Marvel Must-Have: Civil War

Civil War: A Marvel Comics Event

by Mark Millar, Steve McNiven (Illustrator), Michael Strittmatter (Translator)

KRIEG DER HELDEN
Eine Katastrophe mit vielen zivilen Opfern bringt die amerikanische Öffentlichkeit gegen ihre Superhelden auf. Die Frage, ob die Kostümierten sich staatlich registrieren lassen sollen, spaltet schließlich auch die Heldengemeinschaft selbst. Angeführt von Iron Man auf der einen und Captain America auf der anderen Seite, ziehen die Helden in den Bürgerkrieg. In gewaltigen Schlachten werden Freunde zu Feinden …

Eines der erfolgreichsten Comic-Events der Marvel- Historie, inszeniert von Autoren-Superstar Mark Millar (KICK-ASS, DIE ULTIMATIVEN) und Blockbuster-Zeichner Steve McMiven (WOLVERINE: OLD MAN LOGAN).

ENTHÄLT: CIVIL WAR (2006) 1-7

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

212 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Mark Millar is the New York Times best-selling writer of Wanted, the Kick-Ass series, The Secret Service, Jupiter’s Legacy, Jupiter’s Circle, Nemesis, Superior, Super Crooks, American Jesus, MPH, Starlight, and Chrononauts. Wanted, Kick-Ass, Kick-Ass 2, and The Secret Service (as Kingsman: The Secret Service) have been adapted into feature films, and Nemesis, Superior, Starlight, War Heroes, Jupiter’s Legacy and Chrononauts are in development at major studios.

His DC Comics work includes the seminal Superman: Red Son, and at Marvel Comics he created The Ultimates – selected by Time magazine as the comic book of the decade, Wolverine: Old Man Logan, and Civil War – the industry’s biggest-selling superhero series in almost two decades.

Mark has been an Executive Producer on all his movie adaptations and is currently creative consultant to Fox Studios on their Marvel slate of movies.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think Millar did an excellent job of showing both sides of this 'Civil War'. At first, I was sure I would hate Tony, but when I looked at things from his point of view, it was almost impossible not to understand why he thought he was right. That's not to say that I wasn't rooting for Cap the rebels the entire time. I can't imagine a comic book fan being for Registration Act! After all, at the heart of all of us, is a geek who is paranoid of anything Big Brother-like.



It starts with public outcry against all superheroes due to a tragic accident caused by a group of b-list 'heroes'. Not much more than kids, they decided to take on a few villains to boost their reality t.v. show's ratings. To say it didn't work out for them is an understatement. Because they were not paying attention to their surroundings, they were unaware of the danger they were placing everyone in. One of them tried to capture Nitro, and the explosion he caused during the fight took out an entire elementary school. In the wake of hundreds of children's deaths, Tony is confronted by a grieving mother at her child's funeral. Overwhelmed with guilt, he agrees to help push for the Registration Act, and becomes front man for the cause. His belief is, with every super-human registered, trained by, and working for the government, nothing like that would have to happen again. He also realizes that it is only a matter of time before the public calls for an outright ban on the use of superhuman powers, and possibly superhumans themselves. He believes that by working with S.H.I.E.L.D, he is extending an olive branch that may save them all.



Millar's stroke of genius was using Captain America, of all people, to lead the rebellion. One would assume that Steve Rogers would be the first one to sign up for anything that had the backing of the United States government. However, he immediately saw the potential for misuse of what could basically be an army of super weapons. They could easily be used to intimidate other countries into submission of America's will. The threat of imprisonment to all who did not cooperate only fueled his belief that he was correct.



Spider Man (always my favorite) perfectly represented that, "Oops, I think maybe I've made the wrong choice.", feeling. At first, he truly believes in Iron Man's vision. If superheroes are required to register with the government, then there will be no more untrained kids in capes running around with the potential to cause disaster. Receiving a steady paycheck from the government also doesn't seem like a bad thing for Parker, who always seems to be struggling to make ends meet. Yes, he will lose the privacy afforded by his secret identity, but it doesn't look that high of a price to pay to gain the public's support again for superhumans. Tony believes that because Peter has always been so guarded against losing his secret identity, his willingness to unmask during a press conference will ultimately lead the others who are on the fence to join their side. Personally, I think it was worth it just to see J. Jonas Jameson collapse when Parker took off the mask. Nice.
However, after Goliath is killed during an attempt to arrest some of the rebels, he begins to have second thoughts. Fighting and possibly killing superheroes who had, time and time again, saved the lives of countless innocents, was not what he originally signed up to do. His decision to join the rebels made me remember why I love him.

Great story, great art, great choice of characters! This is a must-read!

[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Mark Millar led supposed Magnus Opus of Marvel-dom that sees the reaction to 600+ civilian deaths caused by the New Warriors fighting Nitro whilst filming a reality TV show, being the issue that tips over to seeing the approval of the Super Human Registration Act. And what ensues - civil war amongst the heroes of the Marvel Universe!

The Government's stance led by Iron Man, against the rebels led by Captain America. A huge story that tries to look at the security versus individual rights issue and makes a messy stab at it. The whole Spider-man story almost steals the first half of the show until the ideological battle between Cap and his allies and Stark and his, goes into overdrive. But what should really be a classic Marvel event is just a very good one, with so many characterisations tweaked to fit the story that Millar wanted to tell. The best thing about this for me was that it showed Marvel that Bendis needed to write their big Summer events too! 8 out of 12

2022 read; 2011 read

[Alejandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marvel’s Masterpiece!


This TPB edition collects “Civil War” #1-7.


Creative Team:

Writer: Mark Millar

Illustrator: Steven McNiven


THE RIGHT STUFF

When I found out (back then, in 2006) the chosen creative team for Civil War I wasn’t surprised. Then, I already knew Mark Millar’s writing through his time on The Ultimates, so I knew that he was the right man to write it, and I knew Steven McNiven’s artwork through his tenure in Marvel Knights: 4 (the Fantastic Four title published under the label of Marvel Knights) and I knew that he was the right man to illustrate it.

I read the story until 2008, but since it came out, I knew that it will be something excellent.

Millar’s bold-with-balls writing merged with McNiven’s striking drawing gave birth to Marvel’s masterpiece.


WHY IS IT SO GOOD?

You may think that Civil War is about taking a side.

But you’re wrong, and that’s why this is so good (in the sense of storytelling)…

Civil War is a strong story since both sides have valid points AND both sides have made terrible mistakes. The same kind of soldiers, from different kind of wars, will clash. Lives will changed. Morals will be challenged. Families will be divided. People will die. Nothing would be the same.

You can’t pick one side. This is a mess. This is a war. And nothing worse than a civil war when the combatants are from the same nation, when the “enemy” today was your friend yesterday. Nobody will be a true victor, everybody will lose something.


CHILDHOOD’S END

Battles between superheroes and supervillains have been occuring for decades and always there were some property damage and some by-standers got hurt. U.S. Government and American society were used to it, it was part of their lifestyle, and then…

…Stamford, Connecticut happened.

