From the Longbox – Civil War

January 4th, 2010

In 2006 Marvel’s Civil War kicked off with a very big bang. And the deaths of hundreds of civilians including busloads of school children. The resulting crater left the Marvel super hero community split in half and fighting each other. Its political overtones were subtle like sledgehammers and its finale was abrupt and unsatisfying. However, the pretty pictures were drawn by Steve McNiven and for the most part I like what Mark Millar did with the boundaries I’m sure the brass gave him.

One thing the seven part series did excel at was delivering wonderful splash pages. I’m going to yank my favorites, one from each issue, and talk about them here.

Issue #1

Not wasting much time setting up the series, the Super Hero Registration Act passes and Cap is ambushed on a Heli-Carrier by SHIELD troops. He crashes through a window and grabs on to a jet, in mid-air, to get away.

Issue #2

For all the crap Marvel and Joey Q get for the whole One More Day fiasco I think a lot of people forget that it all started when Peter Parker took off his damn mask in Civil War.

Issue #3

After the lines are finally drawn, the first big face-off between Cap’s rebel forces and Tony’s goons gets punctuated by Tony just lighting up Cap. This is one of the most brutal punches I’ve ever seen in comics and for me it’s the shot of the whole series.

Issue #4

Reed Richards creates a Thor clone. The clone goes off-programming a bit and murders Bill Foster. This was a big turning point in the series but I always felt that if Mr. Fantastic could make himself Thors, well then who needs a fifty state initiative? Or anything else? Just make a Thor army, right?

Issue #5

I really liked Frank Castle in Civil War. I thought he was written spot-on. This panel made me happy because it finally marked the end of that ridiculous Iron Spider outfit.

Issue #6

Again, the Punisher was just great in this series. Murdering bad guys and idolizing Cap. Even when Cap is beating the piss out of him.

Issue #7

Hercules has really been enjoying the limelight lately. I don’t know what made me happier about this splash page, the fact that Herc got the killing strike or that there wasn’t going to be some robot Thor running around the Marvel U anymore.

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