers that he sees a vision of the villain Thanos attacking, they are able to be proactive and are ready for him, thus thwarting a greater disaster. A hero dies, and Iron Man and Captain Marvel take different sides on whether Ulysses’s warnings are truly accurate, and if they should be used to prevent future crimes. Iron Man accuses Captain Marvel of profiling, while she feels it is more important to keep everyone safe no matter what it takes. Heroes take sides, and battles ensue. More deaths occur, with a showdown regarding how free will and one’s motives affect the possible threads of the future.
While there were some good moments with clever dialogue and the debate about the Hulk/Hawkeye issue, the rest of the book just seemed to be a hot mess. A huge problem for me was the tie-in issues that were referenced but not shown in this volume. I couldn’t possibly keep up with this whole merchandising “event” so I just read this novel, and was confused in spots. In the first Civil War, the X-Men sat out the battle, but in this second story everyone, and I mean everyone, showed up- the split X-Men team (a tie-in explained this, so I had no idea why half the members were with Storm and others followed Magneto), the Canadian Alpha Flight team, the Champions (young Avengers) and the flippin’ Guardians of the Galaxy showed up! What??!
But the biggest problem I had was with Captain Marvel and her character assassination in this book. Almost all superhero movies revolve around men, with a few token women thrown in as eye candy, so the upcoming Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel movies are very important. Why would they then make her SO unlikable before her chance to shine in a movie????
Now, I am truly hoping some Marvel fans can explain the following questions to me:
When Ulysses was changed into an Inhuman, wasn’t another college student taken too? What happened to her?
What’s the deal with the dog Lockjaw? He got drawn in more than some human heroes, such as Squirrel Girl who I saw in one panel and never again.
Why were heroes on either team? There was no explanation as to why they chose their side.
Do the heroes that died in this story stay dead? Usually, everyone comes back somehow and I don’t feel like reading other related issues to find out on my own.
Why is Hank McCoy now with the Inhumans? I’m sure I’ll have more questions if I think longer on the plot, but whatevs, I need to move on.
I’m disappointed that this story, which should tie in with upcoming Marvel movies, was just not any good. They did no favors to the franchise with how many of the characters were portrayed. A marketing line for the novel, “The Marvel comic event everyone will be talking about” proved true- but not for the reasons they had hoped.
This review can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2017/04/0...
When Civil War came out, it was an excellent story on moral responsibility, civil liberties and national security plus it tied in with current events such as the Patriot Act. This second story is all about profiling, which certainly is an issue right now with the world’s fight against terrorism, but is done so in such broad strokes as to lose its message.
Before I get started on the plot, I want to first say the artwork by Marquez and Ponsor is excellent, and actually is better quality than the first Civil War book. The coloring is rich, and the faces are realistic with the body types drawn more appropriately instead of unrealistic proportions than some artists do when they depict superheroes. However, there were some editing choices that puzzled me. There were some cool two-page spreads, but some were used several times over. When the story was in issue format, they obviously liked some pictures enough to include them in different issues, but when collected into graphic novel form, they should have eliminated the redundancy. Plus, the front cover fell prey to a recurring Marvel problem – it doesn’t match the story. The wrong Spiderman costume was drawn in (Miles was in this book, not Peter), and Quill from Guardians of the Galaxy is shown on Iron Man’s side when he was actually on Captain Marvel’s side.
Quick plot recap with some spoilers: A new Inhuman, Ulysses, emerges with the ability to see into the future. When he warns the Inhumans and Avengers that he sees a vision of the villain Thanos attacking, they are able to be proactive and are ready for him, thus thwarting a greater disaster. A hero dies, and Iron Man and Captain Marvel take different sides on whether Ulysses’s warnings are truly accurate, and if they should be used to prevent future crimes. Iron Man accuses Captain Marvel of profiling, while she feels it is more important to keep everyone safe no matter what it takes. Heroes take sides, and battles ensue. More deaths occur, with a showdown regarding how free will and one’s motives affect the possible threads of the future.
