Bronkster

Another topic to discuss! The feel I get from whatever random comments I've seen is that Civil War is not well-liked.

I'm enjoying it, for the most part. It does seem to drag at times but overall I like the simplicity of the idea along with the complications it has caused certain characters. Ultimately, it's going to all depend on how it is resolved whether it's really a success or not.

Granted, much of what is going on is over the top, even for a comic book, but it's still a fun, if not frustrating, ride. The whole "Spidey revealing his identity" thing is just not something that can be retracted, so I'm curious to see where this will be headed in the coming years. The split-up of the Fantastic Four - well, ya gotta figure they'll come back together eventually, but how will the relationships be affected? Iron Man: Lunatic? Government mind-controlled spy? Drunk? Asshole? Will Captain America regain his nifty standing in the eyes of the public? All this stuff!

I'm glad that Marvel isn't rushing this and letting some of the stories slowly unravel. I've been around long enough to have suffered through a number of Marvel's Big Events only to be very disappointed in the end. I'm hoping that Civil War won't just have a happy ending with everything going back to normal.

Thoughts? Comments? Theories?

Chew

Don't like the delay (but that relates to my main like below) and feel it could've been better served with just 4 issues.

But, I love the art and am glad they didn't insert a guest artist for an issue so it would be out on time.

Patman

I'm at the point where I totally need a recap of what happened previously between issues because I don't get too many Marvel titles with CW tie-ins. The momentum of this mini-series has been totally undermined by its lateness.

Wildo1966

What I hate is some weeks there are no CW related books (2 weeks ago there was zero) now this week there was a bunch of them. Now we have to wait until 2007 for the next regular CW book, the lateness is killing this series for me...

madcougar

I'm actually enjoying the storyline but have some concerns.

Seriously, can you expect to make Iron Man and Reed Richards the heels of something this big and have fans ever embrace them again? How in god's name is Peter Parker's life ever going to be normal again? How are the heroes on either side of this fight ever supposed to trust each other again.

I guess my main concern is that there is no going back with this. At least no going back without a cheat. And I hate cheats. Anyone remember the Infinity Gauntlet? Half the population of the Marvel Universe goes bye-bye, and in the end we have a do-over. Sigh.

Bronkster

That really sums up my fear about all this, too. If Marvel has Wanda say "No more Civil War", or decide that this all took place on Franklin Richard's alternate reality, I'm gonna be pisssssed.

stingermck

There just has to be a do-over. I don't know how they cant. Maybe Peter reveals his identity in Spider-Man 3, and that becomes the new status quo. I just don't know.

As far as all these Civil War tie-ins, Ive personally skipped most of them. Its all just rehashing of whats going on in the main book. I don't want to give Marvel more money, on a story I only like now, since The Punisher showed up. *shrug*

New Avengers, I credit for my renewed interest in Marvel this year. And now that and Civil war can cause its decline. *shrug*

Cameron

i want a do over...it ruins the spidey charachter if he no longer has to worry about his life as peter parker. As in (so in so will understand that peter parker couldn't make it because he is spider-man)

Dmacsg1

I am just waiting for the reset/do-over plot device to be used.

The lateness of this series has just about killed all interest for me. I will keep getting the issues just to see how they resolve the storyline but I just can't generate much excitement for it.

On a different note.... Bullet Points is great so far!!

Bravo to dvdtalk for giving us a Comic book sub-forum!!

Take care all!!

MovieExchange

I think what's also annoying people is that there is now a continuous major crossover going on at Marvel. What started as an occasional event every few years turned into something in the yearly annuals and then in the respective books (X-books had their yearly crisis, Avengers books crossed over for a big story once a year, etc) and now... now all books tie into the big story one way or another, and when the big story is done another big story starts. Avengers Disassembled became House of M, which became Decimation, which became Civil War, which will become Casualties of War. And since cosmic characters weren't included in the big crossovers, they received their own big crossover series - despite none of them even having regular books!

And the most annoying thing is that sometimes plot lines go unresolved because the writers / editors are too busy getting the next big crossover planned. What happened to the guy in Alaska that was the recipient of all the powers Wanda stripped from mutants at the end of House of M? We last saw him rampaging across North America in New Avengers, and then the storyline was dropped.

boredsilly

You know, that is a good point. This event has been going on SO LONG it's almost like Marvel is putting out one story with all it's characters. I'm liking Civil War enough, but when you have 6-7 months of stuff relating to it, it just gets tired. The main Civil War title is entertaining, but a lot of the characters are acting out of sorts to me -- especially Reed. So I'm choosing to just look the other way and enjoy the story for what it is on the surface.

