What do you think?
Rate this book
Civil War: Front Line #1-6
Civil War: Front Line, Vol. 1
There's a truth buried deep in the heart of every war, and reporters Sally Floyd and Ben Urich will be there, uncovering that truth in the midst of the biggest conflagration in the Marvel Universe! In the wake of the Stamford disaster, the public cries out for super-hero registration. Are the costumed heroes of the Marvel Universe protectors or ticking time bombs? And in "Civil War Correspondence," see stories inspired by tales of war correspondence throughout history! Collects stories from Civil Front Line #1-6.
208 pages, Paperback
First published April 18, 2007
22 people are currently reading
756 people want to read
About the author
Paul Jenkins
1,259 books153 followersPaul Jenkins is a British comic book writer. He has had much success crossing over into the American comic book market. Primarily working for Marvel Comics, he has had a big part shaping the characters of the company over the past decade.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews
April 2, 2016
If you're following the Civil War issues, Front Line is the series that comes in between each Civil War issue. Does that make sense? It's confusing sometimes how these comic book series work.
Anyways, moving on. I was, surprisingly, underwhemed by the book. I liked how the story. It majorly follows two reporters trying to get a story about the Stamford incident and also the Superhero legislation.
Did I like the way it was told?
Yes, I did.
Did I like the illustrations?
Yes, they wer're good.
But you might be wondering why I have it a three stars.
First, let me start with the fact that, I do not care about these reporters at all. For me, they were the main characters of this series. We're supposed to follow their story they find out more about this legistation, yada yada yada. Long story short, i didn't like the characters, with the exception of Spiderman. He really said some good stuff to that journalist.
Second, i didn't feel anything about this. I was "meh" the entire time. I didn't feel any excitement or thrill of reading it. But I didn't feel it here.
Third, which is probably a stupid one, but I hated Spiderman's stupid costume on this one.
Anyways, moving on. I was, surprisingly, underwhemed by the book. I liked how the story. It majorly follows two reporters trying to get a story about the Stamford incident and also the Superhero legislation.
Did I like the way it was told?
Yes, I did.
Did I like the illustrations?
Yes, they wer're good.
But you might be wondering why I have it a three stars.
First, let me start with the fact that, I do not care about these reporters at all. For me, they were the main characters of this series. We're supposed to follow their story they find out more about this legistation, yada yada yada. Long story short, i didn't like the characters, with the exception of Spiderman. He really said some good stuff to that journalist.
Second, i didn't feel anything about this. I was "meh" the entire time. I didn't feel any excitement or thrill of reading it. But I didn't feel it here.
Third, which is probably a stupid one, but I hated Spiderman's stupid costume on this one.
December 22, 2008
One of the more interesting story arc's of the big Civil War story line in Marvel.
June 28, 2016
Un enfoque muy distino
May 17, 2016
Wow. I honestly didn't expect much from this which is probably why I rated it four stars instead of three.
So this story primarily follows news reporters during the Civil War event. Sally Floyd is pretty adamantly anti-registration while Ben Urich starts off as pro-registration but begins to waver when
This does mainly focus on Sally and Ben, but it also followed some heroes from various sides for brief points, those being Spider-Man, some unconnected to Captain America anti-reg group, and even Wonder Man. And another hero they follow is
Something I found quite interesting about this volume, aside from the completely uncharted perspective it offers to the storyline, is the parallels it draws to real historical events. They had passages that made explicitly stated connections to Japanese-American internment in WWII, the Roman Civil War, the American Civil War, WWI, and WWII. As a history buff, this just really hit home with me.
So overall, this was a very distinct perspective of the Civil War event (with an interesting cliffhanger at the end, I might add). It was a rather lengthy volume compared to the other Civil War stories, so the art varied but it was good overall. The dialogue was good. While not reaching five stars, this volume was very impressive and I feel greatly compelled to pursue this story in the next volume. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to possess a well-rounded knowledge of Marvel's Civil War event.
So this story primarily follows news reporters during the Civil War event. Sally Floyd is pretty adamantly anti-registration while Ben Urich starts off as pro-registration but begins to waver when
This does mainly focus on Sally and Ben, but it also followed some heroes from various sides for brief points, those being Spider-Man, some unconnected to Captain America anti-reg group, and even Wonder Man. And another hero they follow is
Something I found quite interesting about this volume, aside from the completely uncharted perspective it offers to the storyline, is the parallels it draws to real historical events. They had passages that made explicitly stated connections to Japanese-American internment in WWII, the Roman Civil War, the American Civil War, WWI, and WWII. As a history buff, this just really hit home with me.