While there were some good moments with clever dialogue and the debate about the Hulk/Hawkeye issue, the rest of the book just seemed to be a hot mess. A huge problem for me was the tie-in issues that were referenced but not shown in this volume. I couldn’t possibly keep up with this whole merchandising “event” so I just read this novel, and was confused in spots. In the first Civil War, the X-Men sat out the battle, but in this second story everyone, and I mean everyone, showed up- the split X-Men team (a tie-in explained this, so I had no idea why half the members were with Storm and others followed Magneto), the Canadian Alpha Flight team, the Champions (young Avengers) and the flippin’ Guardians of the Galaxy showed up! What??!
But the biggest problem I had was with Captain Marvel and her character assassination in this book. Almost all superhero movies revolve around men, with a few token women thrown in as eye candy, so the upcoming Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel movies are very important. Why would they then make her SO unlikable before her chance to shine in a movie????
Now, I am truly hoping some Marvel fans can explain the following questions to me:
When Ulysses was changed into an Inhuman, wasn’t another college student taken too? What happened to her?
What’s the deal with the dog Lockjaw? He got drawn in more than some human heroes, such as Squirrel Girl who I saw in one panel and never again.
Why were heroes on either team? There was no explanation as to why they chose their side.
Do the heroes that died in this story stay dead? Usually, everyone comes back somehow and I don’t feel like reading other related issues to find out on my own.
Why is Hank McCoy now with the Inhumans? I’m sure I’ll have more questions if I think longer on the plot, but whatevs, I need to move on.
I’m disappointed that this story, which should tie in with upcoming Marvel movies, was just not any good. They did no favors to the franchise with how many of the characters were portrayed. A marketing line for the novel, “The Marvel comic event everyone will be talking about” proved true- but not for the reasons they had hoped.
This review can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2017/04/0...
May 22, 2017
Hey...I didn't hate this. That's something I didn't expect. I read Civil War a few years back and didn't particularly enjoy it much. So I figured 2, which was just a cash grab for the movie alongside it, would be terrible. I thought this had some neat ideas, some great moments, but a pretty shitty finisher.
What I liked: The art. The art is a fucking 5 out of 5. It's so smooth and nice looking. Never have fights looked so slick and easy. I also love mostly everyone's design in here. Also the idea of the story, having a future that COULD help or make it worse, was interesting. I actually saw sides to both and would find it difficult to figure out which side to choose. So the first few issues built up some pretty interesting discussions and choices. Also thought the moment with Cap and Miles was really well done, especially when you know what Cap is really doing behind the scenes.
What I didn't like: That Carol was written like a evil bitch who had no control. Carol is a smart character, she was written stupid here. I even expect a sudden outburst of anger but then when you have time to reflect, and know what went wrong, and push even further it makes no sense. Also Tony is just a prick who does stupid shit sometimes in here. He's supposed to be smart, calculated. Instead he's rash and dumb at times and written to close to dumbness for my liking. Also the ending was anti-climatic and felt empty. Like none of this should have happened. Which is a shame because first few issues are interesting.
I didn't find this terrible just down the line meh. It had great moments, stupid moments, mix it together and you get meh or just okay. So for that I give it a 2.5. Bumping it to 3 just because I fucking love the art. Hoping Secret Empire is better and from what I read so far it will be.
What I liked: The art. The art is a fucking 5 out of 5. It's so smooth and nice looking. Never have fights looked so slick and easy. I also love mostly everyone's design in here. Also the idea of the story, having a future that COULD help or make it worse, was interesting. I actually saw sides to both and would find it difficult to figure out which side to choose. So the first few issues built up some pretty interesting discussions and choices. Also thought the moment with Cap and Miles was really well done, especially when you know what Cap is really doing behind the scenes.
What I didn't like: That Carol was written like a evil bitch who had no control. Carol is a smart character, she was written stupid here. I even expect a sudden outburst of anger but then when you have time to reflect, and know what went wrong, and push even further it makes no sense. Also Tony is just a prick who does stupid shit sometimes in here. He's supposed to be smart, calculated. Instead he's rash and dumb at times and written to close to dumbness for my liking. Also the ending was anti-climatic and felt empty. Like none of this should have happened. Which is a shame because first few issues are interesting.
