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ankysbookbubble's review against another edition
4.0
I've been a Marvel fan for a while now, and though the comics and the movies are awesome, nothing beats the joy of reading about your favourite characters in your favourite medium i.e. as a novel.
Civil War was everything I expected it to be and more. It was exciting, fun and full of adventure. I hated that the Avengers had all turned against each other, obviously, but I loved reading the book.
The only thing that disappointed me a little bit was that the narration got a bit too monotonous at time.
Overall, Civil War was an adventure, and I loved getting to know more about my favourite Marvel characters.
Civil War was everything I expected it to be and more. It was exciting, fun and full of adventure. I hated that the Avengers had all turned against each other, obviously, but I loved reading the book.
The only thing that disappointed me a little bit was that the narration got a bit too monotonous at time.
Overall, Civil War was an adventure, and I loved getting to know more about my favourite Marvel characters.
modernzorker's review against another edition
3.0
I can't think of many jobs harder than translating a graphic novel, especially one with a story arc as massive as Marvel's "Civil War", into a prose format. Comics rely so solidly on the eye's ability to quickly absorb a mountain of data that trying to describe every aspect of every panel would devolve into a boring list of features before you'd finished the first six pages. That said, Stuart Moore does a good job with his novelization, with a couple of snags that keep this from being a four-star project.
First, what Moore gets right: darn near everything. Dialog is crisp and clear, and while Moore discussed the changes he had to make to the original story in order to make it work as a book, it's impossible to tell for someone who never read the comic where these changes happen.
Where does Moore stumble? Well, if you're not familiar with the Marvel universe, you won't be much more familiar with it after finishing this book. Character descriptions are vague when they exist at all, and while that's OK for truly iconic characters who've gotten their own movies recently like Captain America and Spider-Man, if you've never seen Cloak, Dagger, Hulkling, Namorita or any of the other dozens of bit-players scattered across the Marvel-verse, you won't be any more familiar with what they look like after you're through here.
The other stumbling block I feel comes in places where one character is giving a lengthy speech. Iron Man/Tony Stark delivers a stirring speech over the course of several pages, but it's nothing more than one continuous string of text in quotation marks with nary a descriptor or anything else to break up this monologue. This gives the sensation that Tony's droning on and on, which is the furthest thing from what is actually happening in the scene.
One final issue I had comes from the comic storyline itself, which Moore had no hand in creating, but I feel it bears mention here anyway. The X-Men's neutrality never sat well with me, as Xavier's students have been on the forefront of similar political agendas before involving mutants. To have them sit idly by and say, "Oh, you're not discriminating against mutants specifically? Then we've got no dog in this fight," smacks of a quick way for writers to disregard a group of super-beings whose presence on either side would have quickly and massively tipped the scales of the conflict. Necessary to tell the story? Maybe. Believable in any way, shape, or form given the history of the Marvel-verse? Not on your life.
"Civil War" is a fast, enjoyable read and Moore's translation from the visual medium is more than competent. I could have used about 50 more pages' worth of content to ensure every character at least got a brief description at his/her introduction, and would have dearly loved to know exactly why all the super villains weren't keeping everybody in the US busy with a rampage as soon as the registration act was announced, but these are minor criticisms all told. Fun book, fun story, and a great way to kill a few hours before bed over the course of several consecutive evenings.
First, what Moore gets right: darn near everything. Dialog is crisp and clear, and while Moore discussed the changes he had to make to the original story in order to make it work as a book, it's impossible to tell for someone who never read the comic where these changes happen.
Where does Moore stumble? Well, if you're not familiar with the Marvel universe, you won't be much more familiar with it after finishing this book. Character descriptions are vague when they exist at all, and while that's OK for truly iconic characters who've gotten their own movies recently like Captain America and Spider-Man, if you've never seen Cloak, Dagger, Hulkling, Namorita or any of the other dozens of bit-players scattered across the Marvel-verse, you won't be any more familiar with what they look like after you're through here.
The other stumbling block I feel comes in places where one character is giving a lengthy speech. Iron Man/Tony Stark delivers a stirring speech over the course of several pages, but it's nothing more than one continuous string of text in quotation marks with nary a descriptor or anything else to break up this monologue. This gives the sensation that Tony's droning on and on, which is the furthest thing from what is actually happening in the scene.
One final issue I had comes from the comic storyline itself, which Moore had no hand in creating, but I feel it bears mention here anyway. The X-Men's neutrality never sat well with me, as Xavier's students have been on the forefront of similar political agendas before involving mutants. To have them sit idly by and say, "Oh, you're not discriminating against mutants specifically? Then we've got no dog in this fight," smacks of a quick way for writers to disregard a group of super-beings whose presence on either side would have quickly and massively tipped the scales of the conflict. Necessary to tell the story? Maybe. Believable in any way, shape, or form given the history of the Marvel-verse? Not on your life.
"Civil War" is a fast, enjoyable read and Moore's translation from the visual medium is more than competent. I could have used about 50 more pages' worth of content to ensure every character at least got a brief description at his/her introduction, and would have dearly loved to know exactly why all the super villains weren't keeping everybody in the US busy with a rampage as soon as the registration act was announced, but these are minor criticisms all told. Fun book, fun story, and a great way to kill a few hours before bed over the course of several consecutive evenings.
mjdolce's review against another edition
4.0
My only "complaint" with this novel is that the ending is ... unfinished. But that makes sense since the comics keep going. I wish there were an "after Civil War" novel, but I can live with that, because this is so good. I listened to the Graphic Audio production and highly recommend that!
texaswolfman's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyed the prose version of the Civil War. Still wish the X-Men were part of it.
origamibird's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
larsreads's review against another edition
3.0
I totally forgot that I already have read this one. Snapchat just reminded me. Oops. Well, apparently I’ve read it. I have the Dutch version sadly enough. I do have little memory of it but I know I was kind of enjoying it but it was hard to understand it, even when it was in my own language. So, for now 3 stars but maybe I will pick it up again and reread it!
- Lars
- Lars
natii4u's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
kerrig's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
alexauthorshay's review against another edition
4.0
I was really unsure of what to think of this book when I first picked it up. Ever since Avengers I've been dutifully reading any books and comics and watching any movies that have to do with Iron Man and Loki, and have slightly expanded my interest to Captain America and Thor. I'm not too much of a comic person, so seeing that this was mostly based off of the Civil War universe I figured the dialogue and much of the action would be pretty blah. (No offense but comics and cartoons usually have TERRIBLE scripting). I was pleasantly surprised to find both the plot and the characters more than half decent. I'm now very curious to read some of the actual Civil War comics!