Civil War: Avengers

Civil War: A Marvel Comics Event

by Brian Michael Bendis, Brian Reed, Christios Gage

After the government forces superheroes to register their identities, the Avengers are divided with Iron Man leading those embracing the legislation and Captain America spearheading the opposition.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Superheroes, Civil War, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics

552 pages, Hardcover

First published August 31, 2010

About the author

A comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim (including five Eisner Awards) and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics. For over eight years Bendis’s books have consistently sat in the top five best sellers on the nationwide comic and graphic novel sales charts.

Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.

Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.

Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.

Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.

Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.

He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.

Reviews

[KK · Rating 5 out of 5]

• Captain America: 5
• Confession: 10 [if only i could give it :(]
• Initiative: 4.5
• Daily Bugle: 4
• Iron Man: 5
• Iron Man / Captain America: 5
• Ms. Marvel: 4.5
• New Avengers: 4.8
• New Avengers: Illuminati: 4
• Winter Soldier: 5
• What if: 5

Overall: 4.7

[Đorđe Bajić · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zaplet je posedovao odličan potencijal - supeheroji su međusobno zaratili - ali su Marvelova ograničenja odnela svoj danak. Kraj me nije "kupio". Ni najmanje.

[Mladen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool, can't wait to see how it plays out on the big screen in 3rd Cap. America movie.

[Liberty · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first comic book I've read. It was no doubt a harsh one to get into and I was confused for the majority of the time but it was reccommended to me by a friend who wanted to show me how different they were from the movies (And he also wanted to sink my ship- Steve/Tony) and I was pleasantly surprised. Comics have never been my area but these have led me into a whole new world. And unfortunately for my friend, My ship is as strong as ever.

[Perfektionaise · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5 ☆
This story line breaks down to: male ego.

I aways forget how women are sexualised in these kind if comics. Like they are only allowed to be heroes if they wear slutty clothes without underwear (why do you see only female nipples poking through the costume but not male ones?) and pose and move like they are auditioning for a porn movie... It makes me very tired.
The plot itself is dumb. Like, there is a terrible event in a school and lots of kids died. So the government passes a bill and after that a law to make life safer. I laughed a bit because who would believe that the US-Government would actually do something like this. Laughable. Dumb.

[Manuel Peñaranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is one of the best comics I have ever read. It is deep enough in the story lines about the problems found between superheros and the society. Have they live out of the law instead of saving the planet? Extraordinary graphics and colors.

100% recommended.

[Gomezmr · Rating 5 out of 5]

These comis is the best of all.

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This omnibus collects a bunch of Civil War tie-ins from the Avengers-related titles. Not everything included in this collection is reviewed below. Among others, you will find in this hardcover:


New Avengers: Illuminati by Bendis & Maleev

Here we learn how "many years ago" the secret society comprised of some of the biggest names in the Marvel U got its start. Fast forward to taday and see how this unofficial group has splintered in light of the new Super-Hero Registration Act.


New Avengers: Civil War by Bendis & various artists

Talk about uneven. At times fun & interesting, at other times boring, this Civil War tie-in features a different artist for each issue collected in it. At least the Good outweighs the Bad.

High points

Issue 21 (Howard Chaykin on art duties): Captain America & Falcon meet up and try & recruit Hank Pym to their side, not knowing he's already joined up with Iron Man's team.

Issue 22 (Leinil Yu on art duties): Luke Cage does NOT register with the authorities and squares off against SHIELD troopers, while Jessica Jones escapes to Canada with their child.

Issue 25 (Jim Cheung on art duties): A disgruntled (former?) employee of Tony Stark breaks into Avengers tower with plans to kill Tony and disintegrate Avengers Tower in the process, by using an antimatter generator. Maria Hill saves the day.

Low points (accompanied by some ranting)

Issue 23 (Olivier Coipel on art duties): A tangled mess featuring Jessica Drew, one of Bendis' favourite super-heroes of all-time. Cloak & Dagger stuff involving SHIELD, a Nick Fury robot, Hydra, and more... Bendis wants us to care about Jessica as much as he does. Sorry dude, that won't happen (especially with this story). Besides, after having read Secret Invasion, and knowing what Jessica really is (Shhh! it's a secret), this whole story is moot and one ginormous red herring.