I didn't find this terrible just down the line meh. It had great moments, stupid moments, mix it together and you get meh or just okay. So for that I give it a 2.5. Bumping it to 3 just because I fucking love the art. Hoping Secret Empire is better and from what I read so far it will be.
December 30, 2023
I haven’t read Civil War I but this was a very interesting read. The moral question at the heart of the story is a good plot point. It’s been used before in books and TV shows but I liked how this one handled it. Interesting to see who fell on what side and why. It’s really easy to convince oneself that they are right. Too bad no one listens to each other because they are so sure of their choice. It’s ego and being so sure that one is right that usually leads to one’s downfall, which also affects others. That’s what this collection focuses on and I enjoyed that moral dilemma. The artwork is stellar and the host of characters are fantastic. I’ll have to try the first Civil War and compare.
October 25, 2025
Civil War II was pretty good. The artwork is solid all through out and the premise is interesting.
Carol Danvers and SHIELD have access to an Inhuman who can see the future and also make others see and feel the future. Yet when his visions cause Danvers to take proactive measures against various heroes in a "Minority Report" precognition situation, Stark and others decide to fight back. That's it. It's not any more complicated than that. However it is still a fun read and, as I said, the artwork is pretty good. Benids pens a nice fun beat-them-up comic.
Carol Danvers and SHIELD have access to an Inhuman who can see the future and also make others see and feel the future. Yet when his visions cause Danvers to take proactive measures against various heroes in a "Minority Report" precognition situation, Stark and others decide to fight back. That's it. It's not any more complicated than that. However it is still a fun read and, as I said, the artwork is pretty good. Benids pens a nice fun beat-them-up comic.
February 26, 2017
Actual footage of me after reading this:
The thing is this could have been good. It's a complicated issue (or at least it could have been) and yet it paints it as so black and white everything feels rushed and underdeveloped. Unlike the original Civil War comic where I felt torn over who I sided with, this one I don't. Instead, I shake my head at these characters, especially Carol and Tony and want to shout "HOW ARE YOU BOTH SO FREAKING STUPID?!" from the rooftops. Why did no one take them aside and say "oh hey I get where you're both coming from but there IS a happy medium we can work with here." Actual rational adults would EASILY have been able to come up with a compromise. Are they seriously suggesting that Carol freaking Danvers is that stupid and that pig-headed? If Captain America thinks you're being dumb, if Stephen Strange is actually involved in this fight and you're on the opposite side - you've made a horrendous decision.
While the cost in this was so much higher than that of the first Civil War, I didn't feel any tension. I had a few "oh no they didn't" moments but they didn't last. I wasn't thinking OH NO WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN IS EVERYTHING OKAY I NEED TO FINISH THIS WHOLE THING IN ONE SITTING. If I wasn't a completionist I probably wouldn't have bothered (and I only really read this so I could get background for the new Hulk series).
It did have good moments. But it wasn't enough for me. I was looking forward to this instead I was just meh over the whole thing. (Also sorry X-Men > Inhumans, fight me). What they were fighting for in the original Civil War actually meant something, what did this mean? Is the Marvel world actually changed now because of what happened in this book? Was this series and it's 85 spin offs anything other than a money grab? I was also confused on some things because sorry Marvel I don't read every single one of your titles. Call me when Tony wakes up and Carol gets her brain back, I'll be waiting.
The thing is this could have been good. It's a complicated issue (or at least it could have been) and yet it paints it as so black and white everything feels rushed and underdeveloped. Unlike the original Civil War comic where I felt torn over who I sided with, this one I don't. Instead, I shake my head at these characters, especially Carol and Tony and want to shout "HOW ARE YOU BOTH SO FREAKING STUPID?!" from the rooftops. Why did no one take them aside and say "oh hey I get where you're both coming from but there IS a happy medium we can work with here." Actual rational adults would EASILY have been able to come up with a compromise. Are they seriously suggesting that Carol freaking Danvers is that stupid and that pig-headed? If Captain America thinks you're being dumb, if Stephen Strange is actually involved in this fight and you're on the opposite side - you've made a horrendous decision.
