Civil War II: X-Men

Civil War II

by Cullen Bunn, Andrea Broccardo (Illustrator)

Terrigen Mists circle the globe...but while they are the source of the Inhumans' power, they are simultaneously whittling down mutantkind's numbers and suppressing any new Mutant manifestations. Driven into a cold war, the Inhumans and Mutants know that someday, there must come a reckoning. But when a new Inhuman with the power to change the course of history emerges, there are Mutants who believe the end of their race is nigh...and are willing to do anything to prevent that end from coming.

COLLECTING: Civil War II: X-Men 1-4, Amazing Adventures (1970) 9

Genres: Comics, Marvel, X Men, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Comic Book, Fiction

112 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2016

About the author

Cullen grew up in rural North Carolina, but now lives in the St. Louis area with his wife Cindy and his son Jackson. His noir/horror comic (and first collaboration with Brian Hurtt), The Damned, was published in 2007 by Oni Press. The follow-up, The Damned: Prodigal Sons, was released in 2008. In addition to The Sixth Gun, his current projects include Crooked Hills, a middle reader horror prose series from Evileye Books; The Tooth, an original graphic novel from Oni Press; and various work for Marvel and DC. Somewhere along the way, Cullen founded Undaunted Press and edited the critically acclaimed small press horror magazine, Whispers from the Shattered Forum.

All writers must pay their dues, and Cullen has worked various odd jobs, including Alien Autopsy Specialist, Rodeo Clown, Professional Wrestler Manager, and Sasquatch Wrangler.

And, yes, he has fought for his life against mountain lions and he did perform on stage as the World's Youngest Hypnotist. Buy him a drink sometime, and he'll tell you all about it.

Visit his website at www.cullenbunn.com.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 1 out of 5]

Four issues of the X-Men bickering about if they should go kill Ulysses or not for something he might be coerced into doing in the future. It's terrible. It looks like they gave the art chores to a summer intern. It's so obviously meant as a setup for the Inhumans Vs. X-Men event that I've been dreading since they started this whole thing about the terrigen cloud kills mutants. It's a pretty simple solution to the problem. "Hey look, there's a cloud that will kill me! I guess I should run away until it passes by."

[Terence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Magneto and his X-Men try to assist mutants to survive the terrigen cloud.

When they run into problems,

unexpected help in the form of Storm's X-Men arrives. Magneto's team learns of an Inhuman that can predict the future that warned Storm about Magneto's team's possible fate

and that doesn't sit well with Magneto. Magneto intends on learning all he can about the Inhumans new "weapon" and as always he will destroy it to save mutant kind.

Civil War II: X-Men is basically a teaser trailer for the upcoming Mutant and Inhuman events. It gives you enough to know if you're interested in it or not, but not enough substance to be satisfying. Multiple issues leaves the Mutant Inhuman conflict in the same place it's been since post Secret Wars. The terrigen cloud is killing mutants and it's only a matter of time before they retaliate against the Inhumans. The funny thing is no one is talking about the fact that if they want to fight someone it should be Black Bolt...I guess no one wants any trouble with him... understandably.

The conflict between X-Men teams is quite uncomfortable as a long time X-Men fan. Seeing the X-Men of my childhood fight each other outside the Danger Room is unsettling. Hopefully Civil War II: X-Men will be the last time I have to witness such a thing.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Terrigen Cloud as metaphor for Marvel editorial policy again. This four issue mini-series isn't terrible by any stretch of the imagination but it doesn't really add anything new to the whole Civil War II 'event' other than Nightcrawler's question about why Ulysses is being treated any differently to the other precognitives that have been knocking around the Marvel universe for years.

An OK but unessential tie-in, basically.

[Keith · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, that was not good.

I read online that X-Men was the best part of Civil War II, but that was very wrong. As much as CWII feels like an added layer of complication atop the Marvel Universe, this miniseries really doesn't make sense within the context of the X-books coming out at the same time. No one really behaves the way they're currently behaving in their own titles, the rivalry between the X-Men and Inhumans is redundant, and the art is HORRIBLE.

Just muh. Not even "meh." Muh.

[Brandon · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Amazing Adventures story is a short one about the Inhuman Royal Family being on the run then getting caught up on Magneto's next big crazy plan, which is pretty forgettable and lacking anything that makes it worth reading.

And then you have the main series! Which... is worse? The TL;DR is that Magneto thinks having a fortune-tellert is too OP and wants to start a race war with the Inhumans before *they* can start a race war with the mutants. Magneto's X-Men and Storm's X-Men disagree on whether the innocent Inhuman should be murdered in his sleep, so they fight for four issues.

Never mind that the X-Men have a bunch of clairvoyant mutants already.

Never mind that Magneto is doing the exact same thing he accuses the Inhumans of doing, for the same reasons.

