Customer Reviews

Iron Man: Civil War

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book contains the Captain America/Iron Man Casualties of War oneshot, Iron Man 13-14 and the Civil War Confession. Amazon's discription of this book is wrong.

The highlight of this book is the Civil War Confession. It is a well written story of 2 conversations between Captain America and Iron Man after the civil war. However, it would have been better collected in the upcoming Fallen Son trade.

Overall though, its a good book and a good addition to a civil war tie in collection.

The summary incorrectly labels this book as containing issues of Captain America, it does not. This book collects Iron-Man #13-14, Iron-Man/Captain America: Casualties of War and Civil War: The Confession.

This book closely encapsulates the relationship between Iron-Man and Captain America more closely than anything else I have read from the Civil War books, including the Captain America TPB. It is nice to see why Tony Stark actually believes in the registration act and why he is fighting so vehamitely to enforce it. An excellent addition to anybody's collection if you are collecting the civil war series. I would suggest this book, the main title, the road to and the two frontline books for a minimum collection.

Too much talking, and not enough action. The flashbacks were kinda cool to see the interactions that Tony and Cap had over the years, but in the end it just wasn't for me.

The artwork was pretty good, and that's what put it at a 3 for me instead of a 2.

Great book. More in depth look at the conflict between Tony and Cap. And more of the internal conflict tearing up Tony Stark.

First, I'm not a huge Iron Man fan, though I thought after this book I might become one (alas, not I) because this is what Iron Man should be about, not the suit but the man. And Tony Stark is a weak man (as alcoholics are), but this book really pulled it all out. Loved it, in fact, it is the only Iron Man book I've found so far that I liked. You really see something dark in Stark coming out.

This volume collects three different story arcs from Marvel's big 2006 event, the Civil War. The three issues of Captain America get inside that character's head, revealing his internal struggles in trying to maintain a normal life while fighting the Civil War (leading the resistance) and holding out against his regular group of foes. Ed Brubaker's writing is excellent throughout this arc. Unfortunately, Mike Perkins' artwork is less consistent. His pencils range from strong to mediocre, though his inking is truly excellent.

The two Iron Man issues get inside Tony's head, and reveal what the war has cost him. Long time fans will want to check this out, as the title seems to be shaping up to take a sharp left turn, and the groundwork is being laid here. This is an interesting story in its own right, and a nice embellishment to the big story. The Knaufs write well, and Zircher pencils are very good.

The weakest entry is the Iron Man / Captain America: Casualties of War special. This wasn't originally approved, but when the main Civil War series started running late, it was approved to give retailers a chance to maintain revenue and momentum in the new slow periods. It shows; it's a nice recap of the history of the relationship between these two, but it doesn't really add anything new. Still, this weak entry (words by Christos N. Gage, pencils by Jeremy Haun, inks by Mark Morales) isn't weak enough to detract from the quality of the other two stories included in this collection. The complete package is definitely worthwhile.

The Civil War: Iron Man trade paperback includes the Iron Man issues (13-14) that were part of the massive crossover event as well as a pair of one-shot issues that served as Civil War epilogue chapters.

Since most of the real Civil War story took place in the Civil War limited series, this collection doesn't really work as a cohesive story. You get an Iron Man/Spymaster side story in issues 13-14, a recap of Iron Man's history with Captain America in the Casualties of War one-shot, and a deeper look into Tony Stark's soul in the Confession one-shot.

While it fails as a "real story" the collection is definitely worthwhile to Iron Man fans if for no other reason than to see what the famed Daredevil team of Bendis and Maleev have done with Iron Man in the Confession one-shot. This story shows a real appreciation for Iron Man's history and clarifies why he made the choices he did during the Civil War Event. Newcomers checking out this book to see Iron Man's perspective on things will benefit from the history lesson in Casualties of War. Unfortunately the Iron Man issues in between the specials are much less important, and seem to exist solely for the shock value of killing off a longtime supporting cast member.

This Civil War tie-in manages to show us Tony "Iron Man" Stark's point of view as the Civil War between the superheroes reaches it's boiling point. Civil War: Iron Man finds the armored Avenger and his pro-registration followers set their sights on Captain America and his rebels as the cataclysmic events of the Civil War wreak havoc upon the Marvel universe. The TPB as a whole is compelling and only further goes to prove that there is no real right or wrong side in Marvel's mega crossover event, and that the two warring, iconic heroes are truly doing what they believe is the right and best thing for themselves and everyone else involved. There's a bevy of strong talent here including Ed Brubaker and the Knauf's, but there is one major downside to this TPB. Civil War: Iron Man includes a few issues of Captain America that are also featured in the Civil War: Captain America TPB, which can make one TPB pretty much worthless if you already own the other. Despite that though, Civil War: Iron Man is a decent enough pick up that nicely ties into the events surrounding the Civil War, and is worth checking out.

This particular novel of the Civil war is mostly talking heads. Don't expect the action that fills the Frontlines editions. This novel is meant to get you into Stark's mind and flush out the more complex emotional happenings of the Civil War.

That said, Stark becomes a despicable person throughout the war, although the novel helps to contextualize him so that one might understand how he came to get that way. The novel mainly shows his interactions with Captain America to draw a striking contrast in the mind of the reader.

All in all, it's not bad work. It's just rather dull and certainly quite wordy. If you must know absolutely everything that happened during the civil war, add this book to your library. I still recommend skipping Heroes for Hire, the Young Avengers, and the Runaways as they are boring as crap and will put even the most interested party to sleep. This novel still beats that by a longshot.

In 2006 Marvel took a dangerous chance with their superhero universe with the Civil War crossover. After a group of young heroes accidentally destroy a school Congress hastily passes a law requiring superheroes to register and be trained. The act tears the superhero community apart as half follow Captain America and refuse to register while the pro-reg heroes led by Iron Man hunt them down.

With a cast of thousands, the main series rarely had any time to flesh out characters. This volume focuses on the relationship between Cap and Iron Man covering several meeting between them where they try to settle their differences before things go too far. The authors make good use of the characters' 40+ years of history together to shed new light on how they made their choices.

It's not an essential read by any measure but it does add some depth to the noise and thunder of Civil War.