This is one of the greatest marvel series ever created. Shame on all of you who say otherwise.

I have always been a fan of comic book heroes while having not been a frequent reader of comic books. I never had a group of friends nor the extra money to spend on comics.

This series might change the latter part of that statement. I am now going to start setting aside some money to become a more frequent reader. And some of my friends are dong the same because of this book.

If you are a casual comic reader I would highly reccomend this series.

Spiderman, Iron-man, Capitan America, Fantastic Four, Thor and all the superheroes of Marvel's Universe in the most incredible cross over in the history of comics.

I love The Ultimates, and I think it's one of the best Avenger type stories around. I have the entire series, and Millar really gets those characters (whereas the new series by Loeb kinda stinks). That's why I was shocked to read Civil War in it's individual issues. I kept expecting it to become good, and it just got progressively worse and worse. No character in this storyline is consistent with their personalities throughout all of Marvel history. These characters are HEROES, and they are shown willing to kill each other over government sanctions??? What???!!?? A deadly tiff among superheroes? The artwork is the only thing that is worth looking at, and even that gets a little inconsistent at the end. What's really bad is how incredibly cynical AND manipulative this comic is. We are made to specifically dislike one "side," and they are the ones who win... cause... life's not fair??!??! Who knows? But what I do know is that these superheroes wouldn't pick sides in something this stupid. They would unite because that is what they have always done. This was a cheap ploy for sales, and they basically did this just to see how bad they could mess Marvel up so you would have to buy issues of these offshoots. Bad form. There has been SOME good out of the series: The Thunderbolts is a pretty good storyline now with Ellis writing it, and Captain America is still going strong (even without Cap?!) because of the talents of Ed Brubaker and Epting. These characters howevr are so inconsistent it makes you want to scream. The What If? Civil War storyline with the alternate version of the conclusion of Civil War is better and more accurate to who these characters are than this entire volume. Not worth the paper it's printed on.

In Civil War, Mark Millar does what he does best. He tells an intriguing and sophisticated story about super-heroes wrestling with complicated and morally ambiguous issues. His versions of many of Marvel's oldest super-heroes will seem slightly unfamiliar but ultimately the story and its heroes are very compelling.

Civil War begins when a group of young super heroes known as The New Warriors attempt to apprehend a group of super-villains while simultaneously promitng themselves on a relaity television show. One of the villains (Nitro) explodes, levelling the town of Stamford Connecticut. The massive death and destruction wrought by the explosion leads to calls for the registration of all super-powered beings with the federal government.

Some heroes such as Iron Man and Reed Richards support the idea of superhero registration but others such as Captain America resist it. Ultimately this leads to a Civil War between the two camps which is filled with its own share of ironies and tragedies (including the death of the hero Goliath).

Millar does a good job of exploring the motives and thinking of the leaders of the two camps (Iron-Man and Captain American). The clear distinction between good and evil that is present in most comic book story lines is almost completely absent here. Both sides struggle to come to terms with how their actions will influence society and the super-hero community at large. Millar himself tends to let his characters speak for themselves rather than trying to lead the readers toward any particular judgment.

The story itself is tightly paced and has some very suspenceful action sequences. Overall, I would rate it is one of the best comic book story lines in recent years. I can understand why it would leave comic book readers who crave a more clear cut handling of moral issues a bit unsatisfied. But if you want a book that uses super-heroes to wrestle with some of the complex moral questions we face in the twenty-first century, this is a great read.

People take a lot for granted with this story. The impact of Capt. America going against the American government had huge impact, but people were quick to take it for granted. It had some of the most well choreographed action sequences in the history of the medium and it asked a very important question: Whose side are you on? It got repeated ad nauseum, so seeing it here AGAIN has probably made you a little ad nauseous, but it sparked more debate than any comic in recent history, and more REAL debate, not just "Could Black Adam REALLY fight Superman?"-style debates. The ending is an overly sentimental and extremely abrupt "real heroes" message, that does, sadly, somewhat detract from the rest of the story, but it's still worth reading if for no other reason than Marvel has actually stuck with the ending for so long.

From cover to cover this book had an amazing storyline and moved along very nicely. It was fun seeing to shift in sides and the reasoning behind each side. This book is one that you want to buy and keep on the shelf to read over and over again. The only problem that I had with the series is that this was the only book good enough to buy. All other Civil War books seemed to just branch off and milk this story to make money. In the end BUY this book and borrow the other ones or read them in stores.

The old registration story.


The overall theme here is one mined from several of the best comic works of the past, including :-

The Dark Knight Returns
Watchmen
Squadron Supreme
Kingdom Come
Powers
etc.

After a ludicrous superhero show decides that they can take on Captain Marvel level villains for ratings points ends up in little pieces of school children being scattered all over a block or two, the government bows to pressure to institute a registration act for superhumans, where they all work for the government.

That sounds good in theory, but the super geniuses involved, Stark and Richards have plans beyond that, although they don't go as far as the mind control techniques used in Squadron Supreme or kingdom come.

Super-gulags, clones, cyborgs, created armies, hit squads, etc., though, sure, no problem.

The interesting part is that it hinges on Captain America, a patriotic symbol for Americans, of course, and actually used in the past as a propaganda too. Here, though, he makes the decision to lead the left wing rebel group after the new Shield director gives him too much grief.

Part of what lets it done (apart from this having been done better in the past), is the lack of the X-Men - they are kept to their own little mutant reservation, apart from the odd conversation along the lines of 'hah, not so much fun when you are saving the world and the government is out to get you, is it'?

This leaves the most interesting and popular team out in the cold, as Marvel tries to pump up the status of the Avengers, as per New Avengers etc., some more.

It is quite pretty though, artwise.