So overall, this was a very distinct perspective of the Civil War event (with an interesting cliffhanger at the end, I might add). It was a rather lengthy volume compared to the other Civil War stories, so the art varied but it was good overall. The dialogue was good. While not reaching five stars, this volume was very impressive and I feel greatly compelled to pursue this story in the next volume. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to possess a well-rounded knowledge of Marvel's Civil War event.
December 29, 2024
Otro final precipitado, como en Civil War. Mi novio me ha recomendado más leer "Vengadores Desunidos"+"Dinastía de M"+ "Los Nuevos vengadores: Fuga". Le haré caso. Pero primero acabaré lo que empecé leyendo el epílogo de Civil War, "Capitán América: El hijo caído".
De este tomo recalcar que está protagonizado por el superhéroe Speedball, del grupo Nuevos Guerreros, y que luego formará parte de los Thunderbolts. Speedball/Robbie Baldwin ya apareció en el primer capítulo de Civil War, en el famoso incidente de Stamford que desencadenó la aprobación de la ley de registro de los superhéroes.
Por último añadiré que gracias al primer arco de "Front line: El acusado" y de lo acontecido en Civil War, aparte de Iron Man no me gusta ni un pelo Reed Richards, el hombre elástico de los 4 fantásticos.
En Civil War me daba algo de pena por lo que supuso para él su posicionamiento hacia el otro científico frío, calculador y millonetis de Tony Stark, mientras que dos de sus allegados se posicionaban en el bando contrario, el del Capi, con lo que ya os podéis imaginar las consecuencias desastrosas que tendría para él. Pero en este primer arco ya no hay excusa que valga, y de verdad que es insufrible. Y no añado más para evitar spoilers. Valoración final: 3 con 5⭐.
De este tomo recalcar que está protagonizado por el superhéroe Speedball, del grupo Nuevos Guerreros, y que luego formará parte de los Thunderbolts. Speedball/Robbie Baldwin ya apareció en el primer capítulo de Civil War, en el famoso incidente de Stamford que desencadenó la aprobación de la ley de registro de los superhéroes.
Por último añadiré que gracias al primer arco de "Front line: El acusado" y de lo acontecido en Civil War, aparte de Iron Man no me gusta ni un pelo Reed Richards, el hombre elástico de los 4 fantásticos.
En Civil War me daba algo de pena por lo que supuso para él su posicionamiento hacia el otro científico frío, calculador y millonetis de Tony Stark, mientras que dos de sus allegados se posicionaban en el bando contrario, el del Capi, con lo que ya os podéis imaginar las consecuencias desastrosas que tendría para él. Pero en este primer arco ya no hay excusa que valga, y de verdad que es insufrible. Y no añado más para evitar spoilers. Valoración final: 3 con 5⭐.
May 4, 2018
Sinceramente me llevé una grata sorpresa al leer este tomo. A diferencia de lo habitualmente establecido, o más bien, lo que yo personalmente he leido de comics, siempre se ven desde el punto de vista del superheroe o el villano. En cambio, en este vemos como afecta toda la situación que se ha creado desde el punto de vista de dos periodistas y al que culparon por unos asesinatos del que no es responsable. Me pareció muy interesante poder apreciar esto. Además refleja la busqueda de la verdad, que en muchas ocasiones la gente no quiere confirmar o prefiere creerse los rumores. Muy contenta con este comic.
March 15, 2025
Civil War: Frontline is a collection of comics that were released between the main Civil War comics. They mostly focus on the journalistic and legal aspects of the Marvel Civil War (particularly the Speedball-Nitro Stamford event).
The concept behind this run interesting. There are frequent throwbacks to other wars and comparisons made with Marvel Civil War. The focus here is not the big Marvel Superheroes, but the little guys.
That being said, this series felt a bit long-winded (both in the dialogue and the length of the series).
Onto vol. 2 . . . ?
The concept behind this run interesting. There are frequent throwbacks to other wars and comparisons made with Marvel Civil War. The focus here is not the big Marvel Superheroes, but the little guys.
That being said, this series felt a bit long-winded (both in the dialogue and the length of the series).
Onto vol. 2 . . . ?