It's just a Civil War in the middle of Civil War II. It's Civil War 2.5. Magneto *thinks* he knows that Ulysses is going to help the Inhumans kill mutants, just like Ulysses *thinks* he knows the future from his visions. Except Ulysses' superpowers are telling the future, and Magneto's superpowers are being a colossal dickweed.

It's like this tie-in took all the worst parts of Civil War II and threw in mutants. Yawn.

[Jesús De la Jara · Rating 3 out of 5]

En verdad es una saga sin mucha importancia, o mejor dicho sin consecuencias especiales, hubiera dado casi lo mismo que no existiera.
Cuando el inhumano Ulysses genera con sus visiones una división en el mundo marvel, esto no puede ser ajeno a los X-Men, que bajo el mando de Magneto tratan de llegar hasta la ciudad de New Attilan a capturarlo. Lo interesante y lo que me gustó más fue que pude ver nuevamente a todos los mutantes reunidos, porque la verdad desde que finalizó Uncanny X-Men ya no me llaman la atención los cómics actuales de X-Men (aunque son siempre mis personajes favoritos de todo Marvel), pues hay tantos grupos y tan poco sustantivos que sus objetivos han perdido mucha fuerza.
El final como dije es nada concluyente pero abre el telón para lo que viene "Inhumanos vs X-Men"

[Alex E · Rating 2 out of 5]

Magneto, seeing the danger that Ulysses poses to an already dwindling mutant population, decides to launch an attack to retrieve and possibly eliminate Ulysses from Atilan.

Whenever there is a big event and there's a ton of tie ins, you can guarantee that some, if not most, will suck. Unfortunately, this book is closer to the suck that most. Magneto, who already has a chip on his shoulder due to the terrigen mists killing mutants, hears about Ulysses and what he can do, and decides that if Ulysses makes a prediction against mutants, then they are done for. In other words, Ulysses is a clear and present danger to mutant kind overall. Storm and her team don't agree with him so they try and stop him. And ultimately, a conversation between Ulysses and Magneto - where Magneto gets a glimpse of a possibly future, is what deters Magneto from carrying out his plan.

The story wasn't completely terrible, but it could've been done in 1 maybe 2 issues. There is a lot of filler and killing time to get to the 4th issue, which is strange because usually Cullen Bunn is good about pacing and having interesting developments to round out volumes like this. But unfortunately, this comes off as an editorial mandate to not only tie into civil war II but also setup Inhumans vs X-Men - which to be fair I am eager to read.

I would say this is for completionists only. Otherwise, feel free to skip.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Essentially a preview for the upcoming Inhumans vs. Avengers event, and only slightly Civil War 2 related. The writing was capable, if not exciting, but I do find the upcoming conflict interesting. I feel like it's being set up way, way better than Avengers vs. X-Men had been. I really do feel like, under these circumstances, it actually is inevitable that mutants and inhumans will go to war. The Terrigen cloud is killing mutants, and the inhumans need it to survive. There's no way the two sides can peacefully coexist while one is responsible for the extinction of the other. And a horrible thought I had while reading, which I've never seen addressed in a comic before. Mutants are mutants from birth, right? They don't magically change their entire biochemistry the moment their powers manifest, right? So how many mutant infants and children have died because of the cloud?

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 2 out of 5]

[Read as single issues]

Yawn.

Civil War II is not kind to a lot of books. This mini-series feels completely superfluous to everything. Magneto moans for a bit, Storm tells him to behave, Nightcrawler kicks a few people, and Rachel Grey turns up to remind people she exists. It's not bad, it just doesn't justify its existence at all.

Add in some bland art that I probably couldn't pick out of a crowd, and this just feels totally unnecessary to the already floundering X-Men line of comics as well as the ongoing plot of Civil War II and Cullen Bunn's Uncanny X-Men.

Hard pass.

[Starlight Kid · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alot of great characters, excellent art work but a storyline that is pretty much none existant.

X-Men has seriously gone down hill for me this last year after the new reboot. I honestly cant find anything positive however about the story, this whole Terrigan Mist thing is something thats just a poor idea. Hopefully after the Inhumans vs X-Men series that is due soon then we get be done with this bad time for X-Men.

[Annye Driscoll · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm having a lot of fun reading through all of the Civil War II books, but *man* a lot of them are bad. This one has a silly, contrived *EPIC BATTLE* which is resolved in literally one stupid frame, and the art repeatedly made me cringe. Blech.