While the cost in this was so much higher than that of the first Civil War, I didn't feel any tension. I had a few "oh no they didn't" moments but they didn't last. I wasn't thinking OH NO WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN IS EVERYTHING OKAY I NEED TO FINISH THIS WHOLE THING IN ONE SITTING. If I wasn't a completionist I probably wouldn't have bothered (and I only really read this so I could get background for the new Hulk series).
It did have good moments. But it wasn't enough for me. I was looking forward to this instead I was just meh over the whole thing. (Also sorry X-Men > Inhumans, fight me). What they were fighting for in the original Civil War actually meant something, what did this mean? Is the Marvel world actually changed now because of what happened in this book? Was this series and it's 85 spin offs anything other than a money grab? I was also confused on some things because sorry Marvel I don't read every single one of your titles. Call me when Tony wakes up and Carol gets her brain back, I'll be waiting.
February 9, 2017
(Hardly a) CIVIL WAR II
Remember civil war? I enjoyed reading that event. The story, the action, the conflict and the moral ambiguity. Fun!
But Civil war II have none of above mentioned quality of its predecessor to offer. The story isn't sharp and the action is hardly there.
Premise: A new inhuman is discovered who can see future. Captain Marvel want to use him to stop crimes before it happens. Tony believes its not right to arrest someone who hasn't done anything wrong yet. What if it is A future and not THE future.
So basically Minority report with superheroes.
Plus why call this Civil war? There is only ONE full fledged superhero on superhero fight in the whole run and its not even during the finale. Also, last time everyone had their own personal reasons and interests to choose sides. But in this one, the need to choose sides and fight against each other isn't compelling.
The story had potential,But the execution was awful.
Overall, disappointing.
Remember civil war? I enjoyed reading that event. The story, the action, the conflict and the moral ambiguity. Fun!
But Civil war II have none of above mentioned quality of its predecessor to offer. The story isn't sharp and the action is hardly there.
Premise: A new inhuman is discovered who can see future. Captain Marvel want to use him to stop crimes before it happens. Tony believes its not right to arrest someone who hasn't done anything wrong yet. What if it is A future and not THE future.
So basically Minority report with superheroes.
Plus why call this Civil war? There is only ONE full fledged superhero on superhero fight in the whole run and its not even during the finale. Also, last time everyone had their own personal reasons and interests to choose sides. But in this one, the need to choose sides and fight against each other isn't compelling.
The story had potential,But the execution was awful.
Overall, disappointing.
July 4, 2017
The first half of this was fantastic. I was practically in shock: a crossover 'event' that's actually GOOD?! Surely not!
Sadly, at the halfway point it took a sudden downturn, devolving into pointless hero vs. hero fights like we've seen a hundred times before. SUCH a shame!
If they could've maintained the quality of the first four issues for the entire event, this would have been a five star review... Oh, well, whatever, nevermind...
Sadly, at the halfway point it took a sudden downturn, devolving into pointless hero vs. hero fights like we've seen a hundred times before. SUCH a shame!
If they could've maintained the quality of the first four issues for the entire event, this would have been a five star review... Oh, well, whatever, nevermind...
July 28, 2022
Don't know why this is so much-maligned. It kept my interest, though on the whole I prefer the original Civil War. The art was amazing throughout, too.
October 7, 2017
[Read as single issues]
Ha. Ha ha ha ha. Oh dear. Yeah, this wasn't good.
Plot overview: Minority Report, with superheroes. Precognitive character (because we don't have any of those already) splits the Marvel Universe in half as predictive justice and due process fight it out. Characters pick sides pretty much arbitrarily, Captain Marvel's written wildly out of character (which I find personally offensive because she's one of my favourite characters), and there's about two issues that are literally just characters punching each other. Reading this monthly was like utter despair at times. The fact that the majority of the Marvel Universe has already forgotten this event should give you an indication of how good it was, to be honest.
The one shining star is David Marquez, whose art is absolutely gorgeous on every page, and the fill-in art from Olivier Coipel on the zero issue and Andrea Sorrentino in the later two issues is almost worth the price of admission. Almost.
Look at the pretty pictures. Ignore all of the words. Or go read something else. That works too.