Things spiral badly out of control, of course, splitting teams, spying, and even families, in the case of the FF.

You can see these in a classic panel or two where Captain America is shown to be crazier than the Punisher, of all people, given what he has gone through.

The old registration story.


The overall theme here is one mined from several of the best comic works of the past, including :-

The Dark Knight Returns
Watchmen
Squadron Supreme
Kingdom Come
Powers
etc.

After a ludicrous superhero show decides that they can take on Captain Marvel level villains for ratings points ends up in little pieces of school children being scattered all over a block or two, the government bows to pressure to institute a registration act for superhumans, where they all work for the government.

That sounds good in theory, but the super geniuses involved, Stark and Richards have plans beyond that, although they don't go as far as the mind control techniques used in Squadron Supreme or kingdom come.

Super-gulags, clones, cyborgs, created armies, hit squads, etc., though, sure, no problem.

The interesting part is that it hinges on Captain America, a patriotic symbol for Americans, of course, and actually used in the past as a propaganda too. Here, though, he makes the decision to lead the left wing rebel group after the new Shield director gives him too much grief.

Part of what lets it done (apart from this having been done better in the past), is the lack of the X-Men - they are kept to their own little mutant reservation, apart from the odd conversation along the lines of 'hah, not so much fun when you are saving the world and the government is out to get you, is it'?

This leaves the most interesting and popular team out in the cold, as Marvel tries to pump up the status of the Avengers, as per New Avengers etc., some more.

It is quite pretty though, artwise.

Things spiral badly out of control, of course, splitting teams, spying, and even families, in the case of the FF.

You can see these in a classic panel or two where Captain America is shown to be crazier than the Punisher, of all people, given what he has gone through.


4 out of 5

I will start out by saying, Civil War has a weak ending, but it is an ultimately satisfying read, that delivered on its promise to completely change the Marvel Universe.

The story by Millar focuses on a war between heroes. After New Warriors make a huge mess of things in Stamford, the US government is forced into creating a new law against costumed vigilantes. This law forces our favourite heroes to take sides and engage each other.

Much has been said about Millar mischaracterizing some of the characters, especially Iron Man. I don't believe that is the case here and Iron Man is only fighting for what he believes in (though I have to agree that Mark Millar is taking this to the extreme). Millar is like comic books Michael Bay (though he is much better at dialogue) and this book is the proof of it, there are many intense action sequences here that take up large part of the story but Millar also finds some space for some great character moments as well.

This book is full of political undertones and is almost a critique to American politics today, the scene that shows this well is Captain America's escape from the Helicarries, which symbolises the conflict between the America of old and the America of today, and I appreciate what Millar's ambition in this book.

Where Civil War really shines is in the artwork by Steve McNiven, the guy is FANTASTIC! His characters show a lot of expression and fluidity in action sequences. Some people say they look too plastic...I wont say they dont, because indeed they do, but that is not a problem by me, because they still look superb. The colours by MoHo (Morris Hollowell) are brilliant as well, they really add a lot to McNiven's already impressive pencils, making the pictures much more real and pretty to look at.

Despite the weak ending, Civil War is highly recommendable to the Marvel fan or to a more casual comic reader, because as well as entertaining in its own right, it opens up many great possibilities for the Marvel Universe post-CW.

I highly recommend this item. It's a great story, and the artwork is phenomenal. The seller was quick, reasonable and I recieved the item in pristine condition. I highly recommend both this book and the seller to anyone!

I must say that this is plainly said, the best graphic novel I have ever read. I am very impressed with the art and script. I can easily see this book becoming a movie in future years. I enjoyed it. I believe you will too, if you're a Marvel fan.

Really, it was just a matter of time before something like this hit Marvel and DC. In the real world, we'd be clamoring for this to happen. Again, there are some weak points and some things I would have done differently, but it really is a great storyline, and I'll be curious to see how it affects MU down the road.

I can't believe these horrible reviews.

Everyone I know loved the thing!
I've read every single thing with marvel's 'Civil War" stamped on it.
And these were by far some of my favorites collected here in this volume.

The art is amazing.
The story is epic.

I believe the main deal with these horrible reviews is a lot of the wayyy older comic fans not being able to cope with such huge, permanent problems caused by the civil war.

My life's been changed by these comics, no joke.
Well worth the money.

I can't believe these horrible reviews.

Everyone I know loved the thing!
I've read every single thing with marvel's 'Civil War" stamped on it.
And these were by far some of my favorites collected here in this volume.

The art is amazing.
The story is epic.

I believe the main deal with these horrible reviews is a lot of the wayyy older comic fans not being able to cope with such huge, permanent problems caused by the civil war.

My life's been changed by these comics, no joke.
Well worth the money.

Alright So Civil War Starts off with a group of young heroes trying to arrest some bad guys hiding out next to a school. To their suprise one of them is an atom bomb type villian. He Blows up half the block including the school. Alot of kids are Killed. So the Government wants Heroes to Register Their Identities & Unmask, so The Public can feel comfortable around them again. Iron Man is quick to side with the Government & wants others to join. Captain America is called in by S.H.E.I.L.D. to join in signing up to register. What Cap doesn't know is that S.H.E.I.L.D. is ready to kill him if he doesn't sign up. Very soon S.H.E.I.L.D. gets their Behinds handed to them by Cap (Bullets Missing Him By Inches), he escapes & goes underground. Iron Man Learns of his actions & Calls in some groups of new Heroes & some Groups of Villains who now work for S.H.E.I.L.D. to hunt, capture & to bring Cap to Prison. Many Heroes Pick Their Sides by Instinct, The Ones that picked to Register go with Iron Man Are sent to Arrest the Unregisterd Heroes,The Ones who Chose to Follow Cap Go Underground & Put a Base together to Get Their Team in order. The first huge fight ends in tragedy, one of our heroes dies. The Death make many uneasy & angry. A couple switch sides & fight based on their emotions. Along the way more Fights occur. Heroes are Put In Jail. People are Betrayed. Heroes get their Revenge. The Story is the Best I've Read In Years. If You Liked Batman:Hush. I recommend this to you. Great Story, Great Art Work, Great Read.