July 11, 2019
This almost put me to sleep. I don't think I'm going to read vol. 2 of this. There was way too much focus on the reporters and it felt like almost nothing happened. The only good part was Speedball's story line.
November 8, 2019
Mainly about the start of super registration act and Speedball's role in it. See Nitro and Stamford.
December 28, 2012
I have to admit that every book I've read or even glanced at, I've been persuaded by other people into reading. Not that they hold me down and tell me to read this or die. Or hold me at gunpoint and that if I don't read the first fifty pages they'll put one between the eyes. But I read reviews, all the time, almost twenty if I can, just to get a feel for what the community is thinking about.
What I don't normally read are comic books, especially mainstream where the characters are revived every few years to start over from scratch. How many time can I get used to Batman complaining and being haunted about doing nothing about his parents when he was nothing but a child? It gets a little boring.
But what I want to get at is what this represents for me. It's how this book starts off with a boy who doesn't want to admit his own guilt and its use of real world events to give the story a harder impact.
This is a little bit of a spoiler by the way, but it's only of one scene.
For one, they bring up the camps used to detain people of Japanese decent during World War Two. Some people would say that the use of real world events are taking this too seriously or that comparing them to the camps is just wrong based on how we'd rather leave some moments in history alone and try our hardest to forget about them. See, personally, to me, it was more about going to the camps then being in the camps for the scene they were trying to show.
You don't see them struggling int he camp, nor do you see them being subjugated at gunpoint. There is a husband as his family and he is comforting his daughter, telling her that it will be alright, because they are American. They were of Japanese heritage, and probably pure blooded Japanese by the way the time and family looked, but he said he was American. One hero goes through the same thing and instead of silently giving his identity over, the hero makes a spectacle out of it, as if acting as an example will prove that the character is a hero first and foremost and out for the greater good, not just for family, not just for family, and not just for the fear of knowing that everyone will know now.
The other thing I want to point out is one of the driving points of the comic. In America, we've just mourned a school shooting of twenty children and six adults along with the shooter's own mother. Similarly in the comic, which came out years ago, hundreds of people were killed along with sixty children.
Now in both cases, who are we crying for more? The children. In real life, I barely hear about the adults who've died. Instead, we've focused more on the children. In the book, even though hundreds of people have died, the accused, Speedball, though because he is now outed and called by his true name, Robert Baldwin, is nicknamed and labeled a baby killer. It is repeatedly hammered into the reader that now since children were killed, he is the figurehead of a hero gone out of control. A hero, or former hero, that didn't even tell his story. All you know is that children were killed and that we need someone to blame. It's like writing based solely on wikipedia entries. If you're gonna hate someone, make sure they deserve it.
Speedball is juvenile in his attempts to deal with his situation, but at the same time what he is told to do is no better. Either live as a supposed murderer or get out of jail and be known as the murderer who walked and honestly, if he did walk, who wouldn't take a shot at the guy? People might even consider the guy who did attack him a hero. On that same note, he is the only person called by his first and full name. I think it didn't need to be repeated so much, but I did think that it shows that as his powers have been dimmed so has the persona of Speedball been sort of banished. It's like he's known more as a human who royally screwed up.
Also, while I don't want to delve too much into it, the chapters through the reporters are very well done. Neither is of a defined side. Well, one is while the other just wants to find out what's really going on, but calls out a few heroes for their crap, and that's where this kind of goes south. The heroes who are at the head of revealing the secret identities are already known to the world or highly suspected of being who they already are. And to add insult to injury, they're painted as doing something even more horrible in the background. But at the same time I do agree that some things do need to be known about heroes to keep them in check.
What? I'm a pessimist at heart.
My actual rating is a 3.7. But the thing is, that last point on my review really dragged the rating of this book down. The crime of not submitting is just to harsh and where the people are sent towards the end of the book does makes sense to send some heroes, but...but they're heroes. Not in powers, but in purpose. They're good people. But then again, they'd probably break out if given the chance. There is after all, more than one way to be a hero.
What I don't normally read are comic books, especially mainstream where the characters are revived every few years to start over from scratch. How many time can I get used to Batman complaining and being haunted about doing nothing about his parents when he was nothing but a child? It gets a little boring.
But what I want to get at is what this represents for me. It's how this book starts off with a boy who doesn't want to admit his own guilt and its use of real world events to give the story a harder impact.
This is a little bit of a spoiler by the way, but it's only of one scene.
