Saturday, February 24, 2007

THIS IS THE ENDING YOU WANTED, RIGHT?

Civil War # 7 hit the stands Wednesday and wrapped up the House of Ideas' biggest comics story in years. I've been dragging my feet a little, trying to decide exactly what I want to say about it, and the truth is... I think I might have actually liked it, guys.

Of course, I could still be reeling from the shockingly bad Ghost Rider flick, but I seriously doubt it.

First, don't get me wrong - Civil War has plenty of problems, and one likeable issue doesn't keep it from being a trainwreck, but honestly, in the end, taking into consideration the corner Millar and Co. had backed themselves into, I didn't think the ending was so bad.

I've read a lot of reviews and commentary on the issue - Chris Sims' Civil War In 30 Seconds bit (most of you probably got here from there) is pretty good, and Matt Brady's review of # 7 over at Newsarama gives a decent blow-by-blow - so going into this, I already know my opinion isn't a popular one. But in the spirit of Civil War, I'm picking a side.

Let's ignore the fact that most of the issue was a fight comic - lots of big man posturing, kicking, and shit-talking, but this being the kind of book it is, none of us should be surprised by that. Once you get past the blackeyes and Thor-borg head smashes, I think there's something there, and much more than I ever expected there to be.
Since it's the most common complaint I've seen and/or heard about the ending, here's what I want to talk about: Captain America does not quit - Steve Rogers surrenders... but most importantly, he doesn't register and he doesn't accept amnesty.
In the end, he comes out the bigger man. When it's all said and done, he's the only one to point out that nobody - not the Underground or the Pro-Regs - are fighting for the right reasons or for the people they're supposed to be protecting.
Remember that the whole point of registration was accountability, but being registered doesn't keep any of the Pro-Regs from helping destroy several city blocks while attempting to stop, essentially, a bunch of dudes without driver's licenses.
No. Cap saw that it was a conflict that couldn't be won... not with fists, at least.
I'm actually a little proud of Marvel, here... it would've been awfully easy to kill off a character, or have someboy get raped (DC?), but instead, they chose to go out with a little class, and gave us an ending I don't think anyone expected, like it or not.

And hey, at least we didn't end up with this guy!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't think it is out of character for Captain America to stand down, but I don't understand why he didn't see that his surrender was inevitable. He should have known from day one that the battle couldn't be won with fists.

Phil Looney said...

Pretty good arguement for the other side. I read it after being REALLY tired from moving, so I haven't really formed an opinion yet. There are some cool things, and some things that make no sense.

tug said...

It certainly could have gone worse. I do give props to Marvel for not going the easy way out that most Big Event Comics take and killing off someone (or several someones) at the end. However, they probably shouldn't have kept saying that one of Marvel's most beloved characters was going to die in Civil War #7. 'Cause that's lying. And it't not even a little white lie. It's the flat-out, bald-faced variety.