Civil War II #5 Comic Book Review/Recap

Civil War II #5 – A New Future

Civil War II #5 Comic Book Recap

In Attilan, the Inhumans are preparing. Carol Danvers herself has asked for their help. Ulysses wants to know what they are fighting over, but the young man is only told that he won’t be of much use today. And Karnak comments that is a good thing.

Above the Triskelion, the battle rages on, in force. Tony attacks Carol, which she says is foolish, given her ability to redirect energy. But Stark hasn’t forgotten a thing. As she tumbles to the ground, Iron Man asks who’s next. Meanwhile, Dr. Strange attacks the X-Men, surprised to see them here. They think Ulysses will spare the world from heartache and bloodshed and aren’t so easily defeated.

The battle rages on like this between heroes while the world watches. Matt Murdock listens intently, while Mary Jane watches from Stark Headquarters. Meanwhile, somewhere secluded, Clint Barton walks, alone. At the battle, Sam Wilson squares off against Illyana Rasputin, also known as Magik. Before they can fight, Wilson finds himself taken to Hollywood. Magik is pleased until she is hit in the head by an arrow. Elsewhere, Rocket Raccoon is really enjoying himself, when is knocked down by Miles Morales. Agent Venom then leaps into the fray, recognizing Miles isn’t the Spider-Man he knows. He is offended someone would use that uniform to fight for something that Flash sees as against everything the real Spider-Man believes in. Miles, tired of people telling him how he should act, gives the symbiote a taste of his venom blast.

As Peter Quill is annoyed to be stuck against the one with a shield, Iron Man contacts him, having hacked into Star-Lord’s helmet. Tony says he is surprised to see the Guardians here, and Peter explains they are helping a friend. Stark thought they were friends too, and Quill says, well, they like Carol more, and they like what she’s doing here even better. The Guardians are fully aware of what’s been happening on Earth, and readily accept it. As they argue on, an attack from Vision passes through Shadowcat and destroys the Guardian’s ship much to the dismay of the team.

From a distance, Ulysses observes this, and begins to cry. At the site of the battle, the Inhumans arrive, and Tony knows things are turning against him. As this happens, strange tendrils begin to emerge from Ulysses, who does not know what is happening. They begin to wrap around the Triskelion. As Stark begins to get overwhelmed by the Inhumans, Carol leaps back into the fray. She’s all his.

Danvers gives Tony one last chance to surrender as she pummels him. Stark begins sensing Ulysses’ new abilities, and tries to warn her, but it is too late. The tendrils capture all the heroes, and then. Everyone, especially Miles and Ms. Marvel, cannot believe what they are seeing. But that doesn’t matter. Carol Danvers places the young Spider-Man under arrest.

Civil War II #5 Comic Book Review

Well this was fun. Last issue I was getting a bit tired of all the posturing and was ready for some action. I’m all good on that front, now. This comic was exactly what I wanted and more, because that ending yet again is going to mean some pretty big shifts in the story next issue. Poor Miles. I’ve got to say, knowing what’s going on with Cap right now, and the fact that I happen to be following Miles own comic mean that the next month or so is going to be very interesting, indeed.

So, yeah, I’m still pretty much on board with Civil War II at this point. If you haven’t noticed, this issue was delayed quite a bit, and the whole event has been extended to be eight issues instead of the planned seven. That’s not a huge deal, but a bit funny, because that’s exactly what Marvel did last year with Secret Wars. Still, I think that’s good for Civil War II. That was part of my problem with issue four that we were more than halfway through and it felt like we are only just getting to the war now. It’s good they put in so much work for set up. It’s even better that they’re now spending an equal amount of time on the pay off. You need both, and now it feels like we’re getting that.

Much like the first Civil War, this one does seem to be polarizing the fan community. There are some, like myself, that see this story for what it is – a fun read with some improvements over the first Civil War, but largely the same idea. Both are imperfect, yet enjoyable comics with some thought to them and otherwise a whole bunch of heroes punching each other in the face. Others may have legitimate complaints, that I see, and are there, but don’t bother me. And still others seem to just want to hate this story. For example, a common complaint I’m hearing is about the deaths in this story being attributed to being done strictly for shock value.

This is the sort of objection that seems to come from people parroting what other critics have said about other titles, because that makes no sense here. A death for shock value is one done without set up or consequence, neither of which is true when it comes to what happened both to Banner and Rhodey. Those deaths informed the entire war. So how can that be just done for shock value when that is a huge part of what Tony is doing and why? It clearly is having an effect on many characters in the story, so I think this complaint is being lobbied because people want and like to complain. Similarly, people point out minor things that weren’t explained as being evidence of this story sucking, when usually this stuff just requires a bit of common sense. How did Rhodey have missiles powerful enough to injure She-Hulk? I don’t know, they fighting Thanos at the time, maybe he brought something a little more powerful than napalm? Why did the trial happen so quickly? Well, it was kind of a big deal, so maybe it was rushed, but it was also implied quite a bit of time has passed between these issues.

The point is that this comic can be fun if you let it be. If you’re going to fret about details like this, well, I don’t understand how you enjoy anything. Let’s put it this way. I’m sure somewhere out there there is a story where everything is explained and there are no plot holes whatsoever. I’m also certain that whatever that story is, it is not the world’s greatest story. In fact, I bet that it’s lame or too expository trying to explain every stupid little thing. The best stories, and even good stories like this one, they have plot holes. They have things you have to either suspend your disbelief over or just fill in the blanks yourself. Plot holes only matter when they are glaring or the story is so bad that you can’t help but notice them because everything else is so boring or dumb, neither of which I really feel applies to Civil War II. On it’s own, pointing out plot holes is just sort of nit picking if the story itself is good. Or enjoyable. Or just not that big of a deal one way or another. It’s not like you have to enjoy this story or even have a good reason for disliking it. You just shouldn’t look down on people for liking something, because if you do, you’re kind of a dick.

Anyhow, I liked and recommend this comic. Right now Civil War II is one of just a handful of things the Marvel comics really have going for it, and to me, as someone who enjoyed the first Civil War and had measured expectations for this one, I’m still with this story, for now.

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