Iron Man's Side - She-Hulk, Thor, Spider-Man, S.H.E.I.L.D., Venom, Bullseye, Green Goblin, Black Widow, Bishop, Reed Richards, The Sentry, Ms. Marvel, Ant-Man, The Thing, Jack O' Lantern...

Captain America's Side - Hercules, Luke Cage, Spider-Man, The Punisher, Sue Storm, Human Torch, Black Panther, Storm, Falcon, Daredevil, Goliath, Spider-Woman, Namor, Cable, Young Avengers..

This product arrived on time, in excellent condition and I was very pleased with the service provided (as well as the final product!).

this is a very good book. the story is awesome an the art work is amazing. if you like marvel comics then you'll love this book. especially if you ever wanted to see captain america an iron man kick the crap out of each other. its hard to decide who to root for because both sides fighting are kinda right. its pretty interesting. if you dont know what im talking about, check it out, if you like comics, you wont be disappointed.

After a televised superhero battle causes hundreds of civilian casualties, the US government passes the Superhero Registration Act requiring federal registration for all superpowered beings. Iron Man backs the government while Captain America leads the underground resistance. Dozens of heroes from the Marvel Universe choose sides and then wrestle with the consequences. Spider-Man makes a public revelation in Issue 2 that was covered by the real-world mainstream press. Steve McNiven's dazzling pencilwork carries a story that after two issues devolves into little more than a series of fights between the two sides. Millar does explore some current issues like the Patriot Act and the Guantanamo Bay prisons. While no fault of the creators, the book also seems overpriced (at $24.99 list), exceeding 200 pages only with variant sketches and covers therein instead of actual story.

I really enjoyed reading this TPB. I've always been familiar with the Marvel Universe but I haven't really gotten into comics until recently, and I must say after reading this, I was really impressed. I didn't feel completely lost, although it is a little confusing what with all these stories being tied into one another... I was definitely hooked after reading this and I've been picking up all of the different tie ins and spin offs. First class.

This is great because it has all seven issues right inside and gives great insight to the greatest event in marvel history!

only read this if you have not read the civil war series and if you havent it is the coolest comic book crossover. also it has a bunch of explosive scence of heroes fighting heroes

the plot and of course all those superheros in 1 was great to see! i would say buy this if notin else cuz u will enjoy this piece of comic! hope they make this in2 a cartoon movie or an actual movie... BUY IT!!!!!!!!

Although CIVIL WAR has been a huge success for Marvel (at least, according to the sales report given by Diamond Distribution), I felt that this storyline was not that well executed, in accordance to the potential it may had.

Although it seems like the was between heroes for and against the registration act will impact the Marvel Universe for a long time, I felt that this storyline TRIED TOO HARD to setup just bits and pieces of teasers so people would go and buy other heroes tie-ins into the story, instead of spending that space/time in exploring the consequences of this war, or even the causes in a more detailed way. (For my taste, the origin of the problem was too quickly presented and resolved. Therefore, it lacked impact.)

I have never been a Marvel fan, and probably will never be, because this, in my opinon, happens to ofter in MU stories. (DC does things like these in many ocassions, too, to my disappointment, but I feel to a lesser degree.)

I would rather recommend following the New Avengers title, which is more explorative of causes and consequences into its plotlines.

The whole concept of "What gives the right to superheroes to make unilateral decisions on who is right or wrong?" is a great one. Why doesn't Spider-man have to become a policeman to fight crime? I can't go arrest the guy who cut me off in traffic even though I know he broke the law.

But this series was 1 issue where they discuss this a little, 5 issues where they fight and play hide and seek. And 1 last issue where they have a final fight that ends because the leader of that side changed his mind. Plus all the ancilliary books that really don't add much to the debate. And every other book in the Marvel universe is changed by this series. Should have been a little more cerebral.

Why would a man who is so intent on fighting for what he believes in just cash it in cause a few civilians got hurt??? after all he is captain America he knows that when you fight for a cause collateral damage is expected.

Oh and not to mention the absolutely infantile knee jerk reaction displayed by the punisher when the criminals are about to join the good guys?? anyone with even the slightest idea of how to write would know that the punisher character is far deeper than that.

But im sure that was more of a quesada decision than it was millars.

overall 2/5 is a score i feel is worth of this propaganda in disguise

IVE READ STUFF BY FRANK MILLER,READ WATCHMEN,KINGDOM COME AND A FEW OTHER WELL KNOWN EPICS,BUT THIS WAS MY FAVOURITE.I BEGAN READING GRAPHIC NOVELS LATE LAST YEAR AFTER NEVER REALLY FOLLOWING COMICS AND THIS TOOK ME BACK TO WHEN I WAS 5 YEARS OLD WATCHING CARTOONS ON BETA.CHARACTERS IVE KNOWN ALL MY LIFE CAME TOGETHER HERE AND PART OF ME DIDNT CSRE ABOUT THE STORY,THIS WAS MEMORY LANE AT ITS BEST.I HAVENT DISLIKED ANY COMICS/GRAPHIC NOVELS IVE READ (ONLY ABOUT 20)BUT THIS WAS DAMN COOL.MARK MILLAR BRINGS ACTION THAT KEEPS ME HAPPY COZ THATS WHAT COMICS ARE...ACTION&FUN.THIS BOOK MADE THE OTHER 10 CIVIL WAR TPB'S I BOUGHT SEEM LIKE HOMEWORK!(THEY ARENT THAT BAD BUT THIS IS THE ONE)I GOT UP TO GO TO THE TOILET AT ONE STAGE AND WAS SHOCKED TO RETURN TO A SILENT ROOM.NO EXPLOSIONS,YELLING OR THAT BA-DOOOM NOISE.I GEUSS I WAS REALLY INTO IT.DONT THINK THAT OFTEN....IF YOUR NOT SURE ABOUT THIS ONE DONT BE,IF YOU DIDNT LIKE IT THEN I HOPE YOU FIND HAPPINESS SOMEWHERE ELSE COZ THIS DID IT FOR ME!!!!