The New Warriors, an unsupervised team of young superheroes, making a TV Reality Show (yes, you read right) looking to boost their ratings, they went after a supervillain, Nitro, that maybe he wasn’t a criminal mastermind but definitely he was WAY over their league. The New Warriors recklessly engaged Nitro, in a populated area of Stamford, CT, and he activated his self-detonation power…

…a tremendous explosion occurred…

…The whole New Warriors team got killed (with the exception of Speedball), but the real tragedy was the deaths of 600 innocent citizens, including 60 children from a primary school in the area.

The crap hit the fan, hard.

Now, superheroes and supervillains were no more seen as that…

…now, all of them were classified as living weapons of mass destruction.

U.S. Government decided to activate the Superhuman Registration Act, to mandatory identify the real name of every single person with super powers on the United States’ soil. Iron Man (aka Tony Stark) is supporting the initiative. Captain America (aka Steve Rogers) is against it.

The Marvel’s Civil War started.


CHANGING GAME

Millar already had redefined the Ultimate version of Captain America and here he does the same treatment to the Earth-616’s original version. Captain America before Civil War was seen as just a guy with a shield, now he is a highly trained super soldier who always watches his surroundings as a battlefield, and that’s a game changer for Steve Rogers.

Tony Stark before Civil War was seen basically as just a guy in an armor suit. Millar’s treatment with Iron Man showed him to readers as the man who is three steps ahead in the world’s chess game.

Now, Captain America and Iron Man are the key players in the Marvel Universe and their decisions will shaken, for better or worse, that universe. And the problem is that while they are formidable, they still are men, and men make mistakes, but men with so much power and responsibility, their mistakes are equally powerful.


WOULD THE RIGHT CAUSE STAND UP?

You may think that Cap is right and Tony is wrong. But it’s not that simple. Both are right. Both are wrong.

That’s the beauty of the story. That’s the tragedy of the conflict.

Maybe the “rebel” inside you would see noble to support the penniless soldier against the millionaire CEO. You found attracted to the idealistic picture of the ragtag rebels against the economically rich empire.

However, life isn’t romantically correct.

Just think if all this would happened in “our world”…

…Masked people with powers far beyond of mortal men appeared, and due their battles, they left you without a loved one, without your home, and since nobody knows who they are, they can’t be make responsible for their actions. Would you still so altruistic minded to support the concept of masked superheroes?

…You got awake one day and you realize that now you have super powers. Would you feel confortable to be registered in a list that enables your government to draft you if they consider that your powers are too valuable for not using them for the greater good?

It’s not so easy to pick a side, isn’t it?

Because Civil War isn’t about choosing a side.

It’s about evolving together as society, working together to find a common ground.

We can’t stop talking or the only left is fighting.

Because we aren’t in the 40’s anymore and kids deserve the chance to grow up.

[Mario the lone bookwolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Using tragedies to push agendas

Has hardly ever been that much fun
Especially because this isn´t just about the battles, but especially about the ideology fueling Iron man vs Captain America and Secret Avengers whatever is good or bad in this case, because of the

Superhuman Registration act
That´s quite a heavy one because it tinkers with the all time bestselling idea of stigmatizing certain groups of people because of political pressure caused by public opinion, media, thinks tanks, and reptiloid alien shapeshifters. These big political and economic forces

Use different ideologies to manipulate the outcome
In a way that brings them the most power or money. The key here isn´t just the political or economic diversity between Keynesian strong state eco social Nordic Model states and Hayekian Friedmanian free trade neoliberal US models. What´s so disturbing about it is that the European model limits the freedom of the individual for the sake of the whole community, while the US model wants total individual freedom, no matter how many people are harmed for achieving the goal of getting very rich by exploiting them. I´ve just realized this some time ago and it´s the maybe biggest battle humankind will have to fight, because both sides subjectively (objectively one ideology absolutely not) have their points. What is more important,

Ones´ individual liberty or protecting the community
The irony lies in the fact that both ways can lead to catastrophic outcomes. Destroy individuality and end up in stone age communism, a perversion of real life socialist utopias that have been realized in the Scandinavian states. Glorify individual freedom and free markets and create hellhole slum and prison complexes no other industrial state has except the US. It´s, because we are already in the Marvel universe, just so important that it´s perfectly balanced as all things should be, because seemingly Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and the Netherlands can have both a strong economy and the best, free health care, education, and well functioning infrastructure. Besides that completely subjective interpretation, this work is also a

Far too big picture for a comic and graphic novel rookie
I guess many graphic novel and comic experts will get their kicks out of the sheer complexity and in universe innuendo overkill, but I can just enjoy the show and hope to someday be competent enough to endlessly drivel and fanboy long hours about small details and maybe even nerdgasm a bit about it. Maybe I´ll rise from a small fandom war soldier to a general one day. Wouldn´t that be an irony, an Austrian ruling over and commanding the fandom armies of the US and UK? Kind of a real life Man in the High Castle.

Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...

[Sam Quixote · Rating 1 out of 5]

This one has been due a re-read for a while and, now that it’s been announced the next Captain America movie will be subtitled Civil War, the timing seems right to re-visit it. I read Civil War many years ago, long before I started really thinking/writing about what I read, which is the only excuse I can give for why I thought this tripe was any good at all. I was wrong - very wrong! The politest way of describing Civil War is a dumb mess, the comics version of a Transformers movie.

Normally I start with a summary of the book but it turns out that the very beginning of the story is perhaps the biggest stumbling block of all. So, in Mark Millar’s hands, the New Warriors are apparently a group of media-hungry yoofs who film their superhero shenanigans for reality TV. During their latest filmed battle, Namorita (Namor’s cousin) corners Nitro who explodes himself in a small nuclear-like blast, killing hundreds of people, as this is in a suburban neighbourhood. The deaths include a playground full of kiddiewinks.

Horrible, yes, and tonally all wrong for a Marvel superhero comic. Much too serious, much too dark. But that’s not why it’s the worst. This event causes Congress to pass a law demanding every superhero become registered. Think about this: a group of teen supes and another group of D-list villains fight, some kids die as collateral damage, and the result is all superheroes must carry a licence? How does that even follow? If the New Warriors had licences, would that have made the loss of those kids’ lives acceptable/avoidable? In what way?

So that’s a major problem for me: this entire book is based upon the weakest, most nonsensical of foundations. Because of what Nitro did when he was provoked by Namorita, apparently now all of the good that the superheroes have done goes out the window and to “win back public trust”, Tony Stark insists that everyone get registered. Captain America disagrees, the two form sides, we have Marvel Civil War. Duuuuuuuuuuh.

And here we come to the next big problem with this book: uncharacteristic characters. Tony Stark is written as this evil neo-Hitler-type figure who is extremely authoritarian, while Maria Hill becomes a Gestapo-type figure and SHIELD become the SS! Reed Richards becomes a Dr Mengele-type who starts cloning Thor - whose clone by the way is a stone cold PSYCHOPATH who murders a superhero the first time he’s introduced - and they set up concentration camps for the superheroes who don’t goose-step into line.

