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allmadhere106's review
4.0
I'm reading this event according to the official Marvel Civil War reading recommendation list as seen on their website here:
https://www.marvel.com/comics/discover/114/civil-war-the-complete-event
I found this collection to be an odd mash-up of supplementary material for this event. We see the first instance of sexy times here, and with Captain America who I did not expect to be the first instance I came across in my reading order. There is a heavier emphasis on espionage, manipulation, and conspiracy in this collection. We also see instances of heavy exposition, such as in "Casualties of War" and "The Confession" that are just brilliant. I can see some readers wanting more action and thus finding this collection lacking, but it can't be action all the time. There is also a theme of looking back and reminiscing, something that I'm sure the characters would do often to ask themselves what they're fighting for. Nicely done, though an unusual collection.
For: fans of superheroes/comics; readers wanting more supplementary material for this grand event.
Possible red flags: implied sex/sexual situations; manipulation; characters in peril; violence; blood; espionage; death; war imagery; language.
https://www.marvel.com/comics/discover/114/civil-war-the-complete-event
I found this collection to be an odd mash-up of supplementary material for this event. We see the first instance of sexy times here, and with Captain America who I did not expect to be the first instance I came across in my reading order. There is a heavier emphasis on espionage, manipulation, and conspiracy in this collection. We also see instances of heavy exposition, such as in "Casualties of War" and "The Confession" that are just brilliant. I can see some readers wanting more action and thus finding this collection lacking, but it can't be action all the time. There is also a theme of looking back and reminiscing, something that I'm sure the characters would do often to ask themselves what they're fighting for. Nicely done, though an unusual collection.
For: fans of superheroes/comics; readers wanting more supplementary material for this grand event.
Possible red flags: implied sex/sexual situations; manipulation; characters in peril; violence; blood; espionage; death; war imagery; language.
kristenreads's review
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
mjfmjfmjf's review
4.0
Basically a reprint from the Civil War Marvel Event which is quite a bit different from the MCU version . Often times these packaged up bits are unreadable. But this one managed to tell the story while focusing on just Steve and Tony. And had some good bits to it that I don't remember reading before. Some pretty good stuff.
iainkelly_writing's review
4.0
A collection of stories involving Captain America and Iron Man, supplementary to the main Civil War event. Decent.
zxillaisreading's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
fernlyqueer's review
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
tclinrow's review
3.0
Another good collection of Marvel comics, but similar to The Road to Civil War which I read previously it doesn't go into much depth and seems to leap from one point in the story to the next without much context or explanation.
Better for those familiar with the Marvel Universe than those trying to become familiar.
Still, an enjoyable enough read.
Better for those familiar with the Marvel Universe than those trying to become familiar.
Still, an enjoyable enough read.
captwinghead's review
5.0
I will never get over "The Confession". It was arguably the best issue in all of the Civil War arc. It gets at the heart of what the arc was: Compromise v. Pride. Sorry, but I was Team Iron Man from the start and that's never changed. To truly understand why Tony did the things he did, you had to read all of the tie ins. There were over 50 but I read them all and that's why I found it pretty much impossible to be Team Cap.
This collection does a pretty okay job at a quick notes version of where Tony's mindset was during the arc. It even talks about how the aftermath with Yinsen's son and Happy's injuries were weighing on Tony's mind at the time. It's missing some of what would probably be in Civil War: Iron Man like the issue where he visits Kingpin in prison and all of Miriam Sharpe guilting Tony about her son's death. It's missing Cap belittling Tony for working with criminals while the Punisher is out buying coffees for Team Cap. It's missing the ultimate reveal which is probably in Civil War: Frontline. However, I think if someone wanted to get into the nitty gritty of what was going on behind the scenes and the larger picture of the whole war, you can get by with this collection, Civil War: Iron Man, Civil War: Captain America, Civil War: Frontline and that's probably enough. Read Spider-Man if you like him but he was pretty much just reacting to everything going on.
So, this begins with Sharon's portion and while I later grew to dislike her, it points out my disappointment in the MCU film. Not only does that film miss the point of the war completely, Sharon barely got to do anything. She's a very crucial character in the event and Emily Van Camp was robbed of a good role. Sharon believes in Registration but she loves Cap so she's conflicted. Oddly enough, this collection chose a random issue with Bucky and the Young Avengers over showing how Sharon's role ends.
Cap's stubbornness here really grates on my nerves. My biggest problem with him during this arc is that he disagreed with the SHRA but he literally offered no alternatives! Tony even calls him out on it later. He just staunchly protests the SHRA but doesn't try to offer a solution or go to the press (until one of them seeks him out) or the Supreme Court. His response is like a little kid being asked to eat their veggies. He just crosses his arms, pouts, and says "no" hoping we'll all get bored eventually and leave him alone.
Then we get Casualties of War #1 which broke my heart. This was also a scene I wish they'd put in the film. It's such a great look at who Cap and Iron Man were to each other before this arc. If you didn't bother reading the older comics before picking up this book (which, why? You miss the significance of the fight between Tony and Steve) this issue does a great job of showing their friendship. Even better, there are moments where Cap tries to summarize what's wrong with Tony's worldview and Tony does the same.
