Civil War .4 review (contains tons of spoilers!)

Civil War ..4
Thor shows up and hes pissed. Hes also speaking English pretty well, which if youve ever read Thor before you know he seems to have problems with that. Only on page 2 and Thor already tries to kill the members of the Resistance movement. Something tells me this isnt Thor. Iron Man has beaten down Captain America to where the Cap is barely conscious. The pro registration group stands around looking at Thor when at least two of them (Spider-Man and Invisible Woman look like theyre starting to change their minds. Iron Man is about to take out Cap when out of nowhere Hercules shows up! Herc creates a diversion, Falcon saves Cap and the anti-reg group looks to be coming back, until Thor blows a hole through the torso of Goliath! (Formerly Black Goliath because, well, he is.) Thor is about to destroy the rest of Caps team when his blast is stopped by what? Its Invisible Woman putting a dome around Thor and, apparently, changing sides. Both sides look more beaten down than any comic battle you can think of. Debris everywhere, torn costumes, rain, this is war. Caps team escapes and the revelations keep coming. Thor is actually a Thor clone built by Reed Richards. Huh? How many more clones does he have? Of which heroes? This could get ugly. Spider-Man in his everyman role puts it best, I thought you said you knew what you were doing, Tony. I thought we were doing this so no one else got hurt. Add in a cameo by the Watcher and we the readers see just how big (and sad) this has become. Hank Pym makes a disturbing revelation to Spider-Man back at Avengers Mansion. He and Tony Stark cloned a god (Thor) out of a strand of hair that Iron Man has been hanging onto since the first meeting of the Avengers. One, this seems a lot like JLA: Tower of Babel where it was revealed that Batman has kept secret files on all of his teammates. Two, what else does Iron Man have up his iron sleeve? Goliaths funeral (taking up 36 burial spots) is unintentionally funny. The issue ends with the balance of power in Captain Americas favor. So Iron Mans team needs to find reinforcements which they find in, where else, the villains. The issue ends with Venom, Bullseye, Lady Deathstrike and others ready to unleash hell.
Tune in next month for the rest of Civil War or tomorrow for more reviews!

Comic of the Week

Comic of the Week!
The New Avengers: Illuminati ..1
Now this is what Im talking about! History, revelations, social commentary, and an amazing story. A brilliant idea that other writers should be kicking themselves for not thinking up before. Summary: Iron Man decides to start a secret group of the worlds most intelligent heroes (himself, Mr. Fantastic, Dr. Strange, Black Bolt, Namor, Professor X, and (almost) Black Panther). The group secretly meets every so often to pull the strings of the super hero world. It starts off as an idea to share information to prevent any future attacks (anyone remember the FBI, CIA, Alphabet Soup trying to get along), but becomes something bigger and shadier very fast. Black Panther sees it coming, he says to the group, walk away from this table and go home. There is a reason the Skrulls had such an easy time trying to turn the world against its heroes. Because deep down everyone knows that this could happen, and now it has. You just decided all by yourselves that you are the Earths protectors, and that you, and only you, not your teammates or family, are trustworthy enough to include in the process. Hes absolutely right. How can someone, only because they won a war once, assume they can win every war. Assume that protecting a country once means having power over it forever? All of this leads to the group doing some questionable things behind the scenes, including banning the Hulk into space. (Planet Hulk series which Ill review at some point.) This brings us to present day in the Marvel Universe and the Illuminati splits up. Iron Man wants all of them to go along with the US Governments plan to register all super-beings. Just like he predicted, it becomes friends vs. friends and everyone takes a side leading to much violence and death. This book was like a small pebble that created infinite ripples out. Ripples that can be seen in the rest of the Civil War comics (and reviews, coming soon!)

Today's reviews include:
The Trials of Shazam! ..1
52 Week Sixteen
Civil War: Frontline ..4


The Trials of Shazam! 1 (of 12)
Written by Judd Winick
Art by Howard Porter
DC Comics
$2.99

Captain Marvel is in for a change. Fresh from Black Adams wedding (see below review for 52 Week Sixteen) Billy Batson rescues some kids, destroys four magically powered enemies, has a chat with Zatanna, and then becomes an old man. Busy day for the Big Red Cheese. This is part of the long re-imagining of Captain Marvel, an attempt to make Shazam profitable/popular again. The idea behind Shazam has always been an easy sell; take Superman and make his alter ego a kid. What child wouldnt want to take his interest in superheroes and magic, combine the two by saying one word, and then have god like powers? So of course DC Comics recognizes this and turns Captain Marvel into an old man?
Many of us see the writing on the wall and know that comics arent written for single issue sales anymore, but for the graphic novels. This also prevents new fans from picking up the single issues. A newbie will pay three dollars to try out an issue, and then maybe come back. However, its tougher to get that same person to pay 15-20 for a graphic novel on a whim. Look at Trials of Shazam from an old and new perspective.
New Fan: Who is Shazam? Why is he living in a big floating rock? Whos the magician with the short outfit? Who are all these random unnamed magical monsters?
Old Fan: Once again a classic character is going to grow old and need to find a younger replacement in an attempt to increase sales.
Neither opinion bodes well for the future of Captain Marvel. This is only the first issue though, there are 11 more for Shazam to face some of these Trials. At least he fights monsters and does something heroic here unlike