Even if you buy into that flimsy premise, how can any Marvel fan reconcile themselves with the way these classic characters are written? The tagline to this drivel is “Whose side are you on?” - I can’t imagine anyone would be on Iron Man’s side, given that he’s so ridiculously fascistic! Even Cap is horribly written as this ‘roided-out dickhead who’s constantly growling out menacing statements and beating people to a pulp - he’s our hero, guys!

It’s implied that Sue Storm sleeps with Namor to get him and his Atlantean forces on Cap’s side, Millar’s Punisher is the stupidest, worst iteration of the character I’ve ever read (you can feel the contempt Millar has for the character in every panel he’s in), and where was Hulk? Was this during the Planet Hulk storyline and he was off-world? I don’t know, but at least one character escaped having their personas assassinated!

This whole concept of applying the “real-world” to Marvel comics (or DC for that matter) is so flawed. I’ve talked about it in other reviews but when writers apply this approach, the results are always terrible. I mean, buildings fall down, things blow up all the time when superheroes battle supervillains but it’s usually accepted that no civilian lives are lost, because superhero comics are just fantasy. When you start having funerals for kids who got caught in the middle of these battles, it completely ruins the point of these stories: whimsical entertainment.

Actually a funeral for a kid is an apt metaphor for the way Civil War killed the spirit of Marvel in this comic. They’re supposed to be fun, not grim and miserable. This book was trying so damn hard to be dark and gritty, I couldn’t believe I was reading Marvel! You might be thinking I was going overboard with the Nazi analogies earlier but I promise you, you’ll see it too if you read (or re-read) it - you can’t escape those comparisons or the ham-fisted Orwellian overtones either.

For more casual comics readers who aren’t as bothered with the above, I imagine their complaint would be more straightforward: Civil War is boring. It goes from overblown prologue to ridiculous reactionary political scenes, and then alternates from silly superhero fights to dreary conversations of superheroes trying to convince one another to join their side. It’s so dull and Millar’s script is tedious at best, cold and cynical at worst.

I won’t discuss the ending or who won or lost (the answer to the latter being the reader), but ask yourself: does the conclusion solve what happens at the beginning? Is it a suitable answer? Will a supervillain not go too far like he did at the start because of what happens at the end? Anyway, the answer is no.

Civil War is a mega, mega, mega-DUMB storyline that contains the worst excesses of superhero comics. Millar crafted one helluva distasteful and unpleasant beast with this book. This is one of those instances where I fully believe the movie will be far superior to the source material and I’m actually hoping it will largely ignore it too! My previous pick for worst Marvel Event book ever was AVX but Civil War edges that one out for being so utterly obnoxious.

[Kemper · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you subscribe to Marvel Unlimited and look up the Civil War event on the app it tells you that there are 103 individual comics involved. 103!

This collection consists of the 7 core issues that tell the main part of the story. A group a C-list superheroes botch the capture of some bad guys and essentially nuke a school full of kids. That’s the last straw for the American public who has had enough of costumed crusaders running around with no accountability. A law is passed that states anyone with superhuman abilities is required to register with the government, and if they want to fight crime or help people they have to become trained agents on the SHIELD payroll.

Some prominent figures like Tony Stark and Reed Richards support the Superhero Registration Act and urge their comrades to sign up. Steve Rogers thinks that trusting the government with control of the powered community is a recipe for disaster and starts an underground movement to keep fighting the good fight without submitting to oversight. All the Marvel superheroes find themselves choosing to side with either Iron Man or Captain America, and while Spider-Man is at first willing to become the public face of compliance he soon finds himself questioning the side he’s chosen.

There’s definately a compelling story in the set-up for the this, and I like that both sides have very valid points of view. I especially found it interesting that intellectually I side more with Team Iron Man because you shouldn't have a bunch of walking weapons of mass destruction running around doing whatever they feel like, but I found myself rooting for Team Captain America more. A big part of this is because of how Tony Stark starts acting like the Pope of Chili Town. Tony is convinced he’s right and that the ends justify the means so while his intentions are good he uses increasingly questionable tactics.

However, since this is trying to boil down an insane amount of side stories into one coherent narrative thread it often feels rushed and as if things come out of left field. For example, the way that Captain America gets branded as uncooperative seems to happen extremely fast for a guy who is generally the most beloved and respected superhero of them all. Essentially it goes like this:

SHIELD Director Maria Hill: Captian America, are you going to support the Superhero Registration Act and lead our new government sanctioned Avengers?

Captain America: Well, I’m not sure. I have a lot of concerns so I’d like to take a moment to talk about what this course of action might…

SDMH: Agents, arrest this man.

CA: What the hell? I just said I need a minute here.

SDMH: Oh, you’re resisting? SHOOT HIM!

Perhaps the biggest problem I have with Civil War is that it doesn’t have the courage of its convictions. This was marketed as an event that would change everything in the Marvel universe. (Yeah, yeah. I know. We hear that one for every crossover.) But this actually did seem to profoundly alter the status quo. Like Iron Man as the director of SHIELD in charge of the superhuman community, Spider-Man revealing his true identity of Peter Parker, and Steve Rogers being killed although that doesn’t happen in this collection.

To be fair, the fallout from portions of this story did linger for quite some time, but as usual the biggest things were eventually reverted back to baseline with the most egregious example being what was done to get Spider-Man back to ‘normal’.

There was a pretty intriguing idea at the heart of all this, and that does make it a bit better than most of the epic comic crossover events. However, it still couldn’t shake off the inherent problem of making the whole thing too huge to be readable for the average person except in this Cliff Notes version which feels like you’re only getting a small piece of a story that ultimately doesn’t matter that much anyway.

[Jan Philipzig · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess the idea behind a superhero crossover event is to bring a wide range of characters together in a single story—characters that usually feature in their own, individual titles. What superheroes do best is fight, of course, so a good crossover event must provide them with a convincing reason to fight side by side or against each other or both. For Marvel’s popular 2006-07 crossover event Civil War, writer Mark Millar came up with the following premise (quoted from an interview reprinted in the back of the hardcover edition):

“Civil War is about what happens when the Marvel heroes are forced to grow up. It’s as simple as that. The public need and want the heroes. They couldn’t survive without them in a world filled with super villains and alien invasions. However, the wild west fantasy these guys have been having, where they put on a mask and fight whoever they like just doesn’t cut it in the modern world. Real people are getting hurt here and, for the first time, the heroes are being asked to come over onto the side of law and order in an official capacity so these guys can be properly regulated. Some are happy about this and others feel it’s compromising everything they stand for.”

Disagreement on the role of the superhero quickly turns into conflict, and voilà, we got ourselves a superhero fight big and spectacular enough to be marketed as a full-fledged “war,” that is, a bona fide crossover event—mission accomplished. According to Millar, though, Civil War does more than just set the stage for battle; it also provides meta-commentary on the genre from a contemporary perspective by raising the question: Is it really okay for superheroes to place themselves above the law and “fight whoever they like”?