Ha. Ha ha ha ha. Oh dear. Yeah, this wasn't good.
Plot overview: Minority Report, with superheroes. Precognitive character (because we don't have any of those already) splits the Marvel Universe in half as predictive justice and due process fight it out. Characters pick sides pretty much arbitrarily, Captain Marvel's written wildly out of character (which I find personally offensive because she's one of my favourite characters), and there's about two issues that are literally just characters punching each other. Reading this monthly was like utter despair at times. The fact that the majority of the Marvel Universe has already forgotten this event should give you an indication of how good it was, to be honest.
The one shining star is David Marquez, whose art is absolutely gorgeous on every page, and the fill-in art from Olivier Coipel on the zero issue and Andrea Sorrentino in the later two issues is almost worth the price of admission. Almost.
Look at the pretty pictures. Ignore all of the words. Or go read something else. That works too.
November 17, 2021
shockingly, i was enjoying this (and the art style) a lot! it's been quite a while since that happened. i usually get bored with the comics recently but i was genuinely invested in the story and it was actually a page turner for me until the very end that they did that! sorry marvel but tony lives in my heart rent free so maybe next time just giVE HIM A FUCKING BREAK! DAMMIT!
3.5 stars!
3.5 stars!
July 13, 2020
I like the idea of exploring predictive policing within the superhero universe. That is one way to get a divisive crowd and get things riling up between one another. After all, ideologies have always been at the heart of heated confrontations, if not war.
While it had an interesting guideline throughout the whole story, with the arrival of Ulysses, the Inhuman who can see a future, emphasis on "a", I can't say that it all developed properly. There were multiple subplots that were simply teased and left out while others were rushed into without a satisfying execution.
There are some truly significant moments throughout this story, including major deaths, but I feel like the actual civil war battle sequences weren't properly justified. I mean, come on, all those who were implicated should know what war could do to themselves and others. But the worse of all this is Captain Marvel's characterization that further envenomed my vision of her character. Nothing she did or thought made me question my stance on the dilemma at hand. She simply ended up being in the one camp that would get the most fire from others.
At least the artwork was fantastic. It had a drop in quality at certain moments, especially that one sequence with splash pages with no dialogue, but everything remained strong from start to finish.
Yours truly,
Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/
While it had an interesting guideline throughout the whole story, with the arrival of Ulysses, the Inhuman who can see a future, emphasis on "a", I can't say that it all developed properly. There were multiple subplots that were simply teased and left out while others were rushed into without a satisfying execution.
There are some truly significant moments throughout this story, including major deaths, but I feel like the actual civil war battle sequences weren't properly justified. I mean, come on, all those who were implicated should know what war could do to themselves and others. But the worse of all this is Captain Marvel's characterization that further envenomed my vision of her character. Nothing she did or thought made me question my stance on the dilemma at hand. She simply ended up being in the one camp that would get the most fire from others.
At least the artwork was fantastic. It had a drop in quality at certain moments, especially that one sequence with splash pages with no dialogue, but everything remained strong from start to finish.
Yours truly,
Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/
April 26, 2019
Poor dialogue. Arguably juvenile. Wonderful artwork.
After a few juvenile dialogue instances, I tossed this book when Black Panther said he was going to puke in his mask simply because Captain Marvel and her lover were kissing. I don't think Black Panther would make such a grammar school remark.
MY GRADE: D.
After a few juvenile dialogue instances, I tossed this book when Black Panther said he was going to puke in his mask simply because Captain Marvel and her lover were kissing. I don't think Black Panther would make such a grammar school remark.
MY GRADE: D.
March 2, 2017
I didn't hate this the way so many other people seem to have, but I certainly didn't love it. It's not great, but it isn't Avengers vs. X-Men, either. I don't have a problem with the premise. Yes, it's basically Marvel Universe Minority Report, but that's fine. In a world with both Inhumans and mutants with apparently unlimited range of potential powers, it was only a matter of time before somebody showed up with reliable clairvoyance, and how to handle that is a legitimate question. Unfortunately, both Tony and Carol get a bit hijacked in order to turn this into a slugfest. Because they should be able to rationally hash out their differences, and they just don't. Really, this book peaks with the Hulk issue, and it's all downhill from there. I don't mind the big character deaths, and I actually think those were handled rather well. It's after that point where it becomes two stubborn and irrational immovable objects, with everybody else reacting to them. I might have rated this lower, but David Marquez did such a phenomenal job with the art that I couldn't quite bring myself to do it. It may devolve into senseless punchups later on, but it looks good doing it.
