Civil War Journal – Week Nine

Civil War II ties in to many of the young hero books for the first time this week. Which ones do you need to read to keep up with the crossover?

Welcome back to Civil War Journal, Bam Smack Pow’s weekly recap column of all things Civil War II. This week, we see Nova and Miles Morales stunned by how dumb the grown-ups can be while the evil Warrior Woman uses Ulysses for her own gain. Of course.

Previously: Captain Marvel brought the Ultimates and A-Force to trap Thanos based on a prophecy by inhuman Ulysses – they captured the bad guy, but She-Hulk ended up in a coma. Later, Ulysses saw the Hulk killing a lot of heroes, and Hawkeye decided to take Bruce Banner up on his request to kill him if he ever turned green again.

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What happened? Iron Man summons Miles Morales to explain his misgivings about what Captain Marvel is doing and using the parallels to profiling to get the teen on his side. Miles doesn’t want to fight anybody, but if he did, he’s on Iron Man’s side.

Was it good? The issue was great as a Spider-Man issue, but as a Civil War II tie-in written by the chief architect of Marvel’s summer line, there are only seven pages related to the crossover, and they basically leave Spider-Man making the same arguments we’ve seen in most of the other tie-ins and then saying he doesn’t want to fight. So that’s kind of a let-down.

Recommendation: I am shocked that Bendis’s tie-in book does so little to flesh out the plot of his main series. It’s a good book, but for the sake of the crossover, give it a pass.

What happened? Patsy gets news that her best friend, She-Hulk, is in a coma, so she sneaks into the Triskelion’s medical ward to sit with her, then helps their landlord find ways to save their building.

Was it good? In a summer that’s set up for the morbid fanboy wish to see friends fighting friends, it’s invigorating to see a book talk about friendship as a noble, protected thing. Loved it.

Recommendation: It’s not tied closely enough to the main book to put in the top-tier, but it’s almost there, and if reading all the fighting depresses you, keep this little paper Prozac in mind.

What happened? Nova fights the Mole Man’s son and the typical giant monster in New York, but all the heroes are off killing the Hulk, so the only one around to help him is The Captain from Nextwave. He’s so disillusioned that they’d go do that but they wouldn’t think to use Ulysses to help Nova find his missing father. He’s going to give superheroing one more chance, but if he’s let down one more time, he’s going to quit being Nova.

Was it good? This has been a solid performer, and this issue is no exception, continuing the painful theme of social isolation we saw last issue when no one invited Nova to their backroom discussions. Good, not great, and affected by the Civil War without affecting it back.

Recommendation: You can skip this one, too. I’d like you to read Nova, but I can’t justify making it a summer priority.

What happened? Old Man Logan, Wolverine, Jonathan the actual wolverine, and Laura’s little clone, Gabby, are bonding when Steve Rogers leads S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to the apartment with guns out. Ulysses had a vision that Logan is going to kill Gabby, and Logan has dropped enough hints that Gabby’s evil in his timeline that this feels like a real risk.

Was it good? Yep. All-New Wolverine just gets better and better. Gabby and her “interdimensional dystopian future grandpa” have great chemistry, and this is one of the first places where people use one of Ulysses’s visions to preemptively prosecute a hero who might go bad.

Recommendation: You know, I’m going to go for it. I’m not asking you to buy too many books yet, and I think this is going to really personalize themes of Civil War II that are going to get a little lost in the scope of the main series.

What happened? The Infinaut occasionally manifests in our world, and we only get a ten-hour warning to prevent the creature from solidifying – if it does, the mass will tear our planet to shreds. (They swear this happened in the pages of Mighty Avengers but I read every issue and have zero memory of it.) Thanks to Ulysses, the Ultimates are able to work together and buy enough time for a diplomatic resolution, saving the whole world again. Blue Marvel is proud of the ability to do good, but he’s very nervous about how other visions led to Bruce Banner’s pre-emptive execution. Captain Marvel is respectfully done with responding to these concerns, and they remain friends despite grave differences in their opinion on this.

Was it good? I like how Al Ewing can pull the big parts of the crossover into his book and keep a balanced, even tone. His take on Captain Marvel is confident and reasonable despite being wrong, as good as she’s being portrayed in her own book and Civil War II.

Recommendation: It’s not adding a lot to the main story. You should be reading The Ultimates but if you weren’t doing so three issues ago, it’s okay to skip this one for the summer.

What happened? Modred the Mystic sneaks into New Attilan and casts a spell on Ulysses to force a vision, this one of Warrior Woman ruling the world with Namor by her side and someone she has killed (he couldn’t see quite who) standing in their way. Zara isn’t bothered by the fact that her team beheaded Namor eight issues ago; she’s going to find a way to bring him back and then go through her Rolodex of dead rivals to figure out some strategies. (Hint: when she killed the other Power Princess and pretended to be her for the first arc of Squadron Supreme? The other Power Princess was only mostly dead.)

Was it good? You know, the Squadron Supreme villain book shouldn’t work, but it does, and I like how this book co-opts the whole premise of Civil War II and only lets in the parts that move the plot where it wanted to go anyway. I doubt anyone who hasn’t read the first eight issues will get much enjoyment out of this, but I think it’s a hoot.

Recommendation: No, let this one safely go by. It’s not going to affect your read of what’s happening between Marvel’s heroes.

This week was surprisingly quiet for the an event that executed the Hulk seven days ago – it’s arguably the biggest change to status quo so far, and only a couple books even mention it. But it felt earned and needed to check in with our grief about She-Hulk, and I’m hopeful that All-New Wolverine will explore a major theme on a personal level like a good tie-in should. Some slow books, some irrelevant books, but no duds.

Tie-In Round-Up:

Recommended: The main series, of course, with preludes from the zero issue and the Free Comic Book Day pages. Also All-New Wolverine, Captain America: Sam Wilson, Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel and Uncanny Inhumans.

Good but not top tier: Civil War II: Amazing Spider-Man, Civil War II: Choosing Sides (but only the Damage Control story and the Whitley/Sauvage eulogy for War Machine), Civil War II: Gods Of War, Civil War II: Ulysses, Civil War II: X-Men, Deadpool, International Iron Man, Nova, New Avengers, Patsy Walker AKA: Hellcat, Power Man And Iron Fist, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Squadron Supreme, Totally Awesome Hulk, The Ultimates

Not good: Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., Civil War II: Kingpin

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