For one, they bring up the camps used to detain people of Japanese decent during World War Two. Some people would say that the use of real world events are taking this too seriously or that comparing them to the camps is just wrong based on how we'd rather leave some moments in history alone and try our hardest to forget about them. See, personally, to me, it was more about going to the camps then being in the camps for the scene they were trying to show.
You don't see them struggling int he camp, nor do you see them being subjugated at gunpoint. There is a husband as his family and he is comforting his daughter, telling her that it will be alright, because they are American. They were of Japanese heritage, and probably pure blooded Japanese by the way the time and family looked, but he said he was American. One hero goes through the same thing and instead of silently giving his identity over, the hero makes a spectacle out of it, as if acting as an example will prove that the character is a hero first and foremost and out for the greater good, not just for family, not just for family, and not just for the fear of knowing that everyone will know now.
The other thing I want to point out is one of the driving points of the comic. In America, we've just mourned a school shooting of twenty children and six adults along with the shooter's own mother. Similarly in the comic, which came out years ago, hundreds of people were killed along with sixty children.
Now in both cases, who are we crying for more? The children. In real life, I barely hear about the adults who've died. Instead, we've focused more on the children. In the book, even though hundreds of people have died, the accused, Speedball, though because he is now outed and called by his true name, Robert Baldwin, is nicknamed and labeled a baby killer. It is repeatedly hammered into the reader that now since children were killed, he is the figurehead of a hero gone out of control. A hero, or former hero, that didn't even tell his story. All you know is that children were killed and that we need someone to blame. It's like writing based solely on wikipedia entries. If you're gonna hate someone, make sure they deserve it.
Speedball is juvenile in his attempts to deal with his situation, but at the same time what he is told to do is no better. Either live as a supposed murderer or get out of jail and be known as the murderer who walked and honestly, if he did walk, who wouldn't take a shot at the guy? People might even consider the guy who did attack him a hero. On that same note, he is the only person called by his first and full name. I think it didn't need to be repeated so much, but I did think that it shows that as his powers have been dimmed so has the persona of Speedball been sort of banished. It's like he's known more as a human who royally screwed up.
Also, while I don't want to delve too much into it, the chapters through the reporters are very well done. Neither is of a defined side. Well, one is while the other just wants to find out what's really going on, but calls out a few heroes for their crap, and that's where this kind of goes south. The heroes who are at the head of revealing the secret identities are already known to the world or highly suspected of being who they already are. And to add insult to injury, they're painted as doing something even more horrible in the background. But at the same time I do agree that some things do need to be known about heroes to keep them in check.
What? I'm a pessimist at heart.
My actual rating is a 3.7. But the thing is, that last point on my review really dragged the rating of this book down. The crime of not submitting is just to harsh and where the people are sent towards the end of the book does makes sense to send some heroes, but...but they're heroes. Not in powers, but in purpose. They're good people. But then again, they'd probably break out if given the chance. There is after all, more than one way to be a hero.
March 7, 2016
The Marvel Civil War is an epic event that takes place after a team of superheroes accidentally cause a disaster which results in the deaths of hundreds of people. The government passes the Superhuman Registration Act into law so that all powered or costumed heroes can be governed and kept in check. Iron Man and others back the law, feeling they need to be held accountable for their actions. Meanwhile, Captain America leads a resistance against the law, which brings the two sides into conflict with one another.
I received a gift subscription to Marvel Unlimited, which is a service I guess you could compare to Kindle Unlimited and Netflix except it’s a database on Marvel comics. Pretty cool stuff. I’ve always been a fan of comics, but I’d gotten away from reading them until recent years. With Marvel Unlimited, I was faced with way too many choices. I mean, holy crap there’s a lot of new stories since the last time I read Marvel with any regularity. I ended up deciding to read some of the Civil War event (considering that’s where the MCU movies are heading). I’m going to be reading and reviewing those as I go, using this site as a guide so that I can read them in chronological order: http://marvel.com/comics/discover/114... I can’t do them all. Gotta pick and choose. I’m going to be sticking with the heroes who are part of the film’s connected universe.
So, first up: Front Line Vol. 1.
In my opinion, if you want a good idea of Marvel’s Civil War but don’t want to read all the connecting stories, you should at least make the attempt to include Front Line while you’re reading the main book. While Mark Millar’s Civil War storyline showcases the center of the event and the other series show their heroes dealing with the changing world, Front Line gives the reader a more civilian POV of the war. Each Front Line issue has multiple interconnecting stories with characters that include journalists, police, lower tier superheroes, and the sole superhero survivor of the tragedy that started this whole mess.
