Whose Side Are You On? (Civil War - Mark Millar)

Member Name: plipplop

Product:	Civil War - Mark Millar
Date:	01/05/09 (169 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Exciting, mega-scale, operates on two different levels

Disadvantages: The scope of the story is slightly stifled by having just seven chapters

This is a review of the Civil War trade paperback, printed by Marvel Comics USA that collects issues 1 to 7 of the Civil War miniseries that was published in 2007. A UK reprint is available by Panini UK that is slightly cheaper, but is unlikely to hold any long-term value for collectors.

When a battle between a young super team and a group of villains goes terribly wrong, the USA is thrown into turmoil. Politicians and citizens alike demand that anybody the nation's heroes must become more accountable for their actions - and the Super Human Registration Act is born. Anyone with super powers must register with the government, disclosing their personal identity in exchange for a government salary with benefits. To some of the heroes it is a logical progression and a necessary step on the path to acceptance. For other, it is a travesty of everything they stand against and it isn't long before the heroes are divided down the middle. The government demands that everyone complies with the Act and the nation is suddenly thrown into turmoil when heroes who previously fought side by side are pitched against each other. Who lives and who dies and more importantly, what does the future hold for the citizens of America?

One of the most appealing things about Marvel Comics (for me, anyway) is the regularity of annual "crossover" stories. These stories normally feature lengthy story arcs that cross across multiple titles, telling tales of events that will have significant present and future implications for some or all. The major event of 2007 was unquestionably Civil War, not just because of what happened before and during the war but also because of what happened immediately after - and onwards into the crossover event of 2008.

Civil War was pitched at, and clearly operates on, two levels. Superficially, this is a tale conceived to provide the fan boys with some of those dream situations, where characters that had previously only fought alongside one another were now pitched in battle against each other. As with many of these crossover events, the tale also catalyses opportunities for key "changes" within the Marvel Universe, this time including some reasonably significant fatalities and a hero revealing a secret identity to the world. Whilst these things aren't the boldest of moves ever made by a writer, at this level, the series feels worthy enough of the attention and certainly shifted a great number of copies at the time of release. It's a 'good' tale; full of excitement and intrigue and there's almost certainly far too much going on here to cram into seven chapters. Given that the events of the 1980s Secret War (for example) spanned twelve parts and countless crossovers, the core Civil War series is a little crammed.

Purely from a marketing perspective, of course, this is almost entirely deliberate, with the series almost set up to act as a bit of a sample of the things going on within the individual titles. There are scenes within Civil War, for example, that span a mere handful of frames or just a page that, when witnessed within the character's own series run to maybe a whole issue. There were countless other spin-offs (including Front Line) but in fairness, the story still works within these distinct seven chapters. There's a clear narrative path from beginning to end and whilst the conclusion sets itself up for a whole new era (almost literally) this volume does operate effectively as a stand alone tale.

Bringing a significant cross-section of the Marvel Universe into the equation, but not ignoring other things that were going on in the individual titles, meant that in reality, the tale is very focused around the non-mutant hero teams such as the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, along with the core individuals like Spiderman and Daredevil. As such, the X Men are reasonably conspicuous by their absence (but not ignored completely) and fans of the mutant series may not find the right balance of heroes here. There are occasional appearances from the likes of Wolverine and Cable (more so the latter) but Xavier's students don't feature significantly enough in this to make it span the Marvel Universe in a truly effective manner. However, on the plus side, some of the less dominant characters in the Universe get more pivotal roles here than you would have expected. Cloak and Dagger, for example, so often overlooked and without their own series for a long time, get plenty of page time here and it's also interesting to see the way in which The Punisher is brought (effectively) into the proceedings.

But these things are really only the superficial matters. At its core, Civil War is a much more profound story telling exercise. Released in the days before Obama's ascent to power, the writer, Mark Millar, openly acknowledged that this was an allegorical commentary that referenced the America that has existed since the events of 9/11. Since the Patriot Act was signed in 2001, the US government has exerted far greater controls intended to help the fight against terrorism in spite of the criticisms from civil liberty groups about eroded privacy and freedom of speech. The Superhuman Registration Act is clearly intended to represent this (albeit not very subtly) and things eventually descend into a situation that has echoes of ethnic cleansing and other atrocities.

The gravity of the tale is reflected in the characters that are chosen to lead either side of the war. Captain America, not surprisingly, leads the resistance movement in the face of what he perceives as an assault on the freedom he has spent his life protecting. Iron Man (aka Tony Stark) is the natural opponent, equal in stature within the Marvel Universe and influential in all circles. The very idea that two close allies could eventually be pitched against one another is almost inconceivable. The poignant image of Captain America's bruised and bloodied face at the hands of Iron Man is the starkest indication of how much the world has changed, albeit visualised in superhero terms and it's powerful stuff. Individual authors within other titles take these ideas and concepts further, and Millar is faced with the extremely difficult task of aligning the core story with all the crossover tales. His tale must simultaneously set the direction whilst co-ordinating the countless individual approaches taken by others and, generally, he's very successful.

Steve McNiven's artwork is equally inspiring. McNiven can cope with both the small details and the 'money shots' and there are countless memorable frames within the series. The art amply reflects the very real brutality of the situation, notably in a vicious face-off between the newly returned god of thunder and Captain America's rebel Avengers. The original cover art is included within the series and is, strangely, probably the least inspiring of the lot. The cover shots seem to lack the scale and passion of the interior artwork and almost feel a little muted. There's a very contemporary feel to the whole thing too, which might not sit well with traditionalists but ensures that the series consistently feels bang up-to-date.

Despite the fact that there are around 20 companion volumes of Civil War associated books to wade through, the central series has, by far, the biggest impact of them all and will be remembered as a classic tale for many years to come. Despite a cast of hundreds, it's often a surprisingly intimate tale too, depicting the failing relationships that occur as a direct result of the Superhuman Act. Civil War is truly an 'event' not to be missed, remarkable in itself as one of few Marvel mega-stories that doesn't really feature a super-villain..

Summary: The Marvel Universe is torn apart by a new government act