Unfortunately, the story turns out to be far too busy with its battle scenes to actually explore this question in any depth—not sure to what degree it is explored in the flood of tie-in issues I have not read (in The Road to Civil War or Civil War: Captain America/Iron Man, for example). Based on the event’s core mini-series alone, I have no idea why any of these characters are either for or against government control, and Millar himself doesn’t seem to have given the issue much thought: “It just kind of evolved naturally... Cap is a natural, of course, because he’s all about freedom and civil liberties and Iron Man just seemed like the only guy with the weight and the authority to disagree with him.” Disagreement for disagreement’s sake, which makes the whole story a bit of a contrived, shallow affair.

Still, Civil War certainly delivers what is expected from this kind of story. As much as Millar’s writing fails to develop its own themes and characters, it is surprisingly sharp and effective when it comes to the battle and its immediate context, and McNiven's detailed widescreen artwork, realistic and spectacular at once, perfectly compliments a story that claims to confront the Marvel Universe with real-life concerns. Bottom line: Civil War isn’t really the revisionary text it purports to be, but as an event-type spectacle it works quite well.

[Jeremiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, like, uh, the superheroes split 'cause the government (read as "damn government") wants them to register and get paid to do what they do. Then, like, the one side fights the other side. People get pissy. More people get pissy. Then it kinda ends and nothing has changed.

The art is decent.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decided to go back and read this again while going through all of New Avengers again. It's a very interesting argument. If police officers and firemen have to be trained to do their job, why shouldn't super heroes too? The New Warriors screw up while filming a reality show and Nitro blows up a school. Average people are outraged and the Superhuman Registration Act is pushed through. Iron Man is pushing for the bill while Captain America is totally against it. Millar characterizes the pro-registration side like a bunch of fascists while Cap is portrayed as an angry a-hole. Plus, a lot of big moments happen outside this book, especially to Spider-Man. The Marvel event as an entire whole I'd give 5 stars while these 7 issues just got a 3 for not fleshing out the events enough and the poor characterization of the main characters.

The one thing I was disappointed was never explored is that the Superhuman Registration Act is really just an extension of the Mutant Registration Act that Chris Claremont introduced in the X-Men back in the 70's. That would have been a good way to bring the X-Men into the story instead of having them sit this one out.

Steve McNiven makes the book look glorious. The Marvel universe has never looked better or more epic.

[James DeSantis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I always thought Civil War was a let down. I still think that years later. I actually re-read this because been playing Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 and the story in there is pretty bad, the comic version isn't much better.

So if you don't know what Civil War is about, where the fuck you've been? Tony wants superheroes to register in the united states. Basically be super agents for Shield. Cap says no, we need out secret identities otherwise we can be in trouble. Tus, the war begins, and our heroes begin to brawl with each other.

Good: The points brought up on both sides can be pretty interesting. I also love the Spider-man reveal and brings the character to a new level. I also like the IDEA of this and think it could have really given us some amazing stories.

Bad: However, most of the plot results in punching each other in the face. Also the art is iffy, and while sometimes nice, sometimes is downright ugly. Also the pacing is a bit iffy and it feels like it wraps up way to quick for such big movements in the universe.

Overall it's closer to a 2.5 than a 2 but still, this title has always been okay. Hype hype hype, but not delivering. I know it might be insane to say but I thought Civil War 2 was actually worth more on what it was saying. Atleast I had more fun. Owells.

[Nicolo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have this story in at least three formats; the original single issues, digital copies of the single issues, and a digital trade. This is a reread, and the story has held surprisingly well ten years later. In the current political climate, it can be an allegory for the immigration issues that divide the United States, just replace unregistered superheroes with undocumented immigrant.

Politics aside, the main draw for this story for me is the beautiful McNiven art. There are still event comic books but it is rare to get an entire story illustrated by a single artist. Everything has held so well. Although, now I can't stand Miriam Sharpe. Thankfully, she's not the main draw, the superhero slug-fest is.

[Sandee is Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series has so much relevance to society today. It clearly shows us how much stubbornness and unwillingness to cooperate could cause so much destruction.

I'm the type of person who likes to look for deeper meanings in anything I read, so I was reading this, I couldn't help but feel that somehow we are all experiencing this right now. We don't have superheroes fighting left and right for what they believe in, but we do have groups of people doing the same thing and also causing similar damages to people around them, of course not as severe I guess. No scratch that, almost as severe as the damages on this series. And this is all because they like to prove they are right that they completely disregard the effect it would have to other people around them. I'm not going to give much examples about it anymore, but if you look at current events in the world today you'll see where I'm going with this.

THINGS I LIKED

✔ I'm not exactly sure if the message I got from this was intentional or I was just reading too much under it. But I liked what this was representing.

✔ I liked how the beginning was built well in my opinion. I thought that the set up as to why the conflict happened was legit. It wasn't just because of someone's self-interest. It was because something really big happened which caused the government to take action. And while I side with Captain America on this one, I understood the reason why the push this legislation.

✔ I liked the illustrations.

✔ For some weird reason, it felt good seeing these superheroes battle it out against each other. I know its bad saying that but I dunnoo.. It looked so badass.

✔ The character arcs were very impressive. It's shows the struggles of each of the characters and I thought it was done pretty well. It shows that these superheroes are still people and sometimes make irrational and selfish decisions.

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE

✘ Those new superheroes who were ultimately the reason why this whole Civil War thing happened were so annoyingly stupid. I freakin' wanted to punch them senseless.

✘ It sucks that there are some instances that you won't understand because you haven't some of the other comics related to this. I was just told by someone that the reason some things seemed missing was because of that. Some plot holes were answered on another series to solidify this specific series. And that sucks. I haven't really read much comics so maybe this is just me not being used to this. But yeah... I would have wanted to read everything in a series, but switch to another series just to get some stuff.

FINAL WORDS

I would highly recommend reading this. Most especially for those who would like to know what might happen to the movie Captain America: Civil War because I believe this would be their source material for that movie. I'm not really sure how they are going to work this as a movie, but I am so excited to find out.

[Alex ☣ Deranged KittyCat ☣ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars



I bought the Romanian edition for my son, so I read that one. Surprisingly, I didn't mind that it was not in English, that's how good the translation is.



So, there's Tony all full of remorse, backing up a legislative act that compels all superheroes to reveal their identity, and work as state employees. Cap is obviously against it, and they go to war because of that. We have injured, we have deaths, we have pretty much everything.

But the storyline is different from the movie one: no Winter Soldier in the comics. I'm not sure which I prefer. It was nice seeing old friends, such as Storm or the Fantastic 4, but fewer superheroes also has it advantages.

I was a little confused with Namor. I kept thinking of Aquaman, and why he ended up in a Marvel comic. Shame on me.


By the way, I really need to read Emma Frost's story. I think it's high time I got over my dislike for her (for tacking Jean's place).

[P · Rating 2 out of 5]

#TeamCap
The book is good. Don't misunderstand me. But two stars for the ending. I HATED IT !



