Brian Bendis and J. Michael Stracyznski’s The Road to Civil War kicks off the latest Marvel Universe mega-crossover event series. Both Bendis and Straczynski are, at their best, great comic book writers; and both have done more than their share of work in rehabiliting the Marvel Universe from the idiocies of the 90s.
Tragically, Civil War appears to be a return to idiocy. Characters act in completely uncharacteristic ways, stuff happens because the Central Plot Committee declared that it needs to happen, and it’s just in general all so very forced. The pity of it is, I want to keep reading the books I’ve been reading past the crossover part, and it’s got enough plot impact that I can’t really skip it all. So I’m pretty much forced to treat the Civil War stuff as a few bad chapters of an enjoyable book.
If you have to do the same, well, we’re in this together, and here’s our inauspicious beginning. If not, lord knows you won’t want to start reading here.
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