This exact same storyline has been done before, more elegantly with more poignant moments of heroism and humanity by Alex Ross in DC's "Kingdom Come" featuring the superheroes of the DC Universe.

In Civil War, a surprise old time superhero emerges: Thor, god of thunder, summoner of lightning. In Kingdom Come, it's Captain Marvel who wields lightning.

The similarities are too many to list and too frequent to simply dismiss as coincidental. One is a copy of the other and since Kingdom Come came first, I must accuse Civil War of being the knock off.

I found Civil War to be a shallow and low-energy. The fight scenes are drawn with no dynamism. There is no movement in the poses. Whoever wrote the story failed to understand what it is superheroes do: They move and the story unfurls through action, not through the countless static conversations and languid debates of talking heads.

Marvel has failed big time in this endeavor.

CIVIL WAR is a fantastic concept that was executed brilliantly by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven. The idea that an entire community could be torn in two by a single event is not new and has quite the historical precedent. I don't believe, as many do, that the series' intent was to form some kind of political commentary on current events. I believe that The Stamford Incident and the SHRA and the prison in the Negative Zone are not meant to be paralleled to anything that has arisen out of the recent political agendas. That some people are drawing the parallels are, I suppose in a way, was inevitable. I mean when you have hyperbole like CRISIS, you don't automatically think of the Cuban Missile Crisis, do you?
There are two schools of thought here as far as the critics of this book: Those who believe it to be political commentary (and they hate it) and those who believe it to be a very high-intensity tale of friends who become foes as well as the belief sometimes that "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" (and they like it).
Tony Stark and the big brains like Reed Richards and Hank Pym are futurists and believe the Superhuman Registration Act (requiring all superhumans to register their identities, powers and obligations to the U.S. Government) to be the natural evolution of the superhuman community. Stark also believes personally that if unchecked, the superhuman community would be headed toward a more potentially catastrophic confrontation between superhumans and the government. Peter Parker looks to Tony Stark as a mentor and essentially offers himself as their poster boy/sacrificial lamb by publicly unmasking himself in support of the SHRA.
Steve Rogers is an idealist, while also being a realist. He believes first and foremost that a masked HERO who retains his anonymity out of the sake of their family or friends that may be subject to objectionable reprisals should be allowed to keep that. These are men and women who have risked their lives for years in many cases not for money or glory, but for justice (this was obviously NOT the case with the more current members of The New Warriors) and they do it out of having a sense of what justice should be as opposed to carrying it out for a local, state or federal agency. But also Rogers is a realist. He has seen what previous government administrations have done with super-powered individuals and how even he himself has been used in a negative way for political gain. So he fights registration, as most of the more "street-bound" crimefighters do, like Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and many many others.
At times, the characters do things that are out of character... the most glaring (and rage-inducing) example of this being Spider-Man in issue 3 happily kicking Captain America in the face, and then later, after he's switched to the anti-reg side, he happily kicks Mr. Fantastic in the face. That really upset me how Millar seemed to treat the character of Spider-Man during such a confrontation, basically saying that Spidey is blase' whether he's fighting villains or his former friends. However, Spider-Man is the average joe of the Marvel Universe, and he is otherwise represented very well as he essentially feels what we feel. We see the sense in registration. It has merit. But we also see the longer-term effects, and how, after an event like Stamford, this kind of large-scale confrontation would be inescapable. And also, to what lengths would we go to make our point?
But CIVIL WAR, if nothing else, definitely keeps the reader in tightrope-walking suspense and many moments in the story have a major "Holy S--t!" factor (e.g. the severe beating of Johnny Storm, the appearance of Thor, the newest incarnation of the Thunderbolts, the savior of Spider-Man, and the ultimate outcome) and it, unlike most other multi-character crossovers, really DOES affect the future of the Marvel Universe. I applaud Marvel, Millar, McNiven and all the contributing peripheral authors like Brian Michael Bendis, Paul Jenkins, and Ed Brubaker that ultimately made this seven-issue series much more than it is. One day, hopefully, there will be an ABSOLUTE-style edition of CIVIL WAR that would, ideally, contain all of the other one-shots and mini-series that sprung from CIVIL WAR.

This was supposed to be a great epic story. This collection features what was originally published as Civil War 1-7. This is the main book in this whole Civil War thing. The roles Millar has these heroes playing is completely ridiculous at times. I was thoroughly disappointed with this book. The action between the various characters is cool, you get a glimpse of bunches af heroes getting it on that you don't normally see in action together. But the writing is just horrible. The story jumps & starts, Millar just doesn't tell a good story. A well told story about how a dung beetle does what he does with dung might've been better. Best part of this book is quickly followed by the worst part. Bad Job!!!

Civil War really doesn't work too well as the all encompassing epic Marvel want it to be. These giant plot lines affecting all characters are genrally crappy, but this offers some good stuff with tremendous art and colouring to back average writing. That's not to say there isn't some ripper stuff in here- Captain America is excellent, well countered by Iron Man. The battles are excellent throughout.

