Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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85 of 99 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Intriguing, but ultimately unsatisfying, April 25, 2007
So what does it take to break up two of the greatest superteams of all time, make Iron Man and Captain America mortal enemies, and many other old friends pound each other into the ground in the Marvel Universe? How about reality television? After a young 3rd-tier superteam causes supervillain Nitro to explode (his power) and wipe out a school full of children while filming their "Cops"-style show, public opinion forces the passage of a bill in Congress. The bill is one that would force all superpowered beings to register with and work for the government. Naturally, this is a terribly unconstitutional move that eliminates the most American of all values, freedom, from every superbeings' life. Thus the Marvel Universe is split in two with Captain America siding against his own namesake and forming the Underground Avengers (featuring Dardevil, Luke Cage, and Spiderwoman among others) and Iron Man leading the pro-registration forces along with Mr. Fantastic in rounding up all of the heroes who resist, imprisoning them indefinitely. It's a great concept that brings to light many fascinating debates and ideas on the limitations of government among other things. The problems with the story are in the execution. Many of the great heroes with 40+ years of history and character development behind them do things that are way out of character and others, bizarrely, do nothing at all. As much effort as Marvel has expended in various side-issues trying to justify the actions of Tony Stark and Reed Richards, the fact remains that they behave more like megalomaniacal supervillains than the epitome of heroism that they've embodied for so long. That's not to say that there aren't consequences for both, what with the FF and Avengers essentially dissolved because of feuding members. The ever-sensible Ben Grimm even leaves the country. While Wolverine acts perfectly rationally (for him) in going after the real villain, Nitro, in his side-story (available in another TPB), the rest of the X-Men decide to remain neutral. This is particularly disturbing considering they have fought so vigorouisly against the Mutant Registration Act, which was essentially the same bill but much smaller in scope and with less teeth. I guess the writers knew that with so many heavy-hitters, a united mutant front would have tipped the scales too far in the favor of the rebels. Another big shocker involves a revamped version of the Thunderbolts, featuring many familiar but not-so-friendly faces, and let's just say that along the way sides are changed, long-standing relationships strained to the breaking point, and in the end, not everything will be as it was before. This is a cataclysmic comic event that certainly makes you want to tune back into the Marvel Universe if you've been tuned out for awhile like I have. This particular Trade Paper Back collects the essential events of the Civil War, but not necessarily the best. I'd highly recommend picking up the Civil War TPB's for Spiderman and the Fantastic Four because: a) they're highly entertaining and b) they offer a lot more perspectives on the events depicted in the main story. Also highly recommended are the Captain America and Iron Man TPB's since they are the two figureheads of their respective points of view. The ending, I think, is one that is unsatisfying in every possible way and really brings the story down. I know life ain't fair, but it just seemed like BS to me. Still, it's a journey worth taking if you're a comic fan who wants to see some of Marvel's finest go at it or if you're just intensely curious about how this huge event unfolds. There are plenty of great moments, it's just too bad that the story seems to dictate the characters' actions at times instead of the other way around.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Responding to some of the critical reviews., March 28, 2009
I posted this as a response to the review by Art, but I thought it worth pegging it up on it's own, with edits:
There are a lot of mixed and negative reviews of this book. My review bounces off those, rather than the book itself, which I'll just say I thoroughly enjoyed.
If you are going to enjoy this book, first of all, don't take superhero comics too seriously. This isn't supposed to be "Palestine" or "American Splendor", this is the Fantastic Four we're talking about. It is goofy entertainment. If you are going to criticize fundamental genre conventions, do if from further back. That is, criticize fundamental genre conventions, don't roast this one particular manifestation of them as if it exists in a vacuum.
That being said, I think some reviewers are a bit off on some specific points. One major complaint some reviewers make is that this story doesn't fit into the relationships/characterizations/stories they have come to expect from these Marvel superheroes. That is only the case though if you haven't been keeping up with Marvel comics over the past few years.
Starting from "Avengers Disassembled/House of M", this story has been building in all the Marvel books for years. The tension between some heroes/groups over the registration issue, and over the nature of the heroes' relationships with conventional law enforcement/military, has been cleverly woven into many Marvel books. So to see it all finally come to a boil here is satisfying to those that have been following things. For those that haven't, you'll just have to fill in that gap with your imagination--that's the price of enjoying serialized entertainment.
The same must be said for the tensions between certain heroes/groups of heroes. Don't judge the actions of characters through the lenses of the relationships you remember from 10 years ago. Ever since Brian Bendis became the defacto director of the Marvel super-world, he and the other authors have been ratcheting up the tension from inside and in-between various groups. The characterizations here are totally consistent within the context that has been built up over the last few years within the "Marvel Universe".
The "ham-fisted attempts to relate to current events" have been a staple of comic books for years. The entire conceit of the X-Men (for example) is that being a mutant is analogous (in a fantastical way) to being gay (or Jewish, or some other persecuted minority)...they even cooked up "The Legacy Virus", a mutant equivalent to AIDS. That kind of attempt to inject a bit of current-event gravitas is old news. You kind of take it or leave it when you read Marvel comics.
I agree that a lot of the characterizations are...distasteful. It is a trend across the industry. In an effort to make characters more realistic and diverse, writers have really taken to making a lot of them just plain jerks. What makes this work for me is that there are still honest-to-goodness likable and "noble" characters out there. Taken as a whole, the entire cast of characters does seem a bit more "realistic" when not every superhero is some kind of saint with a cape, as in the old days.
For those that are deep into the current Marvel Universe, this is a great book, a cornerstone of the modern Marvel storyline. For those that are more casual readers, dipping occasionally into superhero books, you'll either have to take this as an opportunity to get to know the current Marvel Universe a bit better...or read it with the grains of salt I've just sprinkled here.
There ARE many other Marvel books out there that are less enmeshed in the current continuity of things and that should appeal more to general readers...
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Civil War, March 7, 2009
I ordered Marvel Comics Civil War in a hardcover edition. It included all seven issues of the series. What I wasn't expecting was the bonus Spider Man comic "Parker You're Fired" issue which is laid out like an issue of the Daily Bugle. Also another treat was the interviews with the authors and the behind the scenes of how the script was written. All in all it is the best purchase I have ever invested in. I hope this helps people when they don't know if they want to buy this item...
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