Skip to Content

‘Civil War’ shows superheroes who compromise

Civil War was a massive Marvel crossover event running from 2006 to 2007 and tied into virtually every Marvel comic including cosmic ones, like Nova, and quirky teen ones, like Runaways. The comic begins with the New Warriors (a team of perpetually C-Listers) fighting a group of supervillains to garner better ratings for their reality TV show, which leads to the villain Nitro blowing up a school in Stamford, Connecticut leading to many civilian casualties. This leads to Tony Stark, Reed Richards, the Avengers, and SHIELD supporting the Superhuman Registration Act, which bans secret identities, implements mandatory training for young heroes, and makes superheroes agents of SHIELD. This is opposed by Captain America, who doesn’t want to hunt down his fellow heroes, and the conflict begins as all the heroes of the Marvel Universe must either choose the Pro-Reg or Anti-Reg side.

Read More about ‘Civil War’ shows superheroes who compromise

‘Secret Wars’ #3: My God is the Sun

The only misstep on Hickman’s part is the reveal of Doom’s face, something that should never be exposed to readers. The mystery of Doom’s scarred face should remain just that as readers should question whether his face is actually mangled and charred or if his face is only slightly scarred, but because of Doom’s own vanity he hides his imperfection completely. Overall, it’s a minor gripe in what is otherwise another exciting installment in Marvel’s most ambitious event.

Read More about ‘Secret Wars’ #3: My God is the Sun

‘Secret Wars’ #1 is an epic, fun, and bloated event comic

For the most part, Hickman and Ribic keep Secret Wars #1 from being too bloated with timely reaction close-ups of characters, and little jokes or insights into them, like Thanos being disgusted with humanity’s fear of death or the aforementioned Rocket joke. Esad Ribic’s storytelling makes this comic work as a pure work of superhero action with cutting panels for his sharp fight scenes. He also uses well-placed montages as the stakes continue to get higher as the comic progresses. Secret Wars #1 is a true superhero epic with wide-screen action, the occasional character insight, and real consequences even if it may be a little too expansive at times.

Read More about ‘Secret Wars’ #1 is an epic, fun, and bloated event comic

‘Avengers #41’ moves some big pieces on the chessboard

Avengers #41 Written by Jonathan Hickman Art by Mike Deodato Colors by Frank Martin Published by Marvel Comics With a cover that is an exact copy of Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch’s The Ultimates #1, Avengers #41 brings the good ol’ (or not so old) Ultimate Universe into Jonathan Hickman’s epic multiversal vision for the Avengers and Marvel Universe as a whole. It also deals with the …

Read More about ‘Avengers #41’ moves some big pieces on the chessboard

‘Fantastic Four’ #642 is a mixed bag

Fantastic Four #642 Written by James Robinson Pencilled by Leonard Kirk Inked by Karl Kesel Colored by Jesus Aburtov Published by Marvel Comics Fantastic Four #642 does some things very well, like depicting action scenes, actually doing something with the much maligned Heroes Reborn Universe, or having a couple third act plot twists. However, most of the story is rooted …

Read More about ‘Fantastic Four’ #642 is a mixed bag

Cataclysm #5 is the End of an Era for Marvel’s Ultimate Universe

Cataclysm: The Ultimates’ Last Stand #5 Written by Brian Michael Bendis Pencilled by Mark Bagley Inked by Andrew Hennessy Colors by Jason Keith Published by Marvel Comics After getting tangled up in decompression and universe hopping, Cataclysm #5 shows the final battle between the heroes of the Ultimate Universe and a very hungry and angry Galactus. This …

Read More about Cataclysm #5 is the End of an Era for Marvel’s Ultimate Universe