This is the main Civil War story line so it is a must read for any Marvel fan. You should also read it if you follow any Marvel character who had a side-story during Civil War (I think every character did). Good info and overall good read. Not as dramatic and life-changing as it was hyped to be, but still a solid product.

As a longtime Marvel fan (who has drifted away from and back to superhero comics several times in my life... ) I dutifully picked up a few of the Civil War titles and was planning on getting a couple more, to see you things pan out. The overall concept sounds interesting, and gosh, who doesn't enjoy the opportunity to see our favorite superdudes bash one another's brains out?

There are problems with this super-event, though, and I am forced to agree with nearly all the low-rated reviews -- this story really ain't all that. The main graphic novel, which collects the "Civil War" miniseries (issues #1-7) is ricketty and uneven. Because the "event" is spread throughout the entire Marvel universe, most of the interesting character work is in the regular titles -- Spider-Man's anguish at giving up his secret identity is better fleshed out in his book, the division of the Fantastic Four takes place in theirs, etc. The central story, then, plays like a highlight reel, with narrative jumps and storytelling shorthand that simply does disservice to the readers and the plot.

And the thinness is reciprocal: frequently the hero titles fail to compensate for the weakeness of the central book, most notably the paper-thin "Iron Man" graphic novel, which gathers several issues of Shellhead's mag that are written and drawn by different artists and feel disconnected from one another. Since Iron Man is the spearhead of the pro-registration forces, you'd think they might have done a better job planning his part of this saga out, and assigned these issues to one creative team, so that his side of the story had more cohesion and dramatic heft -- if Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev, who do the last chapter, had been given the whole story, it might have been a real doozy.

I agree with other readers who criticize the lack of action, as well as the choppy plotting and weak characterizations. The 9/11-ish "horror" of the initial event (a grade school getting blown up in the crossfire of a super-battle) seems like the kind of thing that would happen all the time in a super-world. All those battles that take place in New York City and no one ever gets hurt? Galactus invading Earth? Sub Mariner and those giant sea-creatures of his, with the tida waves hitting the East Coast? No bystanders ever gets caught in the chaos? While a media and public opinion backlash does seem plausible, the way it is portrayed is paper-thin and stick-figurish, as are the actions and motivations of many top-level Marvel heroes. Reed Richards, in particular, is stripped of his own personality, and falls in line with Tony Stark's police state vision with astonishing docility. His motivation seems highly improbable -- Richards tells Spider-Man that he had an uncle who stood up to the McCarthy-era blacklist and suffered career damage, which left Reed fearful of the same sort of thing ever happening to him. Excuse me? Mister Fantastic is a timid little mouse who would rather sacrifice his sense of justice, rat out his friends, wreck his own family and help create a fascistic future rather than risk damage to his own career? Sorry, I just don't buy it... Or rather, I *did* buy it, but I wish I'd kept my money.

Anyway, the series is full of stuff like that, and it's disappointing. Likewise, the portrayal of the public anti-hero backlash seems kind of random and sketchy, particularly since there are never any pro-hero protesters seen anywhere: are American's really such sheep that they have only one set of opinions, and that's whatever the TV tells us to think? What a morbid, dismissive world view -- and what lazy storytelling. Every time I saw the mother of the slain school child who kickstarted the anti-superhero movement by yelling at Tony Stark and spitting in his face while the cameras were rolling, I kept expecting her to burst into flames and be revealed as an agent of Loki or Dormmammu, controlling the minds of the world and turning people against their heroes. That would have been hackneyed, but more satisfying.

This series has some interesting ideas and intriguing passages, but they seem hastily strung together and a bit flat and dramatically forced. The series is important in that changes the Marvel comics continuity... I just wish the saga had been more exciting and fun to read.

For as long as Civil War took to come out, it never escaped a hurried feel. Plot holes were left in, motivations were left unclear and unbelievable, and the general quality of writing was disappointing at least.

Civil War is a story of petty, stupid people fighting for...something. The two sides are Pro-Registration and Anti-Registration. The Superhuman Registration Act is fuzzy at best - no law this vague would realistically pass - but the reasons for supporting it are (in the rare instances where they're explaind) believable enough, ranging from blind obedience to base fear. The Anti-Registration people are unfocused, fighting to get a law repealed that was made to stop them from fighting.

The art for the series is fairly well done. It captures a lot of the action, but it also doese a good job of capturing the emotions of the characters. There are a few slip ups during some fights, where the art feels static and lacks action, but for the most part the art is quite good.

The dialogue...sadly, the same cannot be said. Everyone 'sounds' like writer Mark Millar. No one truly has a unique voice in the book. Something similar can be said of the attitude - the book is routinely dark and gloomy, with little reprieve offered.

Overall, a doom-and-gloom book with bad characterization but pretty art. Read it if you're a Marvel Comics completist, but don't expect much. Trust me - you'll enjoy it more that way.

Reading many of the reviews regarding this TPB has made me rather upset about the community, and reminded me why I typically stay away from "Critics" reviews; usually, they know nothing about what they are talking about.

This book, Civil War, is directly about the event that occurred within the Marvel Universe, the Civil War. Looking simply at that book, Civil War is filled with a wonderful story that may not delve too deeply into the characters that play a role within it, but deals primarily with the events that bring the characters together. It addresses many issues about modern society's need to regulate damn near everything, stripping away civil liberties one by one, and the broad reasons and reactions people have to those events.

When you read through Civil War, you must read it almost like you would read a newspaper article about such an event. It covers the major parts of the story, leaving you to look into side stories that give this story humanity. It does it with AMAZING art, great scripting, and wonderful pacing. Wanna find out why Peter Parker unmasked himself, read the Civil War: Amazing Spider-Man book (really, it's also very good). Curious about Iron Man's strong convictions for a registration, check out Civil War: Iron Man. You won't find much more than a mere mention of it here, this book deals with the event, but you will not be disappointed.