[Michael Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coming into this collection after reading the first two volumes of the disappointing All-New X-Men from Dennis Hopeless, this one is a breath of fresh air! Set in the midst of Marvel’s forgettable Civil War II event mini-series, this one sees the Extraordinary X-Men squaring off against the Magneto-led Uncanny X-Men with all the Civil War Inhuman stuff in the background. I dug the various machinations at play here, and the levels of deceit happening between the opposing X-camps. Cullen Bunn did some work on the scripts here, and the opening pages of issue one involving a secret mutant bunker to outlast the spreading Terrigen Mist were an immediate attention grabber. I don’t remember much at all about the main Civil War II event, but Bunn does a nice job recapping things and gave enough info to keep me up to speed and engaged, so I never felt lost. Although this book springboards off the main event, it functions well on its own, which is not always the case with Marvel events and the various tie-ins they tend to generate. It had a neat little bit of spy hijinks and plenty of action, and it was largely a lot of fun to read. I dug it! I’m definitely going to have to check out Bunn’s main Uncanny X-Men series next, as it looks like that team book has one hell of an interesting line-up, including Monet, who I recall from Generation X way back in the day but haven’t seen used much since (or at least not interestingly enough for me to recall offhand...).

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finished it a couple of days ago and now I can barely remember anything about it. So I guess that about sums up my opinion of the thing. Forgettable.

[Mr. Cody · Rating 3 out of 5]

Getting better. Bunn' writing is far from perfect, but he's finding his x-voice.

[Daniel McTaggart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even an impressive writer can turn out stuff that's barely passable. And storywise, Civil War II: X-Men is barely passable. One has the feeling this book was handed out as a fill-in to the latest crossover fad of the day, Civil War II. The X-Men's side of the story shows how Magneto uses his team to drive a wedge between the X-Men and the Inhumans. But for casual readers, there's a lot of backstory to cover. Bunn tries to do this as ably as he can, but four issues isn't enough. And the small weight this miniseries carries doesn't justify any more room to tell it. To his credit, Bunn saves the best storytelling for the last issue. And Marvel threw in a classic story from the 70s as well. The artist is unknown to me, so I figure it's kind of a tryout job. It was very action-oriented, which moved the story well. The only places it faltered were where Bunn phoned in his corny battle-banter. Plenty of "ARGH!" and "YEEARGH!" and "UNGH!" to be had here. Still an entertaining read for anyone just wanting a comic to pass the time. I think hardcore fans might be happy avoiding it. But don't worry. Bunn is a much better writer than this one story shows. He's an excellent horror writer, which may be why a miniseries like this is not his forte.

[Judah Radd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my fav at all.

I loathed Andrea Broccardo’s art. Was so distracting. Cullen is a very good writer, but I could tell that his heart wasn’t in it here. Like me, he probably wasn’t a big fan of the Civil War 2 event’s influence.

All in all, this is pretty forgettable and skippable, although it does set up Inhumans vs X-Men.

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like a 2.75 with moments that were enjoyable but overall didn't full get me excited.

Really this is Inhuman vs. X-Men preview and not really Civil War 2...at all.

[Kay Vanantwerpen · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some fun ideas here -- occasionally some of the dialogue-laden fight scenes are fun, it's neat to see Magneto at the top of his game. But beyond that, these four issues just kind of meander through the scenario established in the first few pages of Issue one.

The X-Men and the Brotherhood are both made aware of an inhuman named Ulysses with the power to forsee variant avenues of the future. While the X-Men want to live-and-let-live, Magneto is convinced that the Inhumans (who are responsible for the terrigen mists currently driving mutants to extinction) will use Ulysses' prophet credibility to sway public opinion against mutants and eliminate the little hope they have left.

Yeah, this sounds like it could create some interesting conflict. It doesn't though -- the characters spend all four issues rolling exposition-heavy dialogue about the problem, but never doing anything to move the plot forward. This might even be interesting if the characters dug into the nuances of the moral crossroads they're at -- they don't. The couple of points characters make during the first issue are instead just repeated and repeated and repeated. There's so much redundancy in this book, it honestly could've been cut down to about 20% of the length and it probably still would've felt a bit bloaty.

[Krzysztof Grabowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mgła terrigenowa stanowi śmiertelne zagrożenie dla mutantów, ale stanowi jednocześnie zaczątek pojawiania się nowych Inhumans, więc kwestią czasu było się pojawienie konfliktu pomiędzy obiema frakcjami i rzeczywiście do tego dochodzi. Pojawienie się niejakiego Ulissesa przelewa czarę goryczy i Magneto postanawia działać...

Pozycja jest mocno przewidywalna i rozczarowująca głównie dlatego, że nic nie zmienia. Jest tu kilka potyczek, wzajemne ostrzeganie się i chwilowy rozejm, który za chwilę jednak padnie bo zbliża się kolejny event Marvela, który może wreszcie rozstrzygnie ten problem z mgiełką, który ciągnie się od "Nieskończoności".

Taki tytuł-zapychacz, bo wypada coś wrzucić około kolejnego eventu. Tyle, że na rynku jest kilka dużo lepszych pozycji, po które warto sięgnąć. Po to - nie za bardzo...