Okay, I gotta read this one again as the movie will be out next week in my country. So excited ! There're many different spots as I can see through the book. Firstly, this book is not about Bucky and there's no Thor in the movie. So let me hope that the ending is not the same. LET ME HOPE. Because I haven't prepared for a catastrophic conclusion like the comic. I trust MARVEL, they won't do that to me right. Right ?



My heart is trembling right now like the day before I was going to watch BvS.

................................

เมื่อซูเปอร์ฮีโร่กลุ่มเล็กๆทำให้ทั้งประเทศชาติต้องออกระเบียบการลงทะเบียนซูเปอร์ฮีโร่ โทนี่ สตาร์ค คือฝ่ายที่เห็นด้วยกับมาตรการนี้และได้รับแรงสนับสนุนจากซูเปอร์ฮีโร่กลุ่มหนึ่ง ในขณะที่กัปตันอเมริกาคิดแย้งกับโทนี่และมีซูเปอร์ฮีโร่อีกกลุ่มมีทัศนวิสัยเดียวกับเขา เมื่อสงครามกลางเมืองกำลังจะเกิดขึ้น ร่างโคลนของธอร์ได้ฆ่าโกไลแอท และนั่นทำให้ซูเปอร์ฮีโร่เทมาฝั่งกัปตันอเมริกามากขึ้น รวมถึงสไปเดอร์แมนที่ยอมถอดหน้ากากและเปิดเผยตัวเองต่อหน้าสาธารชน

กัปตันกำลังได้เปรียบในสงครามการเมืองครั้งนี้และไอรอนแมนกำลังจนมุม แต่ประชาชนที่เข้ามายับยั้งเขาไว้ทำให้เขาคิดได้ว่า สิ่งที่เขาทำนั้นไม่ได้เพื่อคนอื่น แต่เขาทำเพื่อตัวเอง นั่นทำให้เขามอบตัวในที่สุด ...

หยิบมาอ่านใหม่เพื่อเตรียมตัวรอภาพยนตร์ที่จะฉายปีหน้า ซึ่งต้องมีการปรับบทจากหนังสือค่อนข้างมากแน่นอน เพราะในคอมมิคเราว่าบทค่อนข้างสั้นและไม่ได้พีคอะไรมากมาย แต่ถือว่าเป็นเหตุการณ์ครั้งสำคัญที่เปลี่ยนหน้าประวัติศาสตร์ซูเปอร์ฮีโร่ไปเลยทีเดียว

ส่วนตัวเหตุการณ์ Civil War เราอ่านแล้วเฉย-เฉยมาก ตอนนี้ใจไปอยู่ที่ทานอสกับอัญมณีซะมากกว่า >.< รอดู Infinity War ว่าจะออกมายังไง แอบตื่นเต้นตรงที่จะได้ดู Dr.Strange ละอีกไม่นาน ถ้าเราเดาไม่ผิด หนังของหมอแปลกน่าจะมีอัญมณีอีกเม็ดโผล่มาแน่ๆ

ปล.ติ่งสไปดี้ตั้งแต่ 4 ขวบอย่างเรา เจอฉากนี้ทีไรขนลุกทุกที

[Bookwraiths · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book. It captured the feelings and emotions of all the parties involved in this civil war, making even a reader choose sides. Naturally (because I'm a rebel at heart), Captain America's side was the one I found myself routing for in this battle of wills, but Millar did an excellent job of making me understand why Iron Man and his cohorts decided to back the government's initiative. Action, emotions, fights, moral decisions, and grief. This one had it all!

As for the art, I liked it, which means that it was good enough that I never thought of it at all most of the time. It really became a seamless part of the story, flickering before my eyes like a movie projection, just the way I like it.

At the end of the day, this collection (and a couple others) made the Civil War a crossover storyline that I am absolutely glad I finally picked up and experienced.

[Scarlet Cameo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actualización abr/2016

Encontre este largisimo gif que muestra a todos los Avenger y queda como una tipo canción o yo estoy loca y la cantaba en mi cabeza y quise dejarla aquí

http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/hlw/68...

Dejó el link porque por alguna razón ¡¡¡GR no carga la imagen!!!

____________________________________________________

Unos jóvenes superhéroes se adentran en una batalla que ocasiona la muerte de más de 600 personas en Stamford, entre ellos 60 niños. Esto lleva a la creación del "Acta de Registro Superhumano" donde los superhéroes pasaran a ser trabajadores gubernamentales, entrenados y mandados por una agencia especializada dentro de S.H.I.E.L.D.

Ante este paradigma se forman dos bandos, el que se rehúsa al registro, liderado por Capitán América, y otro pro-registro, comandado por Iron Man.

Sí leemos eso todo parece demasiado simple "La ley es la ley" ¿cierto? Pero lo que no se nos dice es que aquellos que acepten el registro deben revelar y "cazar" a los enmascarados que rehuzan realizarlo. Tampoco se nos dice que los que están en contra del registro tienen razones relacionadas (y justificadas con hechos reales) para ver como un peligro hacia su persona este registro.

Para ser justos es imposible decir que el Acta es buena o mala, más bien es tiene ambas cosas. Esto plenamente expuesto con la interiorización de los personajes, dado que son pocos los que no llegan a cuestionar el bando en el que están y las acciones que llevan a cabo.

Ahora la historia es exquisita, tiene más de lo que a simple vista se ve, es redonda y completa en sí misma, y su punto más fuerte son los personajes principales:







Ellos tres son quienes llevan la batuta, las decisiones que toman influencian a todos los demás superhéroes, y la verdad es que no puedes evitar amar u odiar a alguno de ellos. Yo apoyo al Capitán América, principalmente (y no recuerdo sí eso pasa en este número o en alguna de las historias secundarias) porque él sí dice que es lo que está defendiendo, cuales son las verdaderas motivaciones que lo llevan a eso, y Ironman sólo pareció sacar el beneficio de todo lo sucedido.



El dibujo es excelente, y la edición en español (con la portada original, no con la portada para México) es hermosa, realmente todo transmite lo que esta pasando.

Para finalizar diré un detalle, si alguien se pregunta ¿Es necesario leer TODAS las historias que conforman Civil War para entender este compilado? No, y de hecho sí desean hacerlo, no recomiendo que lo hagan conforme la cronología de Marvel porque muchos detalles pueden confundirse dada la repetición de escenas, pero si recomiendo leer las historias alternas (especialmente Civil War: Front Line y Civil War: The Amazing Spider-Man), aunque no todas son oro (Civil War: Thunderbolts te estoy hablando a ti) vale leerlas si quieres una perspectiva de realmente como esta afectando a los héroes en todos los aspectos de su vida.

El final no me gusto, pero no porque fuera malo, sino porque NO ME GUSTO (opinión personal) y aunque se que cerró de manera adecuada yo terminé tremendamente enojada**, he aquí mis reacciones del final:















Como conclusión sí te gustan los superhéroes esta historia debes leerla, porque te mete en un entorno completamente distinto a lo que siempre se nos muestra, da mayor dimensión a las personalidades de los personajes principales, además de que cambia la percepción clásica que tenemos de los héroes enmascarados, donde siempre se busca evitar el daño y el compañerismo (en la mayoría de los casos) es lo predominante. Para mi sólo una persona se beneficio de está Guerra, todo lo demás sólo fue el cierre de una era.