After a 5 year hiatus from reading comics, this is the series that got me back. If nothing else, that should give this book some merit.

With the revelations in New Avengers #31 (Elektra's a shape-shifting alien Skrull!), the Marvel Civil War may take on an entirely new meaning. Maybe.

As Brian Bendis said in an interview with Comic Book Resources, "People who spent good money on 'Civil War' and now 'World War Hulk' can rest assured -- as promised that those events happened unto themselves... Whatever the plan afoot is for the Skrull Empire, 'Civil War' certainly helped it. They let it happen. They were sort of like, 'Oh you guys want to beat the s**t out of each other?' Go ahead.'"

On its own, fans were overall pretty disappointed in the conclusion to Civil War--itself just a set-up to the death of Captain America in Captain America #25. (That's right--the "money shot" here isn't even included in this collection!) I don't think it would disappoint anyone to see a Tony Stark shapeshift into a Skrull--in fact, it would actually help explain quite a bit of his bizarre, out-of-character behavior since the start of the Civil War.

As you've probably heard, in 2006 Marvel launched a huge event that promised to change the Marvel Universe forever. Unlike many such crossover events, this might actually deliver on that promise. When the heroes of the Marvel Universe fight each other over a law that requires them to register their secret identities and start working under the guidance of S.H.I.E.L.D., all heck breaks loose. The result is a fun and energetic story packed with action. The art is spectacular, guided by Steve McNiven's exceedingly capable pencil hand, with support from Dexter Vines (inks) and Morry Hollowell (inks). Mark Millar's scripts are often good, though there are a few moments that seem out of character. With a cast this large, that should be easy to forgive, but when those moments include virtually every appearance by Reed Richards and the conflict-ending moment itself, they add up to enough to cause problems for some readers. They irk me, but not so much so that I can't enjoy the collection, which should be considered mandatory reading for anyone trying to follow along with Marvel's post-Civil War universe today.

I dont think anyone really loved the ending but the art is great.

If you want to get into comics this would be a good place to start from.

The name tells the tail for this comic. The whole Meta-Human community is split in two. Capitan America the leader of one side and Iron Man the other. Sadly however, this just tells the main story but to really understand the events you have to read some of the other tie ins (I suggest Iron Man's). But wow this is going to tear apart the Marvel Universe even more then pas "Big Event" stories they've done.

In the mid-nineties, I'd had enough. I was so sick of the foil-embossed, glow-in-the-dark, one-of-twelve variant covers that jacked up the prices of my favorite comics. The culprit of such nefarious acts: Marvel Comics. At that point in time, I was eighteen, and even I realized what they were doing was ridiculous and so I boycotted Marvel from that moment on.

Well, here we are, a little over ten years later, and Marvel has finally won me back. It started with Brian Michael Bendis on Daredevil. Kevin Smith got me onboard, Bendis kept me there, and Brubaker is making sure I never leave. Then, Mark Millar showed me something I'd never seen before in comics with The Ultimates. After that, Joss Whedon started Astonishing X-Men, and how could I pass that excellent series up? Finally, Bendis, the man who first got a toehold on me, brought us his version of The New Avengers, which I love. House of M entertained me to no end as well, and, of course, the writer was none other than Bendis.

So there I was, an avid Marvel haterator, but I was reading primarily Marvel and Vertigo! So when Civil War came out in collected edition, I couldn't resist, even though it is hugely overpriced.

I know Civil War is a polarizing comic, and I think that's the point. The whole storyline is about taking sides, and so of course the comic book community is either going to love it or hate it. I, as you've probably guessed, loved it.

I love the idea of two of Earth's best heroes, Captain America and Iron Man, falling into opposition on a wildly political landscape. The idea of having to register if you're a super hero is completely logical, and while many people think Iron Man became a villain because of this storyline, I couldn't disagree more. But, that's an argument for another time.

Millar successfully showed us both sides of the registration viewpoint, and I felt he really conveyed the heroes' viewpoints on the subject equally and without favor. Make no mistake, though, this series was not about philosophical rhetoric, this was an event! Millar is one of the best at delivering nonstop action with an almost cinematic feel, and Civil War was more the same.

Be aware, however, that as you're reading it, there are definite breaks between issues. Millar does a nice job of catching us up to speed as to what happened in the characters' own titles between issue of Civil War, but for some the shift may be too abrupt. However, to me, it just felt like a television show where you have to kind of fill in the gaps between episodes. The overall story progressed fluidly enough to make these shifts manageable.

I totally dug Civil War. I love seeing all of these Marvel characters together in one book, and while the super hero fighting super hero thing can get old in comics, I thought this was a fresh way of delivering that time-honored tradition. Best of all, there seems to have been a concerted effort throughout the Marvel Universe to lead up to Civil War, and, also best of all, this is anything but a one-and-done. The Civil War fallout is continuing throughout the Marvel titles, which shows me that there is superb editorial communication taking place, which in my opinion, makes for a more enjoyable reading experience.

Oh, by the way, the artist of the series, Steve McNiven, is absolutely wonderful. The art alone makes this book worth picking up. He and Bryan Hitch have a real feel for Millar's scripts.

So, all that being said, you might love Civil War, you might hate it, but you will assuredly become captivated by it and form a definite opinion. And isn't that the point? I'm not going to go crazy and shout from on high, "Make mine Marvel!" But, I'm getting there. Who'd a thunk it?

This is a great story, kind of sad if your a long time fan, but it's a well written work. The only problem is the stories are very scattered amongst other books.

