What If? Civil War #1 - Marvel Comics

WHAT IF? CIVIL WAR No. 1, February 2008

Utilising a brief tale by Ed Brubaker entitled "The Stranger" as “a framing device around which the other two stories revolve”, Issue One of “What If? Civil War” probably helped the vast amount of its 58,909 readers in December 2007 appreciate just how wrong Tony Stark was to persecute his fellow heroes for not voluntarily submitting to the Superhuman Registration Act, as well as just how highly (and wrongly) Steve Rogers thought of his long-time friend before their differences arose. Indeed, Christos Gage’s plot for “What If Iron Man Lost The Civil War” lays the entire blame of the “Marvel Comics Event In Seven Parts” squarely upon Iron Man’s armoured shoulders for blatantly lying to the Sentinel of Liberty regarding his “plans for my twenty-first century overhaul.”

Admittedly, this particular eighteen-page epic undoubtedly lacks a lot of the emotional response Mark Millar’s mini-series generated, courtesy of a sugary-sweet plot which sees Cap team-up with an “honest” Shellhead so as to overcome a homicidal Thor cybernetic clone. But what it does provide is perhaps the only sensible solution to the super-powered pairs’ dilemma of just one government or person ultimately being responsible for both the training and secret identities of every costumed crime-fighter in the United States; “It’s not enough to be against something. You have to be for something better.”

Slightly more action-packed is “What If Captain America Led All The Heroes Against Registration?” by Kevin Grevioux, which manages to recreate much of the anger and resentment generated by the original 2006 crossover storyline. With Stark already dead following an Extremis injection, this marvellous reimagining unashamedly pits Steve Rogers and most of the Marvel Universe directly against the Senate and S.H.I.E.L.D. in a battle which somewhat resembles that seen in the “X-Men” comic book narrative "Days of Future Past".

Crammed full of pulse-pounding punch-ups against the impassive Sentinels, and the death of the spectacular Spider-Man, this dynamically pencilled fight-fest sets up Henry Gyrich and Maria Hill as two of the most despicably treacherous characters to inhabit a publication, with the deputy director’s cold-blooded murder of Jim Rhodes and subsequent framing of a dead Captain America proving particularly unforgivable. Indeed, such is the utter loathing engendered by Gyrich in his journey to become President and the despicable Hill’s ambition to be carried along on his coat-tails, that in many ways it is a shame this well-penned conspiracy from an alternative universe wasn’t awarded a limited series or ongoing title of its own.

Written by: Ed Brubaker, Kevin Grevioux & Christos Gage, and Art by: Marko Djurdjevic, Gustavo and Harvey Tolibao

Civil War #7 - Marvel Comics

CIVIL WAR No. 7, January 2007

Having read Mark Millar’s narrative for Issue Seven of “Civil War” it is arguably easy to see just why this comic book mini-series “polarized critics but… was a commercial success.” For whilst some within this publication’s 265,886-strong audience were undoubtedly rooting for Tony Stark’s mishmash of government sanctioned superheroes and supposedly reformed members of the Masters of Evil, those applauding Captain America’s defiance of the Superhuman Registration Act were probably left utterly disillusioned as to just what the Sentinel of Liberty was trying to achieve with his defiance.

True, Steve Rogers’ apparent obsession to knock the seven bells out of his armoured former friend for imprisoning so many of their team-mates inside the Negative Zone does cause the First Avenger to inadvertently wage an incredibly destructive war upon the very civilian population which he thought he was protecting. Yet, it’s difficult to imagine being bundled to the ground by a handful of emergency service operatives would shake the World War Two veteran so badly that he’d instantly remove his famous winged cowl and allow the authorities to place him in handcuffs; “Oh my god. They’re right. We’re not fighting for the people anymore, Falcon… Look at us. We’re just fighting.”

Similarly as disconcerting is this twenty-eight page periodical’s aftermath, which somehow tries to sweep all the damage and death caused by the Pro-Registration faction’s determination to incarcerate anyone who disagreed with their viewpoint, right under the rug simply because the likes of Mister Fantastic “cried for a full ninety-three minutes” upon seeing his estranged wife using her invisible powers to help with the clean-up. Reed Richards was so convinced that he was 'fighting the good fight' that he became partially responsible for the cold-blooded murder of Bill Foster. However, rather than be held accountable for such dishonourable actions, his experiments “on the whole” are apparently deemed “an enormous success” and Sue incredibly returns to her husband's side within the space of just a fortnight.

Tony Stark too seems to suffer no ill-consequences for his disappointingly dark actions, and is actually rewarded by the President of the United States with the directorship of S.H.I.E.L.D. Such pay-offs for unforgivably allying themselves with the likes of Radioactive Man, Venom and a seriously-deranged Thor clone really are quite baffling, and although the so-called “radicalised” likes of Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and Power Man form an Underground Movement to continue their opposition, Millar’s extreme lack of consequences for so many of this event’s main players probably left something of a bad taste in many bibliophiles’ mouths.

