Comic Book Reviews: 2/21/07

Caution: Spoilers Ahead!

Civil War #7
Writer: Mark Millar
Penciler: Steve McNiven

So, the big epic crossover from Marvel has finally come to a conclusion. Some people have already expressed dissatisfaction with the result, especially the decision made by one character that brings the big fight to a halt. I personally think that it’s completely in character and, given the circumstances, it was the best decision to make to save lives and end the damage. That being said, at the end of the day the landscape of the Marvel Universe is very different than it was before Civil War began. There seems to be plenty of story opportunities to spin out of this mini-series. Sure it had some rough patches getting there, but it was still an action-packed, beautifully illustrated, thought-provoking ride.
Issue #7: B-
Civil War Mini-Series: B-
Overall Crossover: C


Amazing Spider-Man #538
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Penciler: Ron Garney

This issue gives us the new big status quo changing moment in Spider-Man’s life. Unfortunately, the issue ends right at the moment the victim is shot, so we have no idea if this person is alive, dead or maimed. As far as the Civil War crossover goes, Spider-Man has played the third most important role in the whole sha-bang. Captain America and Iron Man representing the two sides of the argument, while Peter Parker is the guy stuck in the middle. He starts out on one side, has a moment of clarity, and then jumps to the other team. The seven-part “War at Home” storyline in this title has done a great job fleshing out Peter’s role and thought process throughout this entire ordeal. By the close of this story arc, he has made his secret identity public, thereby exposing his family to potential harm at the hands of his enemies, which has now resulted in death or maiming of someone very close to him. It will be very interesting to see what happens to Spider-Man next.
Issue #538: B
Overall Story Arc: A-


52 Week Forty-Two
Writers: Geoff John, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka & Mark Waid
Artists: Keith Giffen & Darick Robertson

This was probably my favorite issue of the series, thus far. This is mainly due to the resolution of one of the main plots, which is the focus of the entire issue, save two pages. Ralph Dibny has had a long hard road to travel in past couple years since Identity Crisis. With this issue, he is reestablished as an intellect to be reckoned with. Where his story goes from here is very uncertain due to the finality of last couple pages.
Overall: A-


New Avengers: Illuminati
Writers: Brian Michael Bendis & Brian Reed
Penciler: Jim Cheung

Upon reading this issue, I was a bit confused about the time frame. Sometimes when comic books say things like “Several Months Ago”, the events could have actually transpired several years ago in real time. At first, I thought editorial had dropped the ball and the wrong outfits on a few of the characters were drawn wrong given the timeframe I thought these events were occurring. The cover seemed to get it right but the interior was off and I got extremely annoyed. I thought, “If Marvel is leading the readers to believe that these events fit nicely behind the scenes and match up with established continuity, than why make such a grievous error like putting characters in the wrong outfits?” It turns out the “Several Months Ago” was a lot more recent than I thought. It doesn’t help that footnotes indicating the past issues when and where previous events took place isn’t en vogue these days. That would have cleared things up pretty quickly. As for the issue itself? Entertaining and Cheung’s art is always a treat.
Overall: B+