"Civil War", Marvel Comics' most controversial story ever published is collected here in its entirety. Originally a seven-issue mini-series, Civil War was a multi-pronged storyline that actually was dealt with in several of Marvel Comics serial publications, but the core story is here.

It begins as a group of college-aged superheroes, The New Warriors, discover and ambush a group of escaped super-criminals who were in hiding in Stamford, Connecticut. The New Warriors are the stars of a superhero-based reality TV series, and for some of the Warriors (Speedball in particular), ratings are as much a motivation as civic duty.

Unfortunately for the Warriors, one of their quarry is Nitro: a villain who can literally explode himself with the force of an H-bomb, then re-form himself with no ill effects. The Warriors' fight meets a tragic end when Nitro uses his bomb-power right next to an elementary school--the high-level explosion ends up killing roughly 800 or so people, including the heroes and Nitro's confederates.

When news of the tragedy hits the media, a firestorm of public opinions places the super-hero community under unprecedented scrutiny. Due in part to the political activism of the mother of a Stamford victim, U.S. Congress passes a new Super Human Registration Act (SHRA), which effectively requires all would-be crime fighters (and essentially, anyone with a super-power) to register with the federal government--subsequently, they would be eligible for formal training and deputization as an officially sanctioned super-hero.

Leading the pro-registration initiative are Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, himself a former Secretary of Defense for the White House. His top lieutenants in this endeavor are Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic) of the Fantastic Four and Hank Pym (Yellowjacket) of the Avengers. Between the three of them, they conceive dozens of potential strategies to use in the execution of the new status quo for costumed adventurers. Among them is `42'--a trans-dimensional prison where super-criminals--and potentially, unregistered superheroes--will be placed.

The abruptness of the passing of the act, as well as the apparent militarization of its enforcement via the espionage/counter-terror outfit SHIELD doesn't sit well with WWII veteran and longtime iconic crime fighter Captain America. When he balks at registering, he is labeled an enemy of the state, and hunted by government forces as well as the newly registered heroes under Iron Man. `Cap' begins recruiting fellow dissenters among the super-hero community, and they form an anti-resistance partisan movement.

The SHRA basically splits the American super-hero element in half--some see it as a natural evolution to make superheroes a `legitimate' arm of law-enforcement. Others see it as big-government interference, with super-heroes as `Good Samaritans' who help people when standard law enforcement can not--or will not--intervene. During the course of the saga, some heroes die, some switch sides, some make choices that will have drastic consequences for the future, whatever the outcome.

Artist Steve McNiven is an excellent draftsman; his photo-realistic artwork helps maintain the conceit that all the characters are real people, which is appropriate, given the dark themes explored in the book. Author Mark Millar attempts a deconstructive analysis of the role of the `super-hero' in a post-911 America: Most, by traditional legal definitions would be considered vigilantes; he seems to ask the question- is it truly oppression to create legal safeguards for superheroes, to weed out the reckless and the unstable? Is the U.S. government really prepared for the ethical and legal consequences of having a virtual army of superhumans at their beck and call? The political subtexts exposed here are self-evident, and depending on the reader's political alignment, they may find themselves elated or infuriated with them.

While several events throughout the story are exciting, the resolution is somewhat anti-climactic. Also, as mentioned above, several parallel stories were told throughout other Marvel comic book series-- Spider-Man, New Avengers, and more---so purchasing them will give readers a much more thorough examination of this saga, but may prove annoying for readers who don't want to buy multiple volumes for a `single' story.

Just an excuse to kill off Captain America, get a little publicity and further confuse the Marvel Universe. Marvel really is no good at the big event, they should stick to what they do best- publish stories that delve into the less spectacular aspects of the super hero that focus on love, jealousy, neuroticism and isolation. Marvel should just ignore what DC excells in and continue to tell their little stories that bring their heroes to life and make them so much more accessable than most of the DC characters.

Civil War may be one of the biggest homeruns in comic stories. With comics now in the mainstream once again, Civil War takes huge, iconic characters and develops them in a direction that even the biggest fanboys wouldn't expect.

The heart of the story is very layered. On a superficial level, the story shows off the gusto of a well-written Hollywood blockbuster, delivering smart dialogue, weaving plot twists and a superhero vs. superhero brawl that'll appease the pallets of any action-hungry reader. On a deeper level lies a satirical story examining America's current terror-phobic state, with writer Millar not so subtly delivering jab after jab to hot button issues like the Patriot Act and the military's current "cowboy" mentality towards war. This is once of the story's most enjoyable qualities. Seeing these larger-than-life characters not only take their own individual stands, but stands that are reflective of a divided America is not only engaging, it's also insightful.

The story executed superbly by McNiven's detailed pencils and Millar's "Who could come up with that?" style of writing. The story and art marry each other perfectly, coddling readers when it should, and smacking them around when it's not.

Civil War is a surprisingly deep and enjoyable story that not only will impress long-time comic loyalists, but is also very user friendly and entertaining to those not so familiar with the funny pages. Overall, a solid read for people who like a good action/drama.

Michael Ferrari
Author, Assault on the Senses

Here's the deal. Civil War has Excellent art so you don't have to worry about that. But I must tell you that if you are an Iron Man fan, this series made me HATE Iron Man a whole lot!!! I moderately liked him before,but after he takes it upon himself to dictate rules and become "MR. Superhero Fascist" I quickly sided with Cap's Underground Avengers. Spiderman is a major player in this story and the X-men are not, so don't expect to see a whole lot of them. The end, however, left me dissapointed. (Spoiler: the rundown) How in the world can you disobey an order, jump out a helicarrier with bullets flying at you, gather an underground team, get your face busted up by a punk in a tin-can costume, almost get killed by the return of Thor, watch your friend Goliath get murdered by Thor, let punisher join your team only to kick his murdering behind back out, mount a last stand by freeing all superhero prisoners of the punk in a tin-can, take the all out brawl into the streets, beat the tar out of the tin-can and all his punk friends after he did the same to you, only to say that you won "everything but the argument," and give up?? Only to get ASSASSINATED in Cap number 25??? Interesting, but not breathtaking.

