Civil War

As a general rule, I don’t care much for big crossover “events” in comic books. When I was a kid, I liked the annual crossovers between the Justice League of America and the Justice Society of America (more about those another time), probably because I’ve always been fond of Golden Age comics characters. But starting with DC’s CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS and Marvel’s SECRET WARS in the Eighties, most such mini-series have left me cold. I liked all the different Earths in the DC Universe and hated to see them go. Of course, I didn’t have to write stories set in that very complicated universe. I might have felt differently if that had been the case.

All of which brings me to Marvel’s THE ROAD TO CIVIL WAR and CIVIL WAR, a couple of trade paperbacks I read recently which reprint material from 2006’s big event in the Marvel Universe. THE ROAD TO CIVIL WAR, which reprints the one-shot AVENGERS: ILLUMINATI (written by Brian Michael Bendis), a couple of issues of FANTASTIC FOUR (written by J. Michael Straczynski), and three issues of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (also written by Straczynski), sets the stage for the CIVIL WAR mini-series by introducing the concept of the Superhero Registration Act, an effort by the federal government to make all the superheroes in the Marvel Universe disclose their secret identities and go to work for the government, with all the inherent regulation and red tape that would require. Naturally that doesn’t sit well with some of the heroes, and in CIVIL WAR, written by Matt Millar, the friction between the two factions escalates into all-out war as the group supporting the government’s actions, led by Tony Stark (Iron Man) tries to force the hold-outs, led by Captain America, into going along with the new law. Punches are thrown. A lot of stuff blows up. A few characters even die (but not any major ones) before things finally get resolved. In a nice touch, though, that resolution is rather messy and inconclusive . .. sort of like real life, especially where politics are involved.

This is where my obligatory “I don’t like the art as much as in the old days” rant usually appears, but I’ve got to say, the art in these two volumes is pretty good. Not as good as in the comics in my day, of course, but certainly okay. And the scripts by Bendis, Straczynski, and Millar are nice, fast-paced blends of action, humor, and pathos that stay true to the characters. I enjoyed these stories quite a bit. Enough to get me back into the comics shop on a weekly basis? Well, no. But I’ll certainly continue to read the trade paperback reprints of these newer comics when I get the chance.