Issue 24 (Pasqual Ferry on art duties): Featuring THE SENTRY!!! Newsflash: I could care less about the *&%$ Sentry and his "issues". Moreover, the plot of this story is terrible: He flies off to the Moon and visits the Inhumans (who, by the way, are NOT happy to see him). Iron Man somehow shows up, apologises to the Inhumans for the Sentry, and brings back the poor, confused Superman rip-off back to Earth.
Oh, and since everything anybody (mostly Bendis, I know) writes about the Sentry is a ret-con, it turns out he had a "thing" with Crystal The Elemental (it's not enough that she was involved with Johnny Storm of the Fantastic Four and had a child with Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) of the Avengers??) Bad! Bad issue! Shoo!


Ms. Marvel: Civil War

In spite of featuring a number of B- & C-list characters (some of whom I'd never heard of), this Civil War tie-in shows us how the Super-Hero Registration Act affects the "little people", and somehow ends up being more engaging & interesting than other tie-ins featuring better-known characters like, say, Civil War: Fantastic Four. That, in itself, is quite a feat. It didn't make me a die-hard Carol Danvers fan, but at least I didn't feel like I'd wasted my time reading it.


Winter Soldier: Winter Kills

The Winter Soldier gets sent on a covert mission by Nick Fury to prevent the Young Avengers from raiding a Hydra base. Something happens which leads him to actually have to lead them in taking down the base. An action-packed, yet bitter-sweet issue, but all-around good reading.


Captain America: Civil War

Sharon Carter gets sent to try & convince Captain America to stop fighting the Registration Act and "come in from the cold". But that's just a stall, because meanwhile, the cape killer armors are on their way to apprehend the Sentinel of Liberty!
Still meanwhile, the Red Skull & Dr. Faustus are moving closer to realising their nefarious plan of taking Captain America off the playing field - permanently!
After finally surrendering to the pro-registration side, on his way to court and hand-cuffed, Cap gets shot by a mysterious assassin and [seemingly] dies.

[J'aime · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought Civil War was a superb story, so I eagerly began reading the event tie-ins. In the commentary at the end of “Civil War”, Millar mentioned that Stark wasn't written as evil but he was coming off that way for some readers, perhaps because of the event tie-ins. After finishing Civil War: Avengers, I would tend to agree with that. Tony may not be “evil”, but he is undoubtedly betraying his friends. He knew this war was coming, and planned for it. Even developing “capekiller” armor for the SHIELD agents tasked with bringing in unregistered heroes.

CW: Avengers opens with the Illuminati one shot, wherein Tony tells the group about the proposed SHRA and that he thinks they should support it. The group is split over it, foreshadowing the split among all heroes. The collection then rotates among several of the Avengers. First up is Luke Cage. Tony Stark asks him if he will register when the law goes into effect at midnight. Cage is obviously opposed, saying that people being dragged from their homes during the night for being different hasn’t changed throughout history. Stark takes offense at the law being compared with more brutal historical events such as the Japanese internment of WWII, or slavery – which Cage points out, was “once a law.” Of all the heroes, Cage elicits the strongest sympathy for the rebels, even more so than Captain America. Cap is fighting for an ideal; Cage has lived the other side.

The collection then moves to Spider-Woman, whose loyalty has been questioned before. She’s arrested, but rescued by Hydra – who have a surprising offer for her. She spectacularly refuses. When she shows up at Cap’s underground hide-out, her request to join is heart-rending; she has nowhere else to go.

A large portion of the collection is told via Ms. Marvel, who has sided with Tony. The writers make it clear that she is not happy with the situation, but feels duty-bound to follow through. This section shows the injustice of the law from another perspective. Tony sends Ms. Marvel to bring in a rogue hero called Arana, who turns out to be only 16 years old. Though her father objects, she is still required to register and work for the government! Further, Ms. Marvel takes her on the next mission to bring in Arachne who is trying to escape the country with her 9 year old daughter. She’s arrested and her daughter taken from her. The law is more than a battle of wills between Tony and Cap.