**No me importa lo que mostró What if...? Cualquier final no dejaría contentos a todos por tanto mi enojo es valido

[Terence · Rating 2 out of 5]

After a super villain blew up a school, sweeping reform hit the nation. This reform forced super powered individuals to either register with the government or face imprisonment. Not everyone agreed what to do which lead to a super hero... Civil War.

I really dislike this story. Everyone is so myopic it's insane. To put such time and effort to fight other super heroes is about the dumbest thing ever. No one's complaining about too many heroes when Galactus, Apocalypse, Doctor Doom, or any other number of villains threaten to destroy the world. It's surprising more heroes didn't just sit the event out and not join a side. If they wanted to do something to make a difference perhaps hiring super heroes as prison wardens because the biggest issue is that super villains always escape prison.

Whose side am I on? No one's, everyone lost their d**m minds. The majority of the characters were wildly different from their normal characterization in the worst way especially Captain America. Cap turned into an angry man just ready to argue and fight constantly and not the level headed hero he's normally shown to be. If Dr. Strange wasn't fasting on a snowy mountain I'd be with him. I really hope the movie doesn't resemble the comic too closely.

[A.J. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok, I know people love this book, but ever since I read this when I was wayy younger, I hated it. I hated it when I reread it in my teens, and I hate it even more on reread now. This was actually the event where I completely lost interest in Marvel comics until Superior Spider-Man brought me back in 2013. Even 8 year old me thought this book was shit. I usually like Mark Millar but this book just doesn’t work like most Marvel events. It’s overstuffed with some interesting ideas but suffers from iffy execution while being completely carried by the best art of Steve McNiven’s illustrious career. The only reason I read this is that I had some time before Hickman’s Avengers issues with Superior Spider-man arrived, and I wanted a short, easy read. Maybe I should have done something actually good?

I’m not gonna summarize the story because everyone knows how this one goes at this point. I think I was just hoping I would like it this time around, but like most things I tend to not enjoy, it takes itself FAR too seriously. I also haven’t been able to take the ending seriously ever since I heard this page described as “9/11 tackling Cap".

Like goddammit, it so fucking is. So unbelievably fucking corny. And by the time Cap stops the fighting, it feels both unearned and underbaked. The only Civil War story that has ever worked is that Warzone one Charles Soule did. Both of the ones they did in continuity are genuinely fucking trash.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll give them credit for trying. The intention was to create a very serious and divisive issue that fans and characters alike could debate. the problem was the issue they picked: super hero registration. Yes, Marvel Comics, the company that has given us approximately 7893893840 X-Men stories about how registration is the first step on the road to genocide wants us, the fans who have read those stories, to be unsure about whether or not registration acts are a good idea. Not exactly the best start.

The fact of the matter is, this is a debate that could theoretically happen... If the pro-reg side didn't jump off a cliff of pure crazy almost immediately. Requiring those with superpowers to essentially get a drivers license for their powers is defensible. Shooting an unlicensed hero in the back with a machine gun because they stopped a mugging is not. Giving Norman Osborn free reign to kill unlicensed heroes is not. And yet that's where Tony Stark, Reed Richards, and the pro-reg side end up. Yes, you can now be summarily executed by the Green Goblin if you try to stop a purse snatching while wearing a mask.

Honestly, this book could have been even worse, so Millar deserves some credit for keeping it from being a complete waste. But it was a horrible, horrible idea, if you accept that the intention was not to make readers at large hate Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic.

[Liam · Rating 4 out of 5]

As hard as it was for me to see most of my favourite marvel characters fighting each other, this was a pretty great read!

I literally devoured this book! It was basically non stop action from start to finish and pretty much every issue ended on a cliff hanger that made me nEED to read on!

It was hard for me to pick a 'side' to be on as I kind of agreed with both sides, making the story even more gripping as I needed to see how it would conclude! I felt like the ending was a little rushed and that they could've done a bit more with it.

Interested and sO EXCITED to see how this will work out as a movie!!

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

So there was a civil war, and that's that. The story started out somewhat plausible, but along the way, it got lost in the shuffle. Battle. Whatever.

I'm not a big fan of Marvel comics, but this one was on sale at Amazon so, why not? The artwork was good, and aside from not knowing all of the characters, I was able to follow along pretty well. The moral and ethical questions developed seemed to be left on the sidelines, and that disappointed me. Maybe these questions were covered more in-depth in the carry-overs across the Marvel spectrum. If I ever see those on sale, perhaps I'll pick them up to try and gain some more of the background. Perhaps.

[Jonathan Terrington]

If I had to name what I believe is the greatest graphic novel story arc in the history of all the comic-verses I would name Civil War among them. Perhaps this story arc may indeed end up right near the very top. However because this story is part of an arc narrative it fails to stand strong alone. Without the other novels, there is a lack of full continuity and resolution. Therefore, this book just feels a little flat, containing a great introduction and body but a weak conclusion. I personally love strong conclusions more than strong introductions.

The premise of Civil War is simple. Tensions have been developing between normal mortals and the godlike superheroes and eventually these tensions explode with a literal explosion that destroys a town. This explosion happens to occur during a superhero, reality-television, show, while the heroes are pursuing super-villains. The result of this explosion leads to the American government wishing to instigate laws to make all superhero activities legislated and that require all heroes legally give up anonymous heroism. However, Captain America decides that this is a bad idea and goes underground to fight against such a law. On the other hand, his friend Iron Man heads up a team of heroes who hunt down and imprison any 'rogue heroes'. Hence, the idea of Civil War is that the hero camp is divided against itself. A house divided against itself cannot stand.

In many regards, this book appears as a deliberate attempt to look at the American 'War on Terror'. However, it examines many other critical areas: such as the impact of reality television and the dangers of foolish or stubborn actions. It challenges the reader about the notion of the police state, that utopian and dystopian aspects of life are perhaps not as distant as humanity may assume. It observes the humorous irony of hunting down heroes for performing heroic deeds, posturing that perhaps at times doing the right and noble thing may require going against laws and conventions.

