I guess we might as well talk about it, right?



What struck me most about Civil War #7 was how similar it was to the last issue of Infinite Crisis. In both instances, the book's plot meandered so much in the later issues that the final issue had an almost impossible task of having to reasonably resolve a number of plots, and ulimately, it was too much for either book to achieve, although Civil War was aided a bit by writer Mark Millar not even attempting to address some of the danglers, because one of the sillier parts of Infinite Crisis #7 was when writer Geoff Johns chose to wrap up character arcs in a matter of panels, whether there was enough there to do so adequately or not (like Wonder Woman's "Man, you know what, killing is wrong!" change of heart).

In addition, Millar was aided by the excellent artwork by Steve McNiven, unlike the haphazard artwork of Infinite Crisis #7.

Still, like Infinite Crisis #7, there was a lot for Civil War #7 to "get done," and for the most part, Millar eschewed it for a couple of "big moments" that, while interesting, really did not help the overall story much.

To wit, "Look, it's Namor and the Atlantean army!" "Oh yeah, it's the Thor clone and the Champions! (Captain Marvel's triumphant return to the living doesn't even merit a 'Wow, Captain Marvel isn't dead?'" )The Atlanteans attacking might be an important part of the upcoming Namor comic series, but it sure didn't have a point in this issue. Or later on, "Hercules destroying the Thor clone!" Interesting enough moments, I suppose, but didn't really add much to an issue that was fairly barebones to begin with. If you're going to have a gigantic fight scene, the fight scene should have a POINT to it - this one really did not. What, exactly, was Cap's teams plan if they DID win the battle? I thought at first it was "run away with our freed compatriots," which would make total sense, but then Millar seemed to think that, well, this was the last issue, so there HAS to be a climactic battle, even if it did not have a point to it.

Anyhow, the "twists" were well handled, I thought, namely that Captain America "beats" Iron Man but decides that he was wrong after all, and that "Number 42" stood for a number of ideas Tony Stark, Reed Richards and Hank Pym came up with in the first issue to better the world. Oh, and Tony as head of SHIELD works, although his treatment of Maria Hill this issue is staggeringly counter to Bendis' portrayal of Hill and Stark in New Avengers #25, which I found odd. I understand Millar ignoring most other Marvel Comics, as what are the chances Millar reads those comics? But something BENDIS wrote? Weird.

A problem, though, comes across in the inconsistency the series has not just with OTHER comics, but with the previous issues of THIS series! To wit, Captain America proclaiming, "This time I'm playing dirty!" In #3, Iron Man was calling a truce when Captain America attacked him when they shook hands - that's different how, exactly?

Also, the idea that Captain America's surrender would halt all hostilities seems a bit like Wonder Woman's change of heart in Infinite Crisis ("Why'd that just happen?" "BECAUSE, consarnit!!").

Reed's letter to Sue is one of the more unintentionally hilarious things I've seen in a major comic - "Forgive my erratic handwriting. You know how difficult I find slowing my thoughts to a speed where the human hand can translate my sentiments into linear sentences." That's loony - in a bad way.

"I saw you during the cleanup, but felt it was inappropriate to discuss our future while our adrenal glands might still impair our judgment in romantic matters. You looked so beautiful, so vibrant and clear-eyed. I cried for a full ninety-three minutes when I returned home that night."

WOW.

It's like Aaron Stack's dialogue from Nextwave, only delivered dead seriously!!! Creeepy.

As a catalog for future Marvel Comics, Civil War #7 did it's job well.

As a comic book story? Not so much. Some pointless fight scenes - a cool Cap scene - then pages of exposition does not work as a good comic book.

Nice art, though!

Not Recommended.