And so begins another company-wide "Event", promising "The Marvel Universe will never be the same again!" or something like that. This time, heroes are pitted against heroes to determine if they will become registered agents of the US govenment. What you have here is the main story, which is continued in just about evry Marvel book for 7-8 months. When you finish it, you are left with a feeling of "Eh", and a nagging thought that what happens here is not the end, but only a prelude to the next "Event", which will undo everything that happened in this "Event".

If you're curious. pick it up, it's cheaper than buying the issue separately.

This story tells about the growing fear of the normal people to people with special superpowers, that happpens when a supervillian called NITRO (whose power is to make huge explosions) destroy an area and kill one thousend people (scholl kids, familys etc.) and the goverment want to control this superhumans with a federal registration, very similar with the mutant registry, but Captain America is against the registration and will fight Iron Man, who is in favor. The drawing of Steve Mcniven is excellent, and the story telling of Mark Millar just capture your attention.

The artwork in this is outstanding!! The storyline seemed a bit rushed..they could have fleshed it out a bit more with two more issues. All in all, it was a good read.

If I could give this book 0 stars I would.

Mark Millar's writing is terrible in Civil War. Throughout his runs on The Ultimates, Ultimate X-Men and The Authority Millar proved that he could only write charaters with a single voice: the same obnoxious personality over and over again that refers to people alternatively as "you idiot" and "honey". With Civil War he takes this tendency to the extreme. He abandons all recognizable character traits in the story leads and most of the supporting players. Captain America, instead of being the noble leader he has been portrayed as for decades, becomes an obsessive militia leader who pushes ordinary men through reinforced steel doors and onto a street from a moving vehicle just because of a snarky comment. Iron Man becomes a man entirely comfortable with taunting one of his best friends as he beats him up and who delivers a frankly chilling speech at the end which the author intended to be optimistic but ends up sounding totalitarian.

Millar's problem, in the end, is a lack of subtlety. The book's main conflict could have been a lot more interesting if one side had not been so terribly villified. Millar's dialogue was also laughable at many points, Captain America's rant about not being able to meet the "make a wish" kid literally had me laughing out loud. Had a better writer been in charge the story could have been far more satisfying.

The art is nice in the first few chapters. McNiven has a nice sense of anatomy, but as the story progresses the art gets more and more posed. McNiven is at his weakest in the action sequences. The scene in the first chapter where Captain America escapes the SHIELD helicarrier is the only action sequence with good motion and a logical kinetic progression. If you compare it to the panel in the final chapter where Spider-Man is shown taking out several Pro-Reg heroes at once you can see where McNiven, trying to catch up after not being given enough lead time, loses all sense of progression in the movement of the characters. I don't blame McNiven for being rushed towards the end, I believe the blame for that rests solidly on Marvel's editorial staff who rushed to get the first issue in stores the same month as the last issue of DC's Infinite Crisis to upstage its competitor. In the end this decision ended up causing massive delays to Civil War and a sizeable chunk of Marvel's line.

In the end Civil War has simply turned the Marvel Universe into the X-Men's Days of the Future Past dystopian future. This, as a story idea, is fine. The execution leaves much to be desired. Perhaps if Marvel wasn't so in love with Millar's simplistic writing then Joe Quesada's homilies about how this is supposed to be an optimistic step for the Marvel Universe wouldn't be such a bitter pill.

I waited a couple weeks after reading this trade paperback to let the story and experience digest, hoping, perhaps, that I would find more to enjoy about what I had read within the pages. Alas, I have come to the unsatisfying conclusion that writer Mark Millar, who has written some amazing comic-book stories in the past, really dropped the ball on this event.

I am not going to go into what I thought of the way Millar treated (or mistreated, depending on your perspective) various classic heroes like Reed Richards and Tony Stark. I won't talk about how Millar essentially shoehorned the characters into roles they never would have played if they had stayed true to their characterizations of the past several decades--turning heroes into villains. Because, in reality, both sides of the Civil War actually do have good arguments to stand by; with better development, Stark's and Richard's decisions could clearly be seen in a positive light. And, in fact, other books in the Marvel universe that supported this event did a great job fleshing those choices out.

But not the main Civil War event.

Civil War as a standalone product is, quite simply, a mess. Scenes jump back and forth incredibly quickly without reasonable explanation. Character and plot development aren't just deemphasized, they are completed eschewed. But rather than being replaced with action scenes, they are replaced, in many cases, by ineffective talking heads--dialogue that fails to advance the plot or convince the readers of the righteousness of either side in the War.

In short, if a reader were to enter the Civil War plotline here, with only minimal awareness of everything that took place in the surrounding issues and without buying all the other Civil War related trades, they would be confused, lost, and very displeased. I can imagine a running dialogue in such a reader's mind: "Why did Iron Man do that? Why did Spider Man do this, but then do that all of a sudden a couple pages later? Why is Reed Richards acting so stupid? Is Iron Man now a super villain? What's going on?" Contextually speaking, "Civil War" by itself falls on it's face.

There are two redeeming qualities for this trade. The first is the art, almost uniformly fantastically well done by Steve McNiven. The second is the fact that if you are a die hard Marvel fan, kept track of the Civil War event while it happened, and plan on buying all the other Civil War trades, then the events depicted here will make much more sense and, indeed, might even deserve an additional one or two stars.

If you intend, however, to only buy this trade and don't want to spend a couple hours doing catch-up research online, don't bother.