What I don't like, is that the story is THE STORY at Marvel now, and has been for quite a while. The same thing happened with Infinite Crisis, where I just got a bit burnt out on it all (though less so with the Infinite Crisis-tie ins, as the regular titles still seemed to move forward a bit better).

I really like the ideas behind events, but more and more I'm really loving event-like stories that are contained in a single title. Books like New Avengers (for awhile anyway), Invincible, Marvel Team-up, the Morrison JLA, Exiles, Godland, and The Ultimates give/gave me that event feel without the headache.

Superboy

You mean like DC does every single year?

MovieExchange

DC isn't anywhere near as bad as Marvel is. Sure, the whole Infinite Crisis was a long and drawn out affair, but at least it's done now. There's no major crossover going on in DC that I can think of.

Marvel, on the other hand, has been one continuous crossover amongst almost all the regular titles since (at least) Avengers Disassembled.

Superboy

DC just finished Infinite Crisis. It was going on for more than a year.

MovieExchange

.... ok, you quoted what I said, and then ignored it. Let me repeat it again.

One more time - yes, Infinite Crisis was drawn out for a long time, but it is now over and to my knowledge there is no crossover currently going.

Marvel, on the other hand, has basically been running one long crossover since Avengers Disassembled began.

stingermck

Avengers Disassembled Begins - Sept 04.
Countdown to IC begins - Mar 05.
Infinite Crisis begins in - Oct 05.
Infinite Crisis ended in - May 06.

IC to me seems longer, since they planted a lot of plot devices early on, like the Death of Donna Troy, and Identity Crisis. But it does seem like Marvel has been rolling from one crossover to the next.

MovieExchange

Thanks for the timeline!

IC lasted a while (and probably felt like it was longer because there were so many crossover issues), but Marvel has kept this going since (according to your post) September of 04 and will be continuing this with Civil War: War Crimes well into March or April of next year.

Something else did just occur to me, though. Technically we should count the "52" miniseries as part of the whole Infinite Crisis saga, so I guess it isn't over yet.

Anyhow... I'm just saying that while both companies have become guilty of doing the infinite crossover, Marvel is the worse of the 2 because their rolling crossover has been going longer.

Has anyone heard what the plan is at DC after 52 is done?

Bronkster

53?

Superboy

DC has been doing crossovers on a regular basis for some time now, although it doesn't always bleed into their monthlies. But there has been a limited series constantly available almost every year since Crisis On Infinite Earths

2006: One Year Later, 52
2005: Infinite Crisis
2004: Countdown to Infinite Crisis, Identity Crisis
2002: Our Worlds At War
2001: Joker: The Last Laugh
2000: The Silver Age
1999: Day of Judgement
1997: Genesis
1996: Final Night
1995: Underworld Unleashed
1994: Zero Hour

so...how many of us can say we really remember any of these crossovers? and the majority of them bled into monthlies and lasted for months.

boredsilly

Limited series definitely aren't as irritating as company-wide cross-overs, from either company. Especially when they don't effect the flow of regular monthly titles.

stingermck

At least 52 is just a maxi series, its not crossing over into other books. Same as Identity Crisis, and a few other DC events. Not like Marvel splashing the half cover Civil War logo on every other title.

MovieExchange

At this point I realize you're just willfully ignoring what I'm saying.

madcougar

Yes, yes, yes... some people love their Marvel, and some people love their DC. I get it. The reality is that both companies do this type of thing on a regular basis. They do it to increase sales because they are businesses, and they are hoping to get people to try new titles.

With regard to Civil War... someone mentioned all the delays killing the series' momentum. I have to agree. It's gotten to the point where I just wait to read my books every six months when these companies have this type of "event" storyline. What used to happen was I would read issue one and forget everything since issue two was months late.

Superboy

Ok, I guess listing major company crossovers since 1994 wasn't enough evidence for you. Then again, I can see where you're going with this. I mean, since Avengers Disassembled, Marvel has had one continuous theme running through it's books and it's led all the way up to Civil War somehow, although I really fail to see how because Avengers Disassembled really had more to do with House of M.

Then again, I can see how you can read 52, and pretty much almost every DC book for the last 2 years, and actually understand what's going on before reading Identity Crisis and Infinite Crisis.

stingermck

Reading on Wikipedia I ran across this. I knew it was coming, but I thought it was localized to Hulk's title:

Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada announced in 2006 that beginning with May 2007 comics, the Hulk will be the focus of the Marvel crossover event World War Hulk.

So just in time after the end of Civil War. But may be worth it to see Hulk kick the shit out of everyone when he returns.