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

Civil War #6 - Marvel Comics

CIVIL WAR No. 6, December 2006

The best-selling title of January 2007, at least according to “Diamond Comic Distributors”, Issue Six of “Civil War” must have fairly surprised some of its 259,251 readers with its depiction of both lead antagonists dipping into the dark well of the criminally “insane” in order to achieve their goals. True, Captain America quickly realises his mistake in recruiting the Punisher to his cause once Frank Castle cold-bloodily guns down the Plunderer and Goldbug following the villainous pairs’ attempt to join the rebels. But before this moment of murderous clarity, Steve Rogers seemed fairly content to allow the vigilante to access the Baxter Building’s incredibly complex security system for him and retrieve “the plans on the Negative Zone prison”.

Mercifully though, the Sentinel of Liberty’s lack of judgement doesn’t prove too detrimental to his anti-registration side’s plans to attempt a rescue of their super-friends incarcerated by the American authorities, and even provides Mark Millar with an opportunity to demonstrate just how much in awe Castle apparently is of the living legend when the vicious vigilante refuses to defend himself against Rogers during their distinctly one-sided fist-fight; “Get him out of here! And throw his guns in the incinerator! I must have been out of my mind to give that animal a shot on this team!”

However, the same realisation, and subsequent rejection of ‘dealing with the devil’ cannot be found with the increasingly flawed shenanigans of Tony Stark, who actually appears proud to be leading a group of shadily-sanctioned operatives such as the Taskmaster, Radioactive Man, Bullseye, Elektra and Venom into battle against many of humanity’s most morally-righteous freedom fighters. Indeed, this twenty-two page periodical’s double-splash conclusion provides an abundantly clear difference between the two opposing theologies, with Captain America’s so-called unlawful resistance comprising of some of Stan Lee’s mightiest heroes, whilst Iron Man’s ‘holier than thou’ agents strongly resemble the despicable Masters Of Evil…

Somewhat disconcertingly, this particular instalment to the “Marvel Comics event in seven parts” also arguably shows some signs of the impact its print deadline was having upon Steve McNiven’s artwork. Everything looks great up until the point, towards the end of the book, when the Golden Avenger unleashes his ambush upon the rebels’ prison break, and then, presumably due to the sheer amount of figures suddenly ‘on screen’ the Canadian artist’s pencilling momentarily deteriorates before picking back up again for the magazine’s final few pages.

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

Civil War #5 - Marvel Comics

CIVIL WAR No. 5, November 2006

Apparently delayed by two months “to accommodate artist Steve McNiven”, Mark Millar’s plot to Issue Five of “Civil War” arguably focused far more upon Tony Stark’s fast evaporating relationship with Peter Parker than it did with the larger implications of “Marvel Comics' event in seven parts”, and in doing so demonstrated to this mini-series’ 272,584 strong audience just how desperate the billionaire industrialist had become to win the fight. In fact, the Scottish author’s similarly unscrupulous portrayal of S.H.I.E.L.D. Commander Maria Hill makes it difficult to imagine that their literary counter-parts and comic book fans alike would ever like/trust the two so-called heroic characters ever again; “Guess that’s thirty-one pieces of silver you’ve got now, huh? Sleep well, Judas.”

Similarly as disturbing as the egotistical pair’s utter arrogance in believing that they are completely justified to pursue any avenue, no matter what the cost, in order to secure victory over Captain America’s so-called rebels, is the Coatbridge-born writer’s debatably demeaning portrayal of “little Peter Spider-Man” as a seemingly helpless victim of Iron Man’s Machiavellian manipulations. Having finally found the courage to challenge Stark’s utilisation of a cyborg killing machine cloned from Thor, Web-head’s personality is seemingly regressed back to the human mutate’s adolescent days in the Sixties, when the teenager is still developing both emotionally and physically.

Resultantly, the unbelievably experienced costumed crime-fighter appears to do little else but surprisingly panic in the face of his pursuers Jester and Jack O’Lantern. Indeed, despite the pulse-pounding nature of the subsequent action sequence, which sees the two ‘reformed’ super-villains batter the wall-crawler into semi-unconsciousness with an exploding toy and a whiff of pumpkin gas, Millar would have any perusing bibliophile believe that a pitiful Parker’s alter-ego requires the help of the Punisher to defeat his two opponents, whilst the ordinarily hot-headed Johnny Storm is calmly shown serenely evading the entirety of S.H.I.E.L.D. Capekiller Team Nine and Eleven in the very next scene.

Happily however, despite this apparent ‘nerfing’ of Spider-Man’s super-abilities, this comic still provides plenty of sense-shattering entertainment on account of McNiven’s excellent pencilling. The aforementioned clash between the Web-slinger, Jester and Jack O’Lantern within the confines of a stinking underground sewer is superbly paced, with Stark’s colourfully-garbed recruits really socking it to the all-too vulnerable Parker within the space of a dozen beautifully illustrated panels.

