"Civil War"/"Civil War II" Comparison

 

            The following is an essay comparing the Marvel Comic Book events “Civil War” and “Civil War II.” This is not about any real war. This also does not apply to the film “Captain America: Civil War.”

            Hey, y’all, welcome to From the Mind of One Tim Cubbin! My name is Tim Cubbin!

            So, today, I am typing up for you an essay where I compare both the Marvel super hero Civil Wars, which I kind of already said, but I didn’t say it in context, so, there, it’s said.

            Now, I’ve written several posts about Marvel’s “Civil Wars” before, consisting of a review of the prose novelization of “Civil War” by Stuart Moore, a review of the “Civil War” comics event as presented on Marvel Unlimited, an essay comparing the prose novel “Civil War” to the comic event “Civil War,” and just a few hours ago, I posted a review of the “Civil War II” comic book event as presented on Marvel Unlimited, so to finish this all up, I’m typing up a piece comparing the comic book events. Now, if you want to get a little bit of background to this post, check out the aforementioned posts, but don’t feel deterred by not having read those, this should be easier to explain since these are two completely separate things. I did this with “Spider-Man: The Clone Saga” and “Miles Morales: The Clone Saga” so this isn’t my first foray, but it hasn’t been done very often on this blog.

            Let’s examine the causes of the Civil Wars to start off. In “Civil War” a group of young super heroes/reality television stars tried to take on a group of super villains way above their class level. One of these villains was the explosive Nitro, who, when cornered, detonated and killed hundreds of innocent civilians in Stamford, Connecticut, including a schoolyard full of kids. In the wake of the tragedy, the United States government passed the Superhuman Registration Act, which would require anyone with powers who wished to operate with these powers in public to register their real names and powers and submit to training in the form of a federal agent. They could still be superheroes, but now they had legitimate backing, including a paycheck, pension, benefits and vacation time off. Tony Stark/Iron Man felt that this was a great idea, the proper evolution of the role of superhumans in American society and went out publicly to support the act. Steve Rogers/Captain America felt that this was a bad idea, an assault of superheroes’ liberties. S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Maria Hill called upon Captain America to aid in the enforcement of the act. Captain America refused and went underground against the act and formed a resistance movement for the super heroes who didn’t want to register. Iron Man, in turn, formed a team to enforce the act. This caused the confrontation between the pro- and anti-registration super heroes.

            In “Civil War II,” a young man named Ulysses Cain awoke as an Inhuman after undergoing Terrigenesis. He predicted a cataclysmic event, an alien invasion that could possibly have meant the destruction of earth. Ulysses contacted Tony Stark and the super heroes were able to fight back this invasion and save the earth. Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel decided to use Ulysses’ predictions to good use and stop major crimes and avert catastrophes before they happened, calling it “predictive justice.” Iron Man, however called this profiling. Ulysses could predict A future, not necessarily THE future, and advised for letting things happen as they were supposed to happen. Captain Marvel and Iron Man then found themselves at odds, and a conflict erupted, dividing the super hero community and beginning a war spanning to the reaches of outer space and even through time.

            Now, these comic book events actually had a promotional tagline. “Civil War’s” posters and advertisements read “Whose side are you on?” “Civil War II’s” tagline was “Change the future or protect the future.”

            Now, just for good measure, I’ll tell you who I supported in each Civil War. When “Civil War” started, I was in college. I had a group I hung out with and we discussed comic books. I was the odd man out. I sided with Iron Man. I saw the Superhuman Registration Act as a fair deal. For the regular citizens, we would know we were protected by super heroes who were licensed, trained, and knew what they were doing. For the super heroes, we’d be properly trained and accountable and backed by the government, plus we’d be getting paid to do some of the things we’d already be doing for free. Yes, it seems invasive, the government knowing everything about you, and yes, you might have to do things you don’t want to, but it would be keeping people safe and having them feel comfortable. After all, police have to go through training and wear a badge, why should those with powers be able to bypass all of that?

            As for “Civil War II” I once again I sided with Tony. The future should be allowed to run its course. Using Ulysses was profiling. Predictive justice is faulty. What if his predictions were wrong due to personal bias and the super heroes started arresting people who were actually innocent? What if what he saw was wrong and sent the superheroes on wild goose chases? What if stopping one cataclysmic event branched off and caused events that were even worse than the original event?

            I figure now you’d also like to know which “Civil War” I preferred? Well, let’s look at this: the first War was over a piece of legislation if it was a good idea or a bad idea. The second War was over a concept if it was a good idea or a bad idea. In one case, I thought it was a good idea. In the second, I thought it was a bad idea. You might think I’m partial to Iron Man? Perhaps he’s my favorite superhero? When it comes to Tony’s ideas and ideals, I get where he’s coming from. He doesn’t actually have real super powers, he’s just your average guy who gets by with his genius and technology, while Captain America has a super soldier serum in his blood and Captain Marvel has cosmic powers due to alien background. But, all-in-all, if you had to make me pick which “Civil War” I preferred, I have to go with the first. “Civil War II” seemed to be reaching too far, going as far as to pull in the Guardians of the Galaxy and Spider-Man 2099, as well as calling B- and C-List characters to the forefront just didn’t help. The first “Civil War” pulled in a lot of characters not exactly as well-known or loved by casual fans who only know Marvel from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But in “Civil War II” too many lesser-known or unknown characters were included, and also including characters from the MCU that I just felt didn’t need to be there.

            Well, I’m going to let you go in just a few more sentences. I write a lot of reviews, mostly Marvel comics and prose novels, but I also write short stories and poetry, as well as editorials, such as my B’ings. I post very often. I’ve done literally dozens of posts, so if you liked this, feel free to keep browsing and looking out for new posts. So, until next time, Tim Cubbin… out!