[Mr. Stick · Rating 3 out of 5]

"IF ULYSSES PREDICTS THAT THANOS MIGHT COME, THEN OUR COURSE OF ACTION IS CLEAR. BUT WHAT IF HE PREDICTS THAT A YOUNG MUTANT WILL GROW UP TO BE A GLOBAL THREAT? WHAT DO WE DO IN THAT CASE? DO WE IMPRISON THE CHILD BASED ON THE CALCULATIONS MADE BY A BOY WHO IS ONLY JUST LEARNING TO CONTROL HIS OWN GIFTS?"
- Nightcrawler to Magneto and company.

Magneto is on a quest to prevent the extinction of the mutant race... by the Inhumans?
Not a bad Civil War II tie-in. Magneto is the focus as is Nightcrawler and Medusa. The main event was a bit over-rated and this story does nothing to change that. Readable, but not exciting.
Two and-a-half (rounded up to three) stars.

[Arturo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was more about yet another inner civil war between the x teams. Magneto's team against Storm's with some alliances switching sides.
And it was awful. Bland and boring.
Some decent moments were.. old man Logan vs good Sabertooth. Fantomex vs Gambit, a tense talk between Storm and Medusa. And Captain Marvel helping the X-Men against the Brood.. Just like the old days.
But Magneto and Ulysses's moral speeches were too much.

CW II checklist
Inner fighting ✔️✔️
Long moral speeches ✔️✔️

Civil War II essential: 1 out of 10 face paint lines.
Inhumans vs X-Men essential: 2 out of 10 ruby quartz.
X series progression: 5 out 10 dog tags.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Saddled with being part of a pretty terrible crossover, this tie-in fits right in. The story has everyone's emotions amped up and acting bizarrely and then, just like the main crossover, ended with a thud. I guess I should start this with the art. The art by Andrea Broccardo was atrocious. It wasn't just the style put poor layouts and finishes. There are some seriously bad panels. The story is pointless and won't be remembered, much like Civil War II. I did enjoy Nightcrawler getting a nice spotlight and the interaction between Storm and Medusa. Overall, avoidable.

[James Elkins · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mostly this miniseries was a waste of time, effort, and ink. It had very little to do with Civil War II, I didn't much care for the art, and for the first time Cullen Bunn, disappointed me. Truthfully I only got the mini series that this volume represents for two reasons. The 1st: Cullen Bunn. The 2nd: I was deep into the X-Crack that is collecting X-Men comics. It seems that the only purpose for this book is to have X-Men fight each other and set the stage for the next X-event.

[Adan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only thing I dislike more than stupid non-X-Men crossovers causing X-Men to fight one another for no real reason is stupid non-X-Men crossovers causing X-Men to fight one another for no real reason with absolutely nothing changing by the end of the fight. This whole series could have not existed and the X-Men's world would not have been any different. The only reason this isn't a one-star review is because I got see Gambit kick Fantomex's ass. Otherwise, terrible.

[C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Continuing the great x-read of 2017/18....

Okay, before I start... I hate the Inhumans. I hate the stupid Terrigen Mists storyline. So this volume loses some stars before it even starts.

But... It isn't that bad. It's a storyline that feels like it could have been wrapped up in one comic but there's some decent character work here and there and it certainly is not the worst x-book in recent memory.

Having finished this, I still have no idea what Civil War II is about...

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really valued some of the character work here - I like Nightcrawler's agency and reasoning quite a bit, in particular - but the plot feels shaky/didn't have a lot of room to develop.... and, you know, the art just isn't my thing. It was interesting, though. I wasn't expecting all the decisions characters made, here, and there's definitely something to be said for that.

[Zack! Empire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really a bad read but It suffers from the problem that Marvel is building to an X-Men vs. Inhumans event. So they can't really have the X-Men fighting the Inhumans during Civil War II. So what you get instead is mostly a lot of setup to that event hidden inside of a trade paperback collection of what the X-Men were up to during another event. Sounds like a good read right.

[Juan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as part of reading the entire Civil War II story arc. The story by itself is interesting enough, telling a separate story despite Storms teaming having some involvement in the main Civil War series. I think more importantly, this story arc is definitely a good set up leading into the X-Men titles wide Inhumans Vs. X-Men story arc.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This fell a little flat for me, basically just reminded me of the A vs X event from a few years back. Just a lot of people fighting on two sides, both thinking they are right and no one attempting to let things flow or talk to each other. The art turned me off too - it seemed like the women were all drawn so their was hyper-focus on their boobs. I thought we had gotten past that BS recently?

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Magneto's team and Storm's team butt heads over the whole Ulysses situation. Nothing is resolved, but this shows the tension between the X-Men and the Inhumans better than it has been up until now.

I continue to call bullshit on the premise that the Terrigen cloud is killing mutants and yet every X-Men book introduces a bunch of new mutants.