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

Free Comic Book Day 2016 (Captain America) #1 - Marvel Comics

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2016 (CAPTAIN AMERICA) No. 1, May 2016

Heavily advertised by “Marvel Worldwide” as “one of Steve’s first adventures since his dramatic return” this Free Comic Book Day publication of “Captain America: Steve Rogers” probably came as something of a disappointment to many of the Sentinel of Liberty’s followers, despite the ten-page short story somehow containing the pulse-pounding exploits of the ‘original’ World War Two super-soldier, S.H.I.E.L.D. Commander Sharon Carter, Sam Wilson and the “All-New All-Different” Falcon, Joaquin Torres. For whilst Nick Spencer’s script undoubtedly gives “the reinvigorated Steve Rogers” plenty to do as the patriotic powerhouse pulverises a hidden Hydra cell in Graz, Austria. It does so using a seemingly pedestrian ‘plot-by-numbers’ technique which unfortunately pales in comparison with the excitement and sense of anticipation Dan Slott’s secondary Spider-Man tale “Up & About” undeniably generates.

Indeed of this publication’s two stories, it is the Diamond Gem Award-winners nine-page “special prelude to Dead No More” which doubtless raised the most questions in its audience's mind, on account of its narrative containing at least three characters who are supposedly deceased; “Oksana [Sytsevich] should be dead. The Rhino should be dead. And Vanessa [Fisk] should be rotting away in a crypt somewhere." The Wall-crawler’s pulse-pounding 'novella' even finishes on a devilishly well-timed cliff-hanger, courtesy of a shock appearance by Sixties super-villain the Jackal, and (presumably) his clone of Gwen Stacy… 

Disappointingly however, Slott’s purported “first look at the blockbuster storyline coming later this year” is nowhere near as well drawn by Javier Garron as this title’s star-spangled opening adventure is by Jesus Saiz; a new face at Martin Goodwin’s old company who was clearly enjoying his “first gig for Marvel”. In fact the Spaniard’s artwork is arguably awfully amateurish in places, especially when Peter Parker grimaces at the sound of nearby gunfire, or the Rhino realises his web-spinning nemesis has quite literally pulled the ground from under his feet with a few well-placed “explosive spider-tracers”. Certainly the vast majority of Spidey fans, upon seeing the Barcelona-born penciler’s panels depicting an incredibly egg-headed Kingpin, must have breathed a huge sigh of relief when they realised that Jim Cheung was going to be the main artist on the “Dead No More” multi-issue event and not Garron.

Writer: Nick Spencer, Penciler: Jesus Saiz, and Letterer: Joe Caramagna

All-New Captain America #1 - Marvel Comics

ALL-NEW CAPTAIN AMERICA No. 1, January 2015

In many ways this ‘All-New, Spy-Fi, highflying adventure’ comic book must have been something of a conundrum for many of its 120,500 purchasers in November 2014. On the one hand it brought a completely new spin on the New York-based publisher’s second most popular superhero (at least according to “Imagine Games Network”), and on the other this particular title wouldn’t actually be focussing upon the exploits of ‘The First Avenger’ Steve Rogers. But instead feature storylines involving mainstream comics’ first African-American superhero and Cappy’s “longtime friend and colleague” Samuel Wilson; upon whom the elderly Sentinel of Liberty had “passed [on] the mantle of Captain America” following the removal of his super-soldier serum by Iron Nail…

Such a debatably contentious amalgamation of the Seventies era partners is immediately evident with Stuart Immonen’s dreadful-looking design for the twenty-two page periodical’s cover. This “All-New Captain America” is a horribly colourful concoction of both The Falcon’s red wings and eye-shades, coupled with the vividly bright red, white and blue of Flag-head’s patriotic costume. Indeed the new uniform simply smacks of the sort of garish raiment that A.I.M.’s Super Adaptoid would prominently display, if the artificial construct had copied the physical abilities of both heroes simultaneously.

Unfortunately writer Rick Remender’s narrative would equally appear to be just as much of a clash of ‘both worlds’ as the new titular character’s attire. Based upon the reasonably straightforward plot of the star-spangled super-hero penetrating a hidden, albeit heavily-armed, Hydra base. The pulse-pounding action is potentially ruined by Wilson repeatedly referring to his use of Captain America’s shield, and querying just “How did I ever get by without one of these?” Such repeated doubts as to Sam’s previous crime-fighting record become increasingly annoying, especially when one considers that the prominent minister’s son hadn’t carried such a defensive device before and been successful since 1969 when he was co-created by Stan Lee and Gene Colan.

Perhaps even more irritating however, is this latest incarnation’s inability to utilise the shield as well as his predecessor. On a couple of occasions the former ‘Hero For Hire’ demonstrates a complete inability to throw the shield accurately and would even have lost the trademark piece of equipment in a river of lava if it wasn’t for his accompanying “brother”, Redwing, flying to its rescue. As a result every time Remender’s Sentinel of Liberty uses the device there is a genuine sense of it ‘being forced’ into the action, and that cannot be a good sign of things to come for a superhero whose name is synonymous with just such a ‘weapon’.

The variant cover art of "ALL-NEW CAPTAIN AMERICA" No. 1 by Paul Pope