Speaking of the critical way in which this appears to examine terror, there is the sense that the writers are challenging American legislation. Has America, in her pursuit of terrorists, crossed a line of terrorism against the terrorist? Recently, there has been much debate about drone attacks – are these actually terrorist actions against terror suspects? In the past, was the dropping of atomic bombs against Japan as much a war crime as the attack on Pearl Harbour? With the debate of gun registration laws recently there is a point made by some that how can the government of America talk about forcing others to register their guns while being free to have armed soldiers protect them. It appears that the authors of this graphic novel have recognised such a vein of hypocrisy inherent in some American legislative motions of their past and are attempting to dissect it and to indicate it, through their graphic novel story. For how can the government of this novel assert it is aiming to save lives while at the same time preventing heroes from truly doing their duty? The law and the government alone wish to control power clearly in this Marvel universe and that is something made evident by the authors.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe I'm kind of dumb, but I don't really get this. A whole bunch of superheroes and villains have it out in midtown Manhattan, they destroy buildings and wreck havoc for a few square blocks, but then a handful of ordinary people seem to make their way through the fray and can seem to hold back Captain America from bashing in Iron Man's head, and he all of a sudden has a revelation that maybe the war should end, he lets himself be arrested and then a general amnesty is given to all of the heroes on both sides, after they just seriously fucked up New York, and probably killed a bunch of people. It felt like they couldn't figure a way out of what they had written themselves into so the writers just kind of gave some really stupid conclusion to the Civil War. Or at least it didn't make any sense to me.

Another thought on the ending. Ultimately any taking away of civil liberties is fine, because the government will be making things safer for everyone. The whole series is obviously a commentary on the post 9/11 landscape of America, with Iron Man being on the Bush side demanding a decrease in liberties for a greater security, and Captain America opposing the march towards a more totalitarian government. By surrendering Captain America because the 'common folk' hold him back, and he sees the war he's been fighting hasn't been fought in their interest at all can be a sad commentary on the way that sweeping paranoia and fear mongering can sway public perceptions and opinions and work as a way of slyly legitimizing deplorable actions.

There is still more to come in this story arc with the Initiative, so maybe things will look up for the America that exists in Marvel land, but by what has happened here the goose steps are getting louder and the real opposition to their approach has given up the fight because of popular opinion. Good thing this is only a comic book, right?

[David - proud Gleeman in Branwen's adventuring party · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very poorly written. The overall premise had potential, but Millar completely wastes it and gives us the literary version of one of Michael Bay's Transformers sequels instead! Compelling drama is thrown out the window to be replaced with mindless fight sequences. The history and personalities of the characters is completely ignored and Millar resorts to pathetic shock value instead (really...Spider-Man...the guy who's always been so afraid to reveal his identity in order to protect his family...he's suddenly willing to publicly unmask?!?)

Civil War isn't just a terrible story...it's so bad, that it's exactly what non-comic book readers think all comic books are like!

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most people are familiar with this major story event after the successful Captain America movie. It's a compelling excuse for showing an epic conflict between our greatest Marvel superheroes. It's also a thought-provoking look at the nature of super heroism and vigilatism and the responsibility that super-powered heroes should have to the general public. Although it's suitably action packed, I actually found it less interesting than the loose movie adaptation. While the strength in the story should be the fact that it's hard to choose sides as both make great points, in the graphic novel, it's pretty easy to choose sides due to certain tragic events.



Also, in the book, the action is spurred by a team of second-rate superheroes causing loads of collateral damage at a grade school. The movie's handling of this was much more interesting. By making the argument about the disregard for civilians by the Avengers themselves, it makes the story and the conflict much more personal and makes the "Civil War" in the movie version feel much more engaging. So this book pales in comparison to the story in the movie adaptation as well as to the similar but vastly superior DC comics story, Injustice: Gods Among Us.

[Molly™☺ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A political spectacle which turns friends into foes, it's an evenly weighted drama that explores both sides of the legalisation of superheroes without bias. Whilst it dabbles in deepness, it's really just a fairly well executed excuse for a good ol' superhero punch up event that pits power against power for the pleasure of the people.

[Roman Zarichnyi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ідея будь якого кросовера чи події у коміксах із супергероями полягає в тому, щоб об’єднати широкий спектр персонажів в одній історії, які зазвичай фігурують у своїх власних серіях. Зазвичай для того, щоб протидіяти якійсь зовнішній чи навіть внутрішній загрозі, як ось під час події «Громадянська війна» Марка Міллара і Стівена МакНівена. Найкраще супергерої вміють битися, тому цього буде вдосталь у цьому коміксів протягом усіх випусків. Звичайно, щоб це не була бійка заради бійки, то хороший кросовер повинен надати їм переконливий привід битися пліч-о-пліч або один проти одного.

Сам же Міллар сказав про мотивацію супергероїв і чому відбувається така катавасія ось таку річ: «Громадянська війна — це те, що відбувається, коли герої Marvel змушені вирости. Це так просто. Громадськість потребує і хоче героїв. Вони не змогли б вижити без них у світі, наповненому суперлиходіями та інопланетними вторгненнями. Однак у цих хлопців (супергероїв) фантазія про дикий захід, де вони надягають маску і б’ються з ким їм подобається, просто не підходить у сучасному світі. Так постраждають люди, і вперше героїв просять стати на бік правопорядку в офіційному статусі, щоб ці хлопці могли належним чином регулюватися. Деякі раді цьому, а інші вважають, що це ставить під загрозу все, за що вони виступають».

Загалом він чітко описав, передісторію майбутніх подій, де у результаті розбіжності щодо ролі супергероя у суспільстві швидко переростають у конфлікт. Де супергерої влаштували собі битву, досить велику і видовищну, щоб її можна було назвати повноцінною «війною». Однак, за словами Міллара, «Громадянська війна» робить більше, ніж просто створює основу для битви. Він також дає можливість поглянути на ситуацію з точки зору сучасності, піднімаючи питання: чи справді супергероям добре ставити себе вище закону, боротися з ким їм подобається, і як їм подобається? І головне, без ніяких наслідків для них.

На жаль, історія виявляється занадто зайнятою своїми батальними сценами, щоб насправді досліджувати ці поставлені питання досить глибоко. Так, вони чітко показані читачу, так вони чітко розділили супергероїв на два табори, так вони навіть дали змогу засумніватися у своєму виборі певним персонажам. Але якогось надвеликого дослідження цих питань чи сильного емоційного навантаження я не побачив.

Наслухавшись так багато схвальних відгуків та взявши до рук цей комікс, поставив перед собою багато очікувань, які не справдилися у повному обсязі. Тим не менш, цей комікс, безумовно, забезпечує те, що очікується від такого роду історії у своєму жанрі. Також є один важливий аспект, на який на мою думку потрібно звернути увагу. І яким більшість читачів, які бажають прочитати «Громадянську війну», нехтують. А потім нарікають, хоч історія має досить логічну зав'язку, але розв'язка не до кінця зрозуміла.

Це вже друга подія з якою я познайомився у всесвіті Marvel і можу сказати, що й «Династію М», й «Громадянську війну» легко можна читати відокремлено від основних подій, що відбуваються у різних серіях. Але ці події у коміксі, все ж таки, інтегровані у загальну лінію часу і мають, як свої передумови, так безспосередній вплив на все те, що відбуватиметься потім в тих же окремих серіях і світі. І якщо перше, ще якимось чином подається авторами, щоб якось пояснити важливі нюанси читачу, то друге залишається зазвичай у невіданні. А ще є сцени, якщо не є надважливими, то все ж несуть певний сенс і розуміння загальної картини у всесвіті. І якщо цього не знати, то вони залишаться просто кадрами без ніякого підґрунтя чи сенсу.

