Civil War Journal – Week Nine

Civil War II gets close to the big brawl issue this week, but first, three books wow us, two books touch us, and Choosing Sides is still being published.

Welcome back to Civil War Journal, Bam Smack Pow’s weekly recap column of all things Civil War II. This week, we see the main debate argued in issues of Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel, let Amadeus Cho say goodbye to Bruce Banner, and get a little bit impressed by Ulysses. Or at least the guy who’s psychologically torturing him.

Previously: Captain Marvel has been using Ulysses’s visions to guide her strategy. This has included deputizing Ms. Marvel to clean up Jersey City and, unfortunately, put Hawkeye in the path of Bruce Banner, who told him once to kill him if he ever goes green again. Which he maybe did.

This is a recap column. It’s all getting spoiled. Be careful.

What happened? The jury acquits Hawkeye of the maybe-suicide-maybe-poor-impulse-control event that led to the Hulk’s death, news Carol breaks directly to She-Hulk as she comes back from her coma. Tony Stark “proves” that Ulysses is just running unthinkably high-level predictive algorithms based on his power to “absorb all the — the data and energies cascading over the entire world.” But Carol doesn’t care; math or time travel, if this guy can give her a ten percent chance to save the world, she’s in. But this leads her to arrest Alison Green, a banker Ulysses thinks will overthrow the world’s financial structure. No one can tell if the lack of evidence against her proves her innocence or just that Carol acted way too early, but it’s enough to finally put Carol and her team (the X-Men, Alpha Flight, the Ultimates, and the Guardians Of The Galaxy) against Tony and his team (the All-New All-Different Avengers, the All-New X-Men, Dr. Strange, and Luke Cage). Battle goes down next issue.

Was it good? My problems with the premise still stand, but this was an enjoyable comic that moved through a lot of text pretty swiftly and had Carol crossing her big line right at the midpoint of the miniseries. That said, Ulysses’s power to absorb all the data of everything is so ridiculously overpowered and vague that I doubt anyone will be able to write him with a straight face again.

Recommendation: Yes. If you’re going to read this crossover, you need to be reading the main title.

What happened? Ulysses has a terrifying vision of a monorail crash while Karnak tries to hit him with a series of nihilist philosophy bombs like, “The universe is horror. All life is a random act of horror… No meaning. No meaning.” He’s trying to teach Ulysses that everyone’s going to die, and just because you can predict it doesn’t make it a more special death, one that you have to prevent.

Was it good? Wow. The first issue was pretty good, but Al Ewing’s unique take on Karnak as a horror protagonist whipping Ulysses into shape has been compelling. The digital experience is particularly amazing this time, with near-animation of panels flipping in the monorail crash or Ulysses flashing in setting between his cell and his vision. It’s gripping, and I read it again as soon as I finished.

Recommendation: This has gotten good enough to make it top-tier. Don’t bother with the paper version – the digital magic must be seen to be believed, and it’s just not going to work very well on a static page.

What happened? Ms. Marvel is leading her team to clean up Jersey City, but the latest assignment is to arrest her friend, Josh, before he can burn the school down. He’s an angry middle-class teen recently dumped by his girlfriend, so he fits the profile, and he admits he had been thinking about it. Her team turns on itself in doubt about the ethics of profiling, and Kamala is leaning toward this being a bad idea but hasn’t quite decided before her best friend, Bruno, is injured trying to spring Josh from detainment.

Was it good? Yes, it’s a thoughtful issue keeping the reader engaged while allowing respectable characters argue both sides of the profiling argument.

Recommendation: This argument is made best here or in Captain America: Sam Wilson, so you probably only need to get one, but I vote for getting both. This argument is one of the few great things about the summer event.

What happened? Captain Marvel defends her decisions to Alpha Flight’s Board Of Governors. They don’t trust Ulysses’s data, but after Carol uses it to defeat Dr. Minerva in a populated section of Boston with none of the casualties of the encounter last issue, the Board grants Carol leadership of a team to make use of the predictions. Carol tells Ulysses she doesn’t blame him for War Machine’s death, and he shouldn’t, either.

Was it good? Oh, yes. Carol’s arguments about Rhodey’s death being in the service of hundreds of lives saved make a lot of sense. She’s a more sympathetic character here than in Civil War II, which is sad because Bendis has access to the same debate points that the Gages do here. And when Carol describes that death as, “Our future was taken from us” – I’m crying. I might not stop crying.

Recommendation: Yes, I asked you to read this last month and I want you to keep reading it. Captain Marvel is not looking good in the main series, and she deserves this thoughtful defense.

What happened? Amadeus Cho is missing Bruce Banner and upset that Hawkeye isn’t convicted for it, but he knows that losing control would only support the arguments to kill Hulks, so he makes a show of smashing up a mountainside only to leave the words “MADE YOU LOOK” carved in his wake. Cho can control his greener side, and Captain Marvel gets that.

Was it good? The Mike Del Mundo art is a significant swerve from Neal Adams on the previous issues, but it’s as gorgeous as I remember from Elektra and Weirdworld. The story is light – not much happens, and what does go on feels more like a practical joke than a funeral. But it was an enjoyable book.

Recommendation: If you need to say goodbye to the Hulk, this is probably a better place than the upcoming The Fallen one-shot, but I don’t think you need to read this to say goodbye.

What happened? The Maker’s New Revengers attack Avenger Base Two while Cannonball, Power Man, and Max Brashear go to rescue Songbird from S.H.I.E.L.D.

Was it good? It wasn’t bad. But was it a Civil War II book? No. Songbird is in trouble because one of Ulysses’s visions blew her cover as a double agent, but that’s not developed any further here.

Recommendation: Only if you’re reading New Avengers. It’s a good book, but calling this a tie-in is pretty much a lie.

What happened? In the main story, Kate Bishop is having a tough time processing that her mentor killed the Hulk, so her Young Avengers teammates find her to cheer her up. In the next one, J. Jonah Jameson is trying to put together a story on Hawkeye but feels guilty that everyone forces the heroes to obey our expectations without taking time to think for themselves. In the Nick Fury serial, Nick finds the Alaskan base where his nemesis is, but the nemesis gets away.

Was it good? No. The Kate Bishop story was fine but didn’t seem to say much more than “We like that team from the Gillen/McKelvie run on Young Avengers.” It was reaching for something about reputation and legacy in an age of public opinion, but it lost it in an effort to reintroduce the characters. The Jameson story lost the import of the message in a series of derailings and jokes. I read the Fury story four times. It’s six pages, two of which are a double-page spread of Fury shooting at the bad guy, and I still think it was too long. Fury found the bad guy. The bad guy got away. That’s a page. This story has been awful and can’t click in to Civil War II anymore, if it ever could.

Recommendation: The last two issues had one great story each. This one does not.

With the exception of Choosing Sides, every book this week was good, and three of the tie-ins were great. Civil War II is still a very mixed bag, but this week is showing some of the best work the event is going to get and is well worth your time.

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, Civil War II: Ulysses, 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: 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., the bulk of Civil War II: Choosing Sides, Civil War II: Kingpin

Keep up with the Civil War Journal by following this link!