At two points in the collection, Tony and Cap meet privately to try and come to terms. These encounters were enlightening because they shed light on Tony’s motivation – primarily guilt. He was once compromised and forced to harm innocent people, including a plane full of people. The Secretary of Defense covered it up, but now Tony feels that the Stamford tragedy could just as easily been caused by him. The SHRA is the only way. Cap bluntly tells Tony that he has always thought he knew best by virtue of his genius. But who is Tony to make this decision for everyone else?

Another important thread throughout this collection is the actions of the top tier villains. With the heroes fighting each other, they are taking advantage of the situation with deadly consequences. While the government and public are so concerned about registration, they have forgotten the reason these heroes exist. Toward the end of the book, readers are given Tony’s “Confession,” which finally paints him in a sympathetic light. But of course, it’s far too late.

Overall, this was an amazing supplement to the main event. I look forward to reading Civil War: Fantastic Four. Highly recommended!

[Cassandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you think the movie will break your heart do NOT read the comic series, I kid you not you will cry hysterically in a corner. The author does a fantastic job of setting up the scene, executing what is perhaps the most difficult break-up in the history of any superhero fandom, and then taking a sledgehammer to your heart and crushing it into pieces smaller than dust. Pym particles perhaps?

I had a really hard time seeing the two main men on the sides they were though, Tony Stark with the government while Steve Rogers fought underground against mainstream America? If you had told me that one would side with the government and one against I'd have bet all my money on the exact opposite. However, it was the heart wrenching end that had me praying that they wouldn't choose this for ANY Avengers movie (which of course they did).

I'll try not to spoil the ending, but I will say that Tony's grief was profoundly relatable for the end of his and Steve's relationship/friendship. Here was a man who had his head so far in the future it was like he was living in the 22nd century, and yet his best friend was a man who valued the past and always tried to get Tony to remember that newer wasn't always better. They shouldn't have meshed as well as they did, but because they did become great friends and true allies it is so difficult to see them fighting. I literally wanted to jump into the comic, shove Tony and Steve (depowered of course) in a room and yell at them to figure their crap out or they would just have to live in that room forever.

Of course Daredevil has the BEST comeback in the whole comic series.

"Guess that's thirty one pieces of silver you've got now huh? Sleep well, Judas".

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some really nice pages of art... done in the Marvel style, natch.
But the entire time I was reading this, I was waiting for "something" to actually happen story-Wise.
Sure there are some great fight scènes, and even a ferw monologues and dialogues that were close to being interesting.
But the entire time, it was Tony Stark vs. Steve Rogers... but without them actually really getting into the thick of it.
Baically, this book did manage to give me one hell of a headache, but failed to actually grip me in any way, shape or form.

[Nicole Anto · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the series that pulled into the comic world. Up to that point I thought all comics were good guy in tights stops bad guy, period end. Then along comes The Civil War series. Captain America and cohorts as bad guys? Because they refuse to work for the government, refuse to be controlled. So it becomes superheroes versus superheroes. Who's right, who's wrong, and is it really that black and white?

[David Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice collection of universe-wide ripples caused by the main narrative of Civil War. Since it covers so many titles the art and story dynamics very widely, which keeps the readers momentum through the large tome-like binding. Very enjoyable, even though the hero-on-hero beat-down is not as prevalent in this collection as in the main story arc.

[Evilash89 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely love it! Not only does it tell the story of a intriguing conflict between two iconic characters (Iron Man and Captain America), but it also shows the age old conflict between the maintenance of civil liberties and relinquishing those liberties for 'safety/security'. Michael Bendis does a superb job using renown super heroes to tackle these basic yet complex issues.

[NOD · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art was good and the story had a lot of promise, but ultimately did not stand alone. Seemed like there were a lot of holes in the plot (probably filled in other series). Did not like the end. Captain America was in the right and had to surrender to overarching government control-the Obamacare of super heroes.

[Ian Wellard · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a boring series. Endured reading to book 80 of 106 and completely lost interest and stopped. Way too many characters that made a simple plot overly complicated. Recommend that you watch the movie instead.

[Maya Senen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Same!

[Richard Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Library copy