Civil War #1 - Marvel Comics

CIVIL WAR No. 1, July 2006

Shipping an impressive 260,700 copies in its first month, and thereby apparently just “missing the Twenty-First Century record held by July 2005’s All-Star Batman And Robin Issue One by a mere four hundred copies”, this opening instalment to Mark Millar’s “Marvel Comics Event in seven parts” must have thoroughly entertained the vast majority of its imposing audience with its emotive introduction of a Superhuman Registration Act in the United States. Indeed, it is arguably difficult to imagine a more polarising narrative than the one which the Lanarkshire-born writer brings to “Civil War”, as the likes of Tony Stark, Speedball and S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Acting Head demonstrate just the sort of egotistical arrogance and overconfidence in their warped viewpoint of the world that makes a reader want to wring the very life out of their literary characters.

For starters Maria Hill’s portrayal in this thirty-three page periodical is as utterly mesmerising as it is despicable. Brilliantly pencilled by artist Steve McNiven wearing just the sort of supercilious sneer upon her face that one would expect from a long-time underling suddenly promoted to the top of her department, the trained agent makes it abundantly clear straight from the start of her awesomely tense confrontation with Captain America that she simply views him as a tool for her to use (and abuse) as she sees fit.

The fact that the Commander knew Steve Rogers’ strong moral compass would vehemently oppose the government’s viewpoint makes Nick Fury’s successor even more dislikeable, as the woman is clearly looking for any excuse to start persecuting non-compliant super-heroes, and blatantly provokes the First Avenger into a fight by threatening to tranquilise him on the spot if he doesn’t comply with her demands; “Weapons down or I will not be responsible for what comes next -- This is insane! Completely insane! Damn you to Hell for this, Hill…”

Similarly as sensitive is Millar’s handling of Robert Baldwin’s alter-ego, who quickly gets ‘under the skin’ with his utter conceit and desire to grab record-breaking viewing figures for the televised second season of the “New Warriors”. Admittedly, the more generous-hearted bibliophiles who hold a soft spot for Steve Ditko’s co-creation might put down some of this haughtiness to the rookie hero’s inexperience. But it’s hard to pity a crime-fighter who is more worried about the skin complexion of a co-star than he is for the welfare of innocent bystanders when the costumed vigilante is about to tackle a villain who “almost took down the Hulk.”

Writer: Mark Millar, Penciler: Steve McNiven, and Inker: Dexter Vines