Civil War
Mark Millar, Steve McNiven
Marvel, 2007
Rating: 3.0

Civil War: Amazing Spider-Man
J. Michael Straczynski, Ron Garney
Marvel, 2007
Rating: 4.3

As its individual issues hit the stands in pamphlet form last year (and earlier this year), the episodic nature of Marvel’s massive Civil War event helped add to the excitement.  By now you’ve heard the set-up: The New Warriors, a team of C-list superheroes with their own reality TV show, engage some super-powered fugitives in a battle that goes horribly wrong when the villain Nitro detonates, killing hundreds and destroying a large part of Stamford, Connecticut.

The first two chapters, especially, are a doozy. The tragedy sparks community outrage leading to the passage of a super-powered registration act, which splits the hero community down the middle and sends Captain America on the lam to head up a resistance movement. In order to persuade other heroes to sign up, Iron Man convinces Spider-Man to unmask on live television. Sounds like a rip-roaring yarn, doesn’t it?

Well, yes and no. When readers were forced to wait a month (or more, sometimes much more) between issues, the momentous events were enough to maintain a sense of momentum. Captain America escapes from a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier! Peter Parker reveals himself to the world! The pro-registration forces ambush their renegade foes with the seeming reappearance of the dead thunder god Thor! Supervillains drafted to hunt down heroes! Even as things started to drag in the final stretch, each chapter provided enough of a jolt – usually as a cliffhanger – to sustain the adrenaline buzz until the next installment.

But when all seven chapters are collected into one volume, the flaws of Civil War become more readily apparent. The pacing is erratic, leading up to a climactic battle in which the supposed issue at stake is relegated to the background in favor of the spectacle of seeing hero fight against hero. And it becomes much clearer that readers are being forced to swallow certain things on faith: Reed Richards’ wholehearted embrace of the pro-registration movement’s more sinister means, for example, or the renegades’ willingness to work with the Punisher.

There are certainly credible reasons why Iron Man would push for the registration act and Captain America would oppose the government’s desire to lock up those who don’t comply. But they’re glossed over, at best. And the ramifications of some characters’ questionable decisions (like empowering murderous supervillains to hunt down renegade heroes) are barely addressed.

Over the longer haul, that glaring lack of convincing character motivation – on both sides – gets harder and harder to overlook. Sure, it’s understandable that Captain America would balk at being ordered to arrest heroes who put their lives on the line every day. But his indignant assertion that heroes need to stay above the political fray “or Washington starts telling us who the supervillains are” rings a little false from a man who’s worked either for or with the government – in the military and with the government-funded Avengers – for most of his adult life. (Isn’t this the same man who persuaded Spider-Man to join the New Avengers so he could enjoy legitimacy and government resources?)

By contrast, Civil War: Spider-Man, which collects the seven issues of Amazing Spider-Man that tie in to Civil War, is a revelation in more ways than one. Not only does it provide some of the persuasive character motivation that Civil War sorely lacks (not only for Spider-Man, but for Iron Man as well); it spells out a reasonable rationale for opposing the registration act (namely, the heavy-handed and ill-conceived tactics the government, and some heroes, hastily adopt to enforce it), with nods to real-life issues (such as the detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay) the main miniseries doesn’t even acknowledge.

What’s more, it explores the gut-wrenching ramifications of Spider-Man’s decision to join the pro-registration forces, and of his eventual reversal of that decision. Parker’s unmasking irrevocably changes his relationship with the Daily Bugle and plunges him into a dizzying world of intense media scrutiny and public outcry. And as he learns more and more about his mentor Tony Stark’s plans, we feel his inner conflict.

Civil War: Spider-Man reminds us just how thoughtful and effective a writer J. Michael Straczynski can be when he’s not concocting bizarre, hard-to-swallow stories about dead supporting characters.  He expertly ratchets up the tension between Parker and his mentor and friend Tony Stark and keeps us guessing as to the fate of his endangered loved ones, Mary Jane and Aunt May. (It should be noted here that penciler Ron Garney deserves some of the credit for its success; he blends the action and the equally powerful character moments with the skill of a John Romita Jr., while the capable Steve McNiven renders Civil War in the same gritty yet sometimes muddy style of David Finch.)

Granted, Civil War itself, what with the number of characters and situations it must juggle, doesn’t have room to include the depth of character development Straczynski does. Still, it’s so bogged down in big action set pieces that the fertile drama at the core of the story is lost. As good as Mark Millar is at the widescreen action Civil War requires, it’s Straczynski who really makes us feel for all the senseless death, the painful dissolution of relationships, even the philosophical disagreements that lead friends to turn on each other and otherwise heroic figures to engage in questionable actions. Everything about his work here rings emotionally true. As cardboard as much of Civil War ultimately feels, CW:SM hits like flesh and bone.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 30th, 2007 at 11:38 am and is filed under Comic Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.