I wanted to punch Cap for this line "You can be the nicest guy in the world Tony... the bravest hero. The staunchest ally. But at the end of the day, what you want trumps everything else. It's a quality I see in a lot of alcoholics." 1) Tony has rarely gotten what he wants 2) What a douchey line to say to someone. Period. He's a recovering alcoholic who will spend the rest of his life trying to make up for his mistakes. A comment like this was so insensitive and its very telling of Cap's view of alcoholics. Cap thinks alcoholism is simply someone being selfish and self-involved.
What Tony says back isn't exactly kind but it's an assessment I agree with "You're the perfect man. You live by ideals and standard that are more than outdated. They're impossible for anyone but you. And when you're confronted by the shades of gray, when people inevitably disappoint you because people are flawed, you do what you've always done when the going got tough. You dig in your heels and fight even harder. Never mind whether you can win. Sometimes I think you'd rather go out in a blaze of glory then face reality." This is pretty much Steve's response to the SHRA in a nutshell. He literally gives a speech against compromise in general at the end of the book.
The issue with Sue confronting Tony broke my heart. It hit at another misconception about this arc that pisses me off to no end. Tony is not a puppetmaster. He doesn't make people do anything. If he did, the war would've never started. Yet, Cap acts as if Tony made Peter sign and Sue acts as if Reed backed Tony out of fear that he wouldn't play with him anymore. In what way are their decisions Tony's fault? And when she stoops as low as to guilt Tony into doing something about Happy, I wanted to scream. It was unnecessarily cruel.
Honestly, fans of Steve and Tony have 2 lines which break our hearts every time we see them and both are in this collection:
1) "You gave me a home." - Casualties of War
and
2) "It wasn't worth it." - The Confession
I bought this collection for the Confession. As I said above, it's probably the best issue in all of the Civil War arc. It's Tony giving this intense, complex, deep and meaningful monologue and I'm praying the MCU either doesn't try it (in case they butcher it) or works it in for Robert Downey Jr. If anyone can pull this off, it's him. This issue makes it even more clear (in case you didn't bother reading the Iron Man tie ins) that Tony never wanted this fight. He saw it coming from a mile away and acted best he could to try to keep everything from getting worse. It's a concept the film sort of includes. If you don't read any other tie in, at least read the Confession. I don't understand how someone could continue to call Tony a fascist after reading that.
I may not have loved International Iron Man but Alex Maleev did such a wonderful job with the art in that. The Confession would not have worked without him. He drew so much emotion and grief on Tony's face that it hurt to look at. Kudos for that, my good sir.
The placement of it before the Cap version was odd to me. Especially because the character that's dead in the previous issue is suddenly alive again in the last one. It would make more sense for the book to end on Tony's line than Cap's but okay... strange.
Not to put my tin hat on but these lines were interesting:
"And I was willing to get in bed with people we despise to get this done"
"How could you lay down with the people you've laid down with?"
Anyway, this is a great collection. It's kind of short and doesn't collect everything to make a truly informed decision on the war but it's close enough. If you've read the whole thing like I have, you know what's missing so that's fine. There's also a random issue with Winter Soldier feat. the Young Avengers. I have no idea why that was in this book. I mean, as wonderful as it was to see Bucky throw and arrow like a dart into some guy's neck, it really had no place here. Although, it is worth noting that Bucky agreed with Registration and the public was 65% in favor. (it says 65/30 but that doesn't equal 100???).
I have so much more to say about the Civil War arc than the CW II arc and that's because the issue here is actually an issue. While I don't agree with Cap at all, I do believe the issues here are grey. There wasn't an easy answer and that's why Bendis' arc failed. Not only did Bendis completely warp and twist characterization to make Carol and Tony's fight make sense, Carol was discernibly wrong. While I get why Civil War may not be everyone's favorite, it was (in my opinion) one of Marvel's best universe wide arcs.
5 stars.
This collection does a pretty okay job at a quick notes version of where Tony's mindset was during the arc. It even talks about how the aftermath with Yinsen's son and Happy's injuries were weighing on Tony's mind at the time. It's missing some of what would probably be in Civil War: Iron Man like the issue where he visits Kingpin in prison and all of Miriam Sharpe guilting Tony about her son's death. It's missing Cap belittling Tony for working with criminals while the Punisher is out buying coffees for Team Cap. It's missing the ultimate reveal which is probably in Civil War: Frontline. However, I think if someone wanted to get into the nitty gritty of what was going on behind the scenes and the larger picture of the whole war, you can get by with this collection, Civil War: Iron Man, Civil War: Captain America, Civil War: Frontline and that's probably enough. Read Spider-Man if you like him but he was pretty much just reacting to everything going on.