January 18, 2017
I didn't buy the premise at all. This is not even a shadow of its predecessor's self. The problem of Ulysses is one that two rational adults could come to compromise pretty easily without blows and it took dramatically exaggerating Starks' and Danvers' personalities to get them to the point where they'd fight over something like that. Especially the business around Spider-Man--that was just ridiculous. Haven't any of them seen Minority Report? This sort of thing never ends well. The ending was pretty anti-climactic, with Ulysses floating up to join the celestials or whatever and Tony Stark not actually dying. Civl War II is the epitome of everything that frustrates me about superhero comics. We're in soap opera territory now.
edit: soap opera territory by superhero comics standards, that is. So like double soap opera. Or something.
edit: soap opera territory by superhero comics standards, that is. So like double soap opera. Or something.
February 5, 2017
Very very good! So once again, what I thought was just gonna be a cash grab from Marvel, they have once again proved me wrong! So the story is a New Inhuman, appears, who can basically see the future(Basically like Cisco from The Flash TV series). Because of this kid, the heroes are able to stop a earth shattering event before it happens(He saved our wallets)! And now, what are they gonna do with this kid? That's where the Captain Marvel v Iron Man, fight comes in; Captain Marvel wants to use this kid to be able to prevent disasters from happening(She's the crazy side I was against the whole time); and then Iron Man knows how dangerous this could end up being, and he wants to learn and find out more before doing anything drastic(The logical side, that makes sense!), and thus you have Civil War 2! The story for this is really really well done; it also does a great job of conveying emotion and the gravity of the situation, with simple dialogue, and often times where their is a few pages with no dialogue at all; but is still so impactful on the reader! Artwork is beautiful too! Overall another good event from Marvel!
June 28, 2021
I liked this one, although the premise seemed a little shaky. An Inhuman has the power to predict the future. Ms. Marvel wants to use this power to prevent things before they happen. Tony Stark thinks the future should be left alone, so to speak. Things get a little trickier when it comes out the predictions are more probabilities rather than absolutes. So the heroes take sides and we end up with another Civil War.
It just seemed to me as though this could have been handled more diplomatically. There were some major events in this series.
The art was great, and we had some pretty cool fight scenes. This wasn't bad, but it seemed like a case where they needed an event and created a story, rather than having a story that needed an event.
It just seemed to me as though this could have been handled more diplomatically. There were some major events in this series.
The art was great, and we had some pretty cool fight scenes. This wasn't bad, but it seemed like a case where they needed an event and created a story, rather than having a story that needed an event.
November 3, 2020
The good: quality writing and dialogue from Brian Michael Bendis, outstanding art, and some interesting concepts.
The bad: plot holes wide enough to drive a uhaul through, silly and illogical narrative choices, and a lack of resolution.
Not a great event by any means, but an occasionally entertaining read. Manage your expectations accordingly.
The bad: plot holes wide enough to drive a uhaul through, silly and illogical narrative choices, and a lack of resolution.
Not a great event by any means, but an occasionally entertaining read. Manage your expectations accordingly.
February 7, 2017
tony:
marvel: havE YOU SEEN THIS MAN EGO!!!! HE CANT BE HAPPY. MAKE HIM SUFFER!1!1
I literally just read this because of David's art.
marvel: havE YOU SEEN THIS MAN EGO!!!! HE CANT BE HAPPY. MAKE HIM SUFFER!1!1
I literally just read this because of David's art.
April 10, 2021
Two words:
MIND
VOMIT
Simply, the roles of Cap & Iron-Man are reversed. And by meaning Cap, I mean the worst Captain Marvel ever written.
MIND
VOMIT
Simply, the roles of Cap & Iron-Man are reversed. And by meaning Cap, I mean the worst Captain Marvel ever written.
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