Civil War: X-Men Universe

Ok, another Civil War book, but this one has promise because Deadpool plays a major part in the book.  Of course I love Deadpool and I knew he would make an appearance which made this one of my earliest purchases of the supplementary Civil War books.  Now knowing that I’m a big Deadpool fan, if you’re not then take my review with a grain of salt.

Ok, so I bought it for Deadpool, but the action starts with Jamie Madrox (Multiple Man) and his X-Factor friends.  Am I still allowed to call them X-Factor?  See I haven’t follwed X-Factor pretty much since Joe Quesada pencilled it.  Ok, that’s a slight exaggeration, but not that far off so I’m way out of the loop.  I have no idea who Tryp is, why he’s important, who Layla is, what the purpose of Mutant Town, et al.  Needless to say, as a stand-alone book, at least as far as the first half is concerned it does a very poor job of standing on it’s own two legs.  That said I don’t really think that it was the intention of Marvel to make the supplementary Civil War books to be read as stand alones, but it was still a bit of a disappointment to me.

The used-to-be-called-X-factor saga is all about Quicksilver post House of M and what stand Jamie Madrox and his compatriots are going to take in regards to the whole Civil War thing.  I like Multiple Man, and I used to like Quicksilver, but I’m afraid being so out of touch with the whole X-Factor gang left me a bit confused as to the importance of this story because from an outsiders perspective I’d have to say that no one really cares about Mutant Town or its’ inhabitants.

Then we get to the Deadpool story, yay!  The merc with the mouth makes a decision that he wants to work for the government hunting down good guys that don’t want to register.  Deadpool decides that in order to get the government to take notice of his limitless skill he will clobber a group of unregistered heroes and deliver them to the proper authorities.  In typical Deadpool fashion however the super-hero group he chooses has already registered and he just manages to make an ass out of himself after getting beaten to a pulp by Squirrel Girl.  If that right there isn’t enough to make you want to read this book then there is definitely something wrong with you, or with me.

Somehow Deadpool still gets offered a chance to be a government sponsored bounty hunter of non-registered heroes and he even gets a shiney badge to boot.  So of course he heads out to mix it up with Daredevil and the rest of the core group of rebels including Captain America and Hercules.  After another humorous butt kicking Deadpool comes to realize that his good friend Nathan Winters-Dayspring Askani’son also known as Cable just happens to be on the other side of the fence of the Civil War as Cable fears a future with government controlled super-heroes.  Of course that leads to a bunch of Wade versus Nathan action that never gets old.

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My take, if you are a fan of the Cable / Deadpool series you should pick up this book because the second half of Civil War: X-Men Universe is a fun read.  If you’re not a fan of Deadpools, well the X-Factor story just isn’t enough on its’ own to make it a worthwhile purchase.

Civil War

The thing to ask yourself before going into Civil War is ‘do I like change?’.  I figure most readers of Trade Paper Backs do enjoy change.  They enjoy villains rising from the dead, characters changing powers and even super-heroes getting killed.  Not all the time mind you, but once in a while to shake things up.  Well that’s exactly what Civil War does to the entire Marvel universe, and things will never be quite the same.

This is important for you TPB readers and I can’t emphasize this more, if you want to understand what Marvel’s Civil War was all about, buy this TPB first! I have read many of the other Civil War TPBs and some of them are downright confusing and most add nothing substantial to the main plot.

Long story short and a minor spoiler– chances are anyone knowing even the slightest about Marvel’s Civil War probably knows all of this anyway — the New Warriors which include Speedball and Namorita are starring in a reality TV show about super-heroes and to boost their ratings they raid a hide out for super-villains.  Unfortunately they aren’t up for the challenge and things go wrong when the villain named Nitro uses his exploding power to kill everyone in a two block radius which just happens to include an elementary school.  There’s major repercussions from this tragedy as the American people demand accountability from their super-heroes and in this case, accountability means un-masking.

What really sets things off in this book is the horrible way the current Director of Shield Maria Hill handled the situation in her briefing with Captain America which forced him to take a stance.  In fact Cap took a stance to an extreme that he probably never would have  if cooler minds had prevailed.

So here’s the synopsis.  Half of the Marvel super-heroes led by Tony Stark agree to register with the government, get trained in how to use their powers responsibly and even draw a government paycheck.  The rest of the heroes following Captain America believe the registration act is a violation of their civil rights and refuse to arrest and imprison super-heroes who don’t feel that they need to register.  So of course, the two sides must clash.

Perhaps if the rebellious team led by Captain America had just buried themselves and hidden out things wouldn’t have turned violent, but these are still heroes, people who feel the need to be where the public needs them most, making them easy targets for Tony Stark’s team of heroes and the entire Shield force.

This is a great book as far as TPBs go because with minimal knowledge of the Marvel Universe you can easily understand what is going on yet fanboys will enjoy the more subtle references that aren’t integral to the storyline.  That’s the other great thing about this book as a read, it’s completely self-contained and meant to be just that.  There’s a beginning, we see how and why the conflict began, there’s a middle filled with conflict and loss and finally there is an ending that offers closure, not hinting at what’s going to happen in the next book.  This is obviously a result of Civil War covering a limited series and the end result is a very enjoyable experience.

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You’ll notice that this review has a ton of tags.  I actually limited the character tags to those characters that actually contributed significantly to the action or the storyline.  The number of tags would be double if I had merely included anyone who made an appearance in this book.  So yeah, just about everyone in the Marvel universe picked a side, fought for it and had their lives changed by all that happened.  So to me, this TPB is a must have for any Marvel fan, the companion books…not so much.