52 Week Sixteen
Written by Geoff Jones, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid
Art by Keith Giffen, Joe Bennett, JG Jones
DC Comics
$2.50

Marvel at Shazam, Mary Marvel, Black Adam and Isis floating around on the wedding day of Black Adam and Isis! Is it wrong to expect superheroes to do something super or heroic? Also, not to play fashion critic but if I was wearing a barely there dress (like Isis) or a short skirt (Mary Marvel) I dont think I would hover above thousands of people looking up at my super Underoos.
Our real heroes of the book, the Question and Renee Montoya, use ordinary human detective work, with time to argue morals and philosophy, before saving the day -- at a price. While Trials of Shazam and 52 are both limited series and thus meant to be read as a whole (graphic novel), 52 gives enough drama to make me want to spend $2.50 next week. Renee Montoya outshines the Question every step of the way, but the result of being the one to catch the bad guy is that shes also the one to catch the consequences. This is only one of the many set ups for the weeks to come. Renee tells the Question that a suicide bomb will not only kill people from the bomb but also from the ensuing stampede. Yet her gun shot yields no reaction. Are the people that wrapped up in watching the marriage of Black Adam and Isis? Or is there some mind control going on and Adam isnt what he appears to be? How will she deal with her decision? These dangling questions leave the reader wanting more while debating on breaking into UPS to steal next weeks issue instead of waiting the full seven long days for it to arrive at the local comic store.
Two short (two pages) back ups round out the issue and are like A1 sauce on a good steak. Its that last kicker that makes you want to come back for more. First there is a history of Black Adam. It may only be one character in the book, but a short biography on any of them is more than welcome. Now that I know a little more about Adam I care a little more too and I care enough to spend more money to find out whats next. Secondly, we see that Animal Man, Starfire, and Adam Strange finally got their spaceship to work and theyre off to next weeks adventure. With the added spoiler that Lobo is back in week seventeen, 52 makes it tough to wait for the next issue. Thankfully its only a seven more days.

Civil War: Frontline ..4
Written by Paul Jenkins
Art by Ramon Bachs, Steve Lieber, Lee Weeks, Sean Chen
Marvel Comics
$2.99

The B side to the hit single that is Civil War. Frontline is part set up for the next issue and part self contained stories. Remember Marvel Comics Presents? There were 1 or 2 main stories (usually with Wolverine) that would continue through a few issues. Then there were two or three back up self contained stories using lesser characters. Frontline works in the same way, and ironically uses some of those same lesser characters. Our lead story features Ben Urich in his role as everyman to the Marvel Universe. Ben has coffee with his opposite in Frontline (reporter Sally Floyd), warns her to be safe, and then is caught in an alley by the Green Goblin. With Goblin out of jail he should be after the newly unmasked Spider-Man (of course old Norman Osborne and Peter Parker already know all about each other, but really it seems the perfect time to attack.) Instead the Green Goblin goes after Urich for printing lies about him. You would think Norman could afford a good PR team.
Meanwhile, Sally Floyd plays fly on the wall for a secret meeting of unregistered B and C team superheroes. Apparently Solo, Battlestar and company couldnt get booked in She Hulk this month. After someone leaks the location site, the meeting is broken up by SHIELD and a quick yet costly battle is fought.
Robbie Baldwin, formerly known as Speedball, plays the role of Tobias Beecher from Oz. A man that made one mistake and is now in way over his head. Robbie picked up boxing skills somewhere along the way (maybe that time he tried out for the Avengers) and dominates his prison boxing match. After another prisoner pulls a shank, slices Robbies calf, and then the Speedball powers show up well we have to wait until next issue.
The forth story this issue explores another side of wars. Weve already seen the soldiers, the reporters, and the prisoners. Now we come to the spies. When something happens that needs explanation, many of us dont go to the obvious answer first, but the most adventurous one. A business is destroyed, and the investigating officer plays wouldnt it be cool if instead of what actually happened here. For probably the first time in his life, the cool answer is the right answer. Namor (sorry, Joe), in all his Atlantean glory has returned. He destroys his fish shop, disguises himself as a fireman, and once again we have to wait until next issue to find out more. At least this one comes out on time.
Rounding out the issue is a parallel between the Vietnam war and Marvels Civil War. Told through the song lyrics of Goodnight Saigon by Billy Joel this last story makes the heroes into humans. Whether youre with Iron Man or with Captain America (or anyone else on the plethora of Civil War banners) there are casualties on both sides. Men and women that had families and dreams that are gone because people, even people with all the power in the world, cant get along. Its easy to label the other side an enemy but harder to call them humans and know that theyre people too.