Civil War

In the wake of a terrible disaster, the US Government passes the Superhero Registration Act. All superheroes are now ordered to register for training and government service. The Act rips the superhero community in two, sparking off the Marvel Civil War.

Mark Millar took the superhero tradition and gave the whole thing a more adult twist. Not in the sex, drugs and violence sense, but he wrote a story that was very gritty and real-world. The heroes are fighting over civil rights, responsibility and identity. It’s about as believable as superheroes can get.

As good a job as Millar has done, it wouldn’t look half as convincing without Steve McNiven’s artwork. McNiven’s style is highly realistic, showing an incredible level of emotion even on masked characters like Spider-Man, and non-humans like the Watcher. He brings the gigantic battles to life with superb skill. Not only does he enthuse pages with an incredible sense of power and movement, it’s also possible to look closely into the action and see incredible detail, as individual characters lay into each other. His trademark seems to be contrasting dark, grim backgrounds with fire and lighting.

One of the strongest impressions I got from Civil War is how scary heroes can be if you’re on the wrong side of them.

I found Iron Man/Tony Stark (you’ll see plenty of him in both personas) particularly frightening, as he starts using ever more extreme methods against Captain America’s resistance.  He goes way too far, crossing lines heroes aren’t supposed to in order to achieve his goals.

Captain America seems a more sympathetic character, betrayed and hunted by his own government. But, at the same time he’s ignoring the wishes of the very people he’s supposed to protect, and prolonging the conflict with his resistance.

The way that Millar plays around with Captain Americe and Iron Man’s characters is really impressive. He’s bringing out their more flawed, human sides. They’re still good guys, but their beliefs are making them dangerous. It’s up to the readers to decide who, if anyone, is in the right.

There’s plenty of fighting in Civil War, and Millar has managed to combine some huge, brutal battles with emotional violence. Friendships and relationships get chewed up. Spider Man gets pulled this way and that between Iron Man and Cap till he barely knows where he’s facing.  The Fantastic Four are also ripped wide open, not only as a team but in Reed and Sue’s case, also as a couple. It’s quite heart-breaking to read.

I loved this mix of action and emotion. Every possible angle of the Civil War is covered, creating a devastating whole. Reading Civil War is like a sucker-punch to the guts.

Overall impressions…wow. Civil War is a great story, but it’s not a nice one. It’s about beliefs getting compromised, politicians screwing up lives, friendship and love being destroyed and above all, heroes going too far. The Marvel universe will never seem the same after this. Even the ending was tragic.

Michael Toper