Тому направду у вас є два варіанти. Перший — легкий. Просто брати читати цей комікс, але із розумінням, що багато речей фактично будуть приховані від вашого ока, але це в ніякому разі не робить цей комікс поганим. Другий — довгий і тяжкий. Знайти ті комікси і серії, які важливі до, під час й після події, щоб зрозуміти картину в цілому. Та в цьому випадку, боюся, ви застрягнете у всесвіті надовго. А чи це погано вирішувати вже вам?

[Alberto Palomino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me encanta Civil War, creo que no me equivoco si digo que es de los mejores eventos Marvel que se han hecho, y uno de los más inteligentemente montados e ingeniados. La idea de héroes luchando entre ellos por diferencias políticas supera la barrera básica que suele dar el género, sobretodo en una editorial mega explotada como Marvel Comics. Pero consiguió no solo su propósito, si no aunar a varios autores para ir mejorando una idea que de premisa iba a ser simplemente SHIELD contra el mundo.

Aunque el autor es Mark Millar y se nota por su forma tan atractiva de narrar los acontecimientos y por algunos gags típicos de este autor, en realidad fueron varios los que idearon este evento, nombres como Quesada, Brevoort, Bendis, Loeb, moldearon este gran evento que afecto al universo (al menos en esta época así era, hasta que se acostumbraron a crear eventos así todos los años). Realmente es Bendis uno de los pilares junto a Quesada de esta Marvel de la década del 2000, tan atrayente y diferente.
Antes de llegar aquí llegaron cosas como Secret War (donde Nick Furia queda fuera de juego), Vengadores Desunidos (la caída en desgracia de Wanda Maximoff y la de los Vengadores), Dinastía de M (dejando fuera del tablero a los Mutantes que prácticamente desequilibrarían la balanza de esta Guerra), Los Nuevos Vengadores (que pone los pilares de este evento), Thor y Asgard desaparecieron en su Ragnarok particular y en el número especial de los Illuminati que reseñe anteriormente se nos contaba que fue de Hulk.

La idea central consiste en que por culpa de un grupo de chavales novatos superhéroes que grababan un Reality Show capturando supervillanos provocan el incidente de Stamford (donde mueren casi mil personas, entre ellos cerca de trescientos niños), y esto provoca una ola de indignación sobre la comunidad superheroica que atraviesa el país y llega hasta las altas instituciones donde ciertos poderes estaban deseando ponerle una correa a los héroes disfrazados y ven que se lo han puesto en bandeja de plata. Tony Stark que ya se olía que esto llegaría tarde o temprano, acata el orden público y abandera un movimiento Pro-Registro de un Acta donde todo superhéroe deben registrarse ante el Gobierno, dar a conocer su identidad y amoldarse a unas normas y procederes para que casos como estos no vuelvan a ocurrir.

Pero no tarda la cosa en caldearse y el Capitán América, ideal del Sueño Americano y Centinela de la Libertad, ve que esta Ley tira por tierra la libertad de estos individuos que se juegan la vida día y noche y el desvelar sus identidades podría peligrar sus vidas personales. Así que lidera un movimiento de Resistencia contra esta Ley y contra el movimiento Pro-Registro de Iron Man que crece en una escalada de tensión política y social que sucumbe en una pequeña pero impactante Guerra Civil Superheroica.

— Me está pidiendo que detenga personas que arriesgan la vida por este país todos los días de la semana.
— No, le estoy pidiendo que obedezca la voluntad del pueblo estadounidense, capitán.
— No jugué a la política conmigo, Hill. Los superhéroes tienen que estar por encima de eso, o Washington empezará a decirnos quienes son los supervillanos.
— Creía que los supervillanos eran tíos enmascarados que se negaban a obedecer la ley.
— Los héroes enmascarados han formado parte de este país desde que se recuerda.
— Y la viruela. Ahora madure y deje de hacer el idiota. Nadie dice que no puedan hacer su trabajo. Pero es hora de que se hagan legales como todos nosotros, soldado.

Con un dibujazo de Steve McNiven, observamos una guerra donde no hay buenos ni malos, sino diferentes puntos de vista pero como pasa en toda guerra, algunos saldrán de ellas con las manos manchadas, o directamente bajo tierra. Con sorpresas tales como que opción escogerá Spiderman (el más cuidadoso con su identidad secreta), un clon robótico de cierto héroe nórdico que romperá la balanza, o como amigos que han luchado juntos durante años son capaces de odiarse que quebrara alianzas y confianzas para siempre (que no hombre, que esto es Marvel, con los años se volvió a la “normalidad”, pero eh, duro mucho más de lo habitual, eso también se dice).

En resumen, un evento que recomiendo a todo lector de comics de superheroes o incluso fuera de este ámbito, que lea, porque si no disfrutas de los entresijos políticos, lo harás por las tollinas que hay muchas y para todos los gustos. También recomiendo la lectura de algunos tie in, comics relacionados con este evento, porque se complementan estupendamente y te dan otros puntos de vista tales como el de Spiderman, el del mundo periodístico (Civil War: Primera Línea), como Lobezno paso de este enfrentamiento y fue directamente a por el culpable, etc.

[kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seeing my favourites fight never fails to break my heart. 😭 this was a fun read, especially after having seen the civil war movie a million times. It was interesting to be able to compare the two and their differences. I enjoyed having the vast, combined cast of characters but I did feel as though that meant the personality of each individual didn't shine through as much. The dialogue was also a little cheesy at times (but who doesn't love some superhero cheesiness?) It wasn't my favourite marvel comic but it was a fun read nonetheless.

[Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Civil War is very 2000s. Mark Millar, in probably Marvel's last big crossover which actually felt like it had stakes and lasting impacts, basically took his Ultimates writing style and incorporated it into the mainline Marvel Universe. It didn't always work, and seemed more about cool action movie scenes trying to be smart more than it felt like the real versions of these characters (but how else are Iron Man and Cap going to thrown down?) but it was a noble attempt. At least sometimes.

Poor New Warriors... The Fantastic For particularly didn't work. And how they gonna do Thor/Clor like that!

Even before the MCU, it was good that Marvel was focusing on its core classic characters being a big deal. The Avengers are indeed what it's all about. The X-Men for example were barely there. And yes, Spider-Man's identity reveal quickly didn't count anymore, yet that was a cool scene in of itself.

The best parts of Civil War, over in the Captain America and Spidey books, weren't even in this particular mini-series. The best parts were how the other storylines made an impact in the various titles of the time, and the Initiative thereafter.

The art by Steve McNiven is spectacular. Perfect tone for revealing a superhero setting in a serious, somewhat political gritty style. While also able to portray weird science fiction in the Negative Zones, and of course fight scenes.

Lastly, it inspired a great film. If nothing else, that makes this worth a reread. Always fun to compare. Well that makes for a legacy, even if reboots and Secret Wars always undo it all. You can always go back and have those arguments again, so have at it already: Which side were you on?

PS: Just skip Civil War II