I like Millar’s Civil War comics but I think Front Line makes it into a full story. Civil War event is somewhat political in nature, but never more so than during the Front Line comics. Journalists and politicians butt heads on the issue while superheroes give us the prerequisite action that the genre demands. The other comics will give you more of that action – and more recognizable characters, as Front Line is largely left with lower tier Marvel heroes/villains – but by giving the story a more street level, relatable POV, Front Line gives the entire event a more epic feel.
This is very much a companion piece to Millar’s Civil War, and reads like the mini-chapters in between the lines of the Civil War book. As such, I don't think it'll be as enjoyable if read on its own, but read alongside Civil War it makes for a highly enjoyable comic.
I really liked Front Line Vol. 1. Onto Vol. 2!
I received a gift subscription to Marvel Unlimited, which is a service I guess you could compare to Kindle Unlimited and Netflix except it’s a database on Marvel comics. Pretty cool stuff. I’ve always been a fan of comics, but I’d gotten away from reading them until recent years. With Marvel Unlimited, I was faced with way too many choices. I mean, holy crap there’s a lot of new stories since the last time I read Marvel with any regularity. I ended up deciding to read some of the Civil War event (considering that’s where the MCU movies are heading). I’m going to be reading and reviewing those as I go, using this site as a guide so that I can read them in chronological order: http://marvel.com/comics/discover/114... I can’t do them all. Gotta pick and choose. I’m going to be sticking with the heroes who are part of the film’s connected universe.
So, first up: Front Line Vol. 1.
In my opinion, if you want a good idea of Marvel’s Civil War but don’t want to read all the connecting stories, you should at least make the attempt to include Front Line while you’re reading the main book. While Mark Millar’s Civil War storyline showcases the center of the event and the other series show their heroes dealing with the changing world, Front Line gives the reader a more civilian POV of the war. Each Front Line issue has multiple interconnecting stories with characters that include journalists, police, lower tier superheroes, and the sole superhero survivor of the tragedy that started this whole mess.
I like Millar’s Civil War comics but I think Front Line makes it into a full story. Civil War event is somewhat political in nature, but never more so than during the Front Line comics. Journalists and politicians butt heads on the issue while superheroes give us the prerequisite action that the genre demands. The other comics will give you more of that action – and more recognizable characters, as Front Line is largely left with lower tier Marvel heroes/villains – but by giving the story a more street level, relatable POV, Front Line gives the entire event a more epic feel.
This is very much a companion piece to Millar’s Civil War, and reads like the mini-chapters in between the lines of the Civil War book. As such, I don't think it'll be as enjoyable if read on its own, but read alongside Civil War it makes for a highly enjoyable comic.
I really liked Front Line Vol. 1. Onto Vol. 2!
July 27, 2017
Flawed but brilliant. Finally something that makes some sort of sense in this Civil War series. Some of the historical comparison are pretty good, the Billy Joel Vietnam one was not one of them. But the Robbie Baldwin aka Speedball story rings true. I am having a lot of trouble believing Peter Parker is out as Spider-man, I'm not sure that took. There were just some great bits in this book though - Ben Urich and Sally, Robbie and She-Hulk. 4.5 of 5.
July 26, 2011
Lot of story, light on action. Cool job with the parallels with history and what is going on in the book though.
February 1, 2012
Front Line takes it all from a different angle, the outsider's perspective, and as much as I would rather read through the eyes of the beloved characters it is insightful. And everything hurts.
February 9, 2016
The inclusion of material from various wars & conflicts, juxtaposed with various events within the Marvel Universe was unexpected, but ultimately effective.
August 14, 2015
By far one of the best of the Civil War collections.
April 20, 2025
I just read Civil War a while ago and figured that the Frontline books would be worth a read. The story deals with a number of characters associated with Civil War, Speedball, the sole surviving member of the group which was in Stamford, the event which caused the death of 60 children and sparked demand for the Registration Act, the reporters covering the story, such as Ben Urich, who sense that not everything is right with the Act and serious questions need to be asked (such as are they using super villains), and Wonder Man essentially being blackmailed into working for SHIELD. In essence, Civil War dealt with the fight, but Frontline deals more with the question of ethics, morality and the true repercussions for everyone after the Registration Act.