New Avengers: Secrets and Lies (3)

Will the 3rd New Avengers book restore the series to the top of the shelf or did Sentry begin a downward spiral that there’s just no getting out of?  Will this be the book where Daredevil finally joins the team?  Will Spider-Man make any more booty jokes?  Ok, so not so much the last one, but seriously this has to be the issue Daredevil jumps into a black costume and joins the New Avengers right?  They keep showing pictures of a black clad ninja-guy, who else could it be?  Well, the darkly clad stranger actually does get unmasked in this book, see the spoiler below.

The Avengers start out this book with a trip to Japan to fight some ninjas, not contrived at all.  So… of course we get a little New Avenger on ninja action, which is nice.  We also get to see our mysterious ninja like black clad figure doing a bit of ass-whooping alone.  Hydra was there and so was the guest star of the night was the Silver Samurai.  Turns out the Silver Samurai was apparently illegally imprisoned by Sheild at the Raft and he just happened to escape during Breakout.  That’s the reason why the Avengers are there, see how it all ties back together.

Ok, so now that their little Japanese adventure is over it’s time to get to the Secrets & Lies.  One of the New Avengers has got a dark secret they may cost them their membership on the team. Oh please don’t let it be Spider Woman.  I have an unhealthy attraction to her.  I mean I know she’s just a drawing but… like I said it’s unhealthy.  I think maybe they embedded her pheremones into a scratch and sniff on the pages.  Come on, you know what I mean, drawn to perfection with thick black hair, who wouldn’t be attracted to her.

Ok, it’s her.  I hate to spoil it here, but it’s kinda obvious when you look at the collected books that this TPB contains, which I love.  Others may feel differently, but I appreciate the fact that Marvel goes out of their way to recap a story through a collected comic I would have never bought but directly relates to the Avenger story contained within this book.

When that little bit of nastiest is completed, the New Avengers decide that they can’t keep the reformation of the Avengers from the public any longer and hold a press conference that has mixed results.  Throw in a cameo by Ms. Marvel and you’ve got the book in a nutshell.

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So, how did it compare to the other trade paperbacks in the series?  Somewhere in the middle actually; not as good as Breakout but not nearly as bad as Sentry.  It’s good enough to make me give the next book in the series a chance.  So it’s ordered and I’ll review it when it gets in.  Until then, I have a ton of other TPBs just waiting to get a write up.

New Avengers: Breakout

Historically, I haven’t been huge on the Avengers.  I don’t exactly know why, when I started reading comics all of my friends were into the X-Men and so that’s what I began reading.  At that time, I also liked matching costumes which I know is lame but I was  bit anal back then.

Anyway, I actually got into the Avengers through the Ultimates, which was really the first true Avengers type book I had read.  After that I picked up the Essential Avengers and went from there.  So while I know the basics, I’m still a little foggy on their recent history right before Breakout which means, I read Breakout without without having read Avengers Disassembled.  Blasphemous, I know but that’s the way it is with TPB’s, sometimes you get what’s available.  So the question I had going into this book was, ‘how well is this book going to stand on its’ own?’  Turns out, pretty well.

I remember seeing a Joe Quesada interview about the New Avengers and I remember him seeming excited about a brand new start and mentioning how they could add popular characters like Wolverine into the mix.  Hearing his excitement made me want to pick up the title even more, but adding Wolverine to the mix, not so much – isn’t he stretched pretty thin as is?

Other than that I knew nothing about the title so I picked it up and jumped into it with both feet, reading and enjoying the book in a single sitting.  The first thing I noticed was that the coloring was amazing, just like it was in The Ultimates. See to me, coloring is really important because it can make good art look like crap if it’s done wrong.  The art, text and layout look excellent as well, as I would imagine it should in a top shelf title.

So the story opens up with Electro inciting a jailbreak at a maximum security prison for the super-powered.  I love this concept, even if it is a bit played out.  A bunch of bad guys with a lot of pent up rage make for an outstanding super hero beatdown, and that’s exactly what happens.  Some of the released criminals include Carnage, Purple Man and The Hydro-Man, you know the usual suspects. The heroes who just happen to be there or get there quick enough to make a difference include Captain America, Spider-Man, Spider Woman, Luke Cage, Daredevil, Iron Man and some guy called Sentry who only plays a small part in this book.

The battle that takes place is absolutely fantastic.  It’s mass chaos set at a frantic pace with bone-crushing results.  I would suggest this book to anybody just for the initial fight scene alone, it’s just that good.

After the fight, Captain America attempts to recruit the heroes that helped put some of the super-criminals back in their cells to be the New Avengers, because as he says, ‘it’s fate’ that they all gathered at the same spot in a moment of need.  Most agree and a new team is born.  Soon after the collective team discover clues about the breakout that lead these heroes to the Savage Land where they run into Wolverine.  Our heroes let him tag along because it never hurts to have a killing machine along with you for the ride when you’re in a jungle filled with dinosaurs and mutates.

Our heroes eventually discover the reason for the breakout and and get caught up in intrigue fueled by an unsuspected conspiracy that leaves the New Avengers unsure as to who their allies and enemies really are.

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So with the amazing action in the jailbreak fight, the humorous interactions of Spider-Man with Luke Cage, the sexiness of Spider-Woman and the inclusion of some of the best heroes Marvel has to offer — Captain America, Wolverine, & Iron Man — you’ve got to pick up this book because it’s got something for everyone put together by some of the best writers and artists Marvel employs.