So, this begins with Sharon's portion and while I later grew to dislike her, it points out my disappointment in the MCU film. Not only does that film miss the point of the war completely, Sharon barely got to do anything. She's a very crucial character in the event and Emily Van Camp was robbed of a good role. Sharon believes in Registration but she loves Cap so she's conflicted. Oddly enough, this collection chose a random issue with Bucky and the Young Avengers over showing how Sharon's role ends.
Cap's stubbornness here really grates on my nerves. My biggest problem with him during this arc is that he disagreed with the SHRA but he literally offered no alternatives! Tony even calls him out on it later. He just staunchly protests the SHRA but doesn't try to offer a solution or go to the press (until one of them seeks him out) or the Supreme Court. His response is like a little kid being asked to eat their veggies. He just crosses his arms, pouts, and says "no" hoping we'll all get bored eventually and leave him alone.
Then we get Casualties of War #1 which broke my heart. This was also a scene I wish they'd put in the film. It's such a great look at who Cap and Iron Man were to each other before this arc. If you didn't bother reading the older comics before picking up this book (which, why? You miss the significance of the fight between Tony and Steve) this issue does a great job of showing their friendship. Even better, there are moments where Cap tries to summarize what's wrong with Tony's worldview and Tony does the same.
I wanted to punch Cap for this line "You can be the nicest guy in the world Tony... the bravest hero. The staunchest ally. But at the end of the day, what you want trumps everything else. It's a quality I see in a lot of alcoholics." 1) Tony has rarely gotten what he wants 2) What a douchey line to say to someone. Period. He's a recovering alcoholic who will spend the rest of his life trying to make up for his mistakes. A comment like this was so insensitive and its very telling of Cap's view of alcoholics. Cap thinks alcoholism is simply someone being selfish and self-involved.
What Tony says back isn't exactly kind but it's an assessment I agree with "You're the perfect man. You live by ideals and standard that are more than outdated. They're impossible for anyone but you. And when you're confronted by the shades of gray, when people inevitably disappoint you because people are flawed, you do what you've always done when the going got tough. You dig in your heels and fight even harder. Never mind whether you can win. Sometimes I think you'd rather go out in a blaze of glory then face reality." This is pretty much Steve's response to the SHRA in a nutshell. He literally gives a speech against compromise in general at the end of the book.
The issue with Sue confronting Tony broke my heart. It hit at another misconception about this arc that pisses me off to no end. Tony is not a puppetmaster. He doesn't make people do anything. If he did, the war would've never started. Yet, Cap acts as if Tony made Peter sign and Sue acts as if Reed backed Tony out of fear that he wouldn't play with him anymore. In what way are their decisions Tony's fault? And when she stoops as low as to guilt Tony into doing something about Happy, I wanted to scream. It was unnecessarily cruel.
Honestly, fans of Steve and Tony have 2 lines which break our hearts every time we see them and both are in this collection:
1) "You gave me a home." - Casualties of War
and
2) "It wasn't worth it." - The Confession
I bought this collection for the Confession. As I said above, it's probably the best issue in all of the Civil War arc. It's Tony giving this intense, complex, deep and meaningful monologue and I'm praying the MCU either doesn't try it (in case they butcher it) or works it in for Robert Downey Jr. If anyone can pull this off, it's him. This issue makes it even more clear (in case you didn't bother reading the Iron Man tie ins) that Tony never wanted this fight. He saw it coming from a mile away and acted best he could to try to keep everything from getting worse. It's a concept the film sort of includes. If you don't read any other tie in, at least read the Confession. I don't understand how someone could continue to call Tony a fascist after reading that.
I may not have loved International Iron Man but Alex Maleev did such a wonderful job with the art in that. The Confession would not have worked without him. He drew so much emotion and grief on Tony's face that it hurt to look at. Kudos for that, my good sir.
The placement of it before the Cap version was odd to me. Especially because the character that's dead in the previous issue is suddenly alive again in the last one. It would make more sense for the book to end on Tony's line than Cap's but okay... strange.
Not to put my tin hat on but these lines were interesting:
"And I was willing to get in bed with people we despise to get this done"
"How could you lay down with the people you've laid down with?"
Anyway, this is a great collection. It's kind of short and doesn't collect everything to make a truly informed decision on the war but it's close enough. If you've read the whole thing like I have, you know what's missing so that's fine. There's also a random issue with Winter Soldier feat. the Young Avengers. I have no idea why that was in this book. I mean, as wonderful as it was to see Bucky throw and arrow like a dart into some guy's neck, it really had no place here. Although, it is worth noting that Bucky agreed with Registration and the public was 65% in favor. (it says 65/30 but that doesn't equal 100???).
I have so much more to say about the Civil War arc than the CW II arc and that's because the issue here is actually an issue. While I don't agree with Cap at all, I do believe the issues here are grey. There wasn't an easy answer and that's why Bendis' arc failed. Not only did Bendis completely warp and twist characterization to make Carol and Tony's fight make sense, Carol was discernibly wrong. While I get why Civil War may not be everyone's favorite, it was (in my opinion) one of Marvel's best universe wide arcs.
5 stars.
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