The artwork is great and really shines in panel view. What really makes this book stand out is the way it makes the reader think about the effect of the Act, and I especially liked the incorporation of poems and letters written by people during past real wars (American Civil War, Vietnam, WWII, etc), which helped compare and contrast the events in the book to real historical events....it truly impressed me.
It was spectacular and now I'm going to read the second book. It should be even better because it finishes the story.
The artwork is great and really shines in panel view. What really makes this book stand out is the way it makes the reader think about the effect of the Act, and I especially liked the incorporation of poems and letters written by people during past real wars (American Civil War, Vietnam, WWII, etc), which helped compare and contrast the events in the book to real historical events....it truly impressed me.
It was spectacular and now I'm going to read the second book. It should be even better because it finishes the story.
June 9, 2021
Civil War was my introduction to Marvel comics and Earth-616 continuity. Mark Millar's prototypical shock and awe narrative which sacrificed character continuity for action set-pieces has not aged particularly in my eyes, but I remember 'Civil War: Front Line' receiving much higher praise as it sought to provide a more nuanced take on the heroes vs. heroes slugfest.
While there is more political nuance and certainly smarter characters, 'Front Line' still suffers from the original flaws of 'Civil War.' However, I am enjoying this analysis of early 2000s post-9/11 America with spandex! I do wish there was more journalism in the actual script, but Marvel is best when it shows ground-level reality of its world and heroes.
One major misstep, in my opinion, is the historic comparison mini-stories(?) at the end of each issue. They're pretty tasteless allusions to historic records with dramatic images of superheroes next to them. The first is a poem referencing Japanese internment during WW2 alongside Spider-man swinging through New York City, and it just left a pretty bad taste in my mouth. It's over-dramatic and not well-crafted to suit the original records or this material.
While there is more political nuance and certainly smarter characters, 'Front Line' still suffers from the original flaws of 'Civil War.' However, I am enjoying this analysis of early 2000s post-9/11 America with spandex! I do wish there was more journalism in the actual script, but Marvel is best when it shows ground-level reality of its world and heroes.
One major misstep, in my opinion, is the historic comparison mini-stories(?) at the end of each issue. They're pretty tasteless allusions to historic records with dramatic images of superheroes next to them. The first is a poem referencing Japanese internment during WW2 alongside Spider-man swinging through New York City, and it just left a pretty bad taste in my mouth. It's over-dramatic and not well-crafted to suit the original records or this material.
January 19, 2022
I am about 40% through this storyline and it’s mostly not great. It’s not that the writing or the art is bad, in fact I think the people working on this story are making it work pretty well. But overall - and Front Line is a perfect microcosm of this - the event just doesn’t have a specific enough angle on the issue, or even a clear idea of what the issue is. All the questions are genuinely interesting, but the answers are continually vague - and when they aren’t vague, they’re straight up wrong (the implication that over-policing leads to less crime is laughable). Why does Captain America not register? Because freedom. Why does Iron Man do this? Because personal responsibility. In the most dragging moments, it feels like a gun-control debate at its most reductive. For this story specifically, I enjoyed parts of the Daily Bugle arc, less of the Speedball arc, and pretty much nothing about the Sleeper Cell Arc. And, again, it’s not that they’re bad, they just don’t say much about the overall story. I think theirs a second volume… I secretly hope I’m wrong.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 9, 2019
I'm reading this event according to the official Marvel Civil War reading recommendation list as seen on their website here:
https://www.marvel.com/comics/discove...
This is the next collection that I finished throughout this reading list. I had a little trouble with this at first because I didn't know the characters/situations very well and there wasn't lead up or a lot of explanation. However, I found this to be increasingly more interesting the more I read. We get to see both sides of the issue from the human perspective, and it was nice to see that they were choosing sides too.
The book is broken down into smaller narratives that unfurl over each issue--we follow the reporters, Speedball, and the Sleeper Cell. Each issue also ends with comparisons to war times of our past, which I think it a poignant touch. It was varies enough that I was consistently interested and I'm looking forward to reading more of this arc in Part II. I didn't expect that I would enjoy this one as much as I did because it isn't focused on the heroes exactly, but I think that made it all the more real. If you're delving into the Civil War comics, don't pass this one up!
For: fans of superheroes/comics; readers wanting a complex mythos that will unfurl over time; readers wanting the "human/every-man" perspective.
Possible red flags: characters in peril; violence; persecution/prejudice; angst; death/manslaughter; kidnapping/imprisonment; war imagery.
https://www.marvel.com/comics/discove...
This is the next collection that I finished throughout this reading list. I had a little trouble with this at first because I didn't know the characters/situations very well and there wasn't lead up or a lot of explanation. However, I found this to be increasingly more interesting the more I read. We get to see both sides of the issue from the human perspective, and it was nice to see that they were choosing sides too.
The book is broken down into smaller narratives that unfurl over each issue--we follow the reporters, Speedball, and the Sleeper Cell. Each issue also ends with comparisons to war times of our past, which I think it a poignant touch. It was varies enough that I was consistently interested and I'm looking forward to reading more of this arc in Part II. I didn't expect that I would enjoy this one as much as I did because it isn't focused on the heroes exactly, but I think that made it all the more real. If you're delving into the Civil War comics, don't pass this one up!
For: fans of superheroes/comics; readers wanting a complex mythos that will unfurl over time; readers wanting the "human/every-man" perspective.
Possible red flags: characters in peril; violence; persecution/prejudice; angst; death/manslaughter; kidnapping/imprisonment; war imagery.
September 26, 2019
I love the whole series of Civil War so far. There are a few I haven't gotten to yet. Each is a compilation of the individual comic books and are written and drawn from the perspective of the character(s) in the titles If you love Marvel and the MCU but don't think you'd enjoy "comic books," let these prove you wrong. Graphic novels are seen as slightly less nerdy "out there," so if you have some form of social anxiety and are concerned about your level of nerdiness, think of these as graphic novels and not comic books. And enjoy!! (Also, PLEASE look into Brian Wood and his work, if you do enjoy graphic novels.)
October 15, 2017
This was my third reading in the Civil War series. I’m choosing to read individual TPBs vs. individual issues. It’s easier for me as a casual comics reader / being new to comics.
Of the three TPBs I’ve read so far in the series to date, this had the deepest story, and seeing it from the eyes of journalists with a post Patriot Act undercurrent was compelling. I’m eager to read the second volume, esp. to see the outcome of both Ben’s and Sally’s different approaches to uncovering the nuances and secrets behind the superhero registration act.
Of the three TPBs I’ve read so far in the series to date, this had the deepest story, and seeing it from the eyes of journalists with a post Patriot Act undercurrent was compelling. I’m eager to read the second volume, esp. to see the outcome of both Ben’s and Sally’s different approaches to uncovering the nuances and secrets behind the superhero registration act.
May 24, 2018
Another gem in the Civil War storyline, Front Line follows two reporters investigating the conflict, and Speed Ball, as he is put on trial.
The scenes with Speed Ball are chilling, in many ways he is oblivious, naive, but many of the points he sullenly makes are also not wrong. Even with this in mind he is beaten, mistreated, and jailed without any sort of sentencing. THis highlights the horror of a security state.
I have already reviewed the second volume of this, and honestly similar things apply. It is a great find for the series and well worth a read.
The scenes with Speed Ball are chilling, in many ways he is oblivious, naive, but many of the points he sullenly makes are also not wrong. Even with this in mind he is beaten, mistreated, and jailed without any sort of sentencing. THis highlights the horror of a security state.
I have already reviewed the second volume of this, and honestly similar things apply. It is a great find for the series and well worth a read.
April 21, 2022
It's ok? Same with V2. This one starts really well, super interesting and loved the background of what was going on during the Civil War (and before it) but nothing really takes off. You get the feeling they wanted to profit off how successful the Civil War was, but didn't really have any room to make any big changes or strong reveals. So the story just kinda putts along. Barely giving you anything, but giving you just enough to peak your interest.
May 18, 2020
I enjoyed the connections this makes between different Civil War story lines and the juxtaposition between other wars and this one was interesting. I didn't care for all the story lines, though. There are enough cliff hangers to want to read the second volume, though!
April 9, 2024
I didn't expect to walk around from this set of issues with the high opinion that I have now. Admittedly, I wasn't all that interested in a reporter perspective but this shows so much of what's happening on levels the other storylines don't touch.
May 15, 2017
It's nice to hear some of the side stories to Civil war and expand on the event.
December 3, 2017
Working my way through Civil War and tie ins, and this is one of my favorite parts. Really great.
August 3, 2019
Good but it’s a bit all over the place.
October 29, 2019
For someone who is looking for a collection featuring an ensemble of Marvel heroes this is an amazing read! One of the greatest events in Marvel history.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews