Like all good summer comic book events, Marvel’s Civil War II has no shortage of crossovers. We get two important narrative pieces in tie-in issues this week, along with big news from HQ regarding Marvel’s post-event initiative. We were pretty curious as to how long we could keep adding weeks to that ANAD counter.
The new creative team of Christos Gage and Kris Anka begin their run in Captain Marvel #6 with what amounts to more prologue for Civil War II. Confused as to how Carol and James “Rhodey” Rhodes had become so close in the lead-in stories prior to War Machine getting obliterated by Thanos? Or maybe you were just hoping for some steamy extended bedroom scenes to help you visualize who you’d rather see Marvel cast for the film version: Emily Blunt or Brie Larson? My money’s on Brie, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to see Emily brandishing the Kree star…
Captain Marvel fixes up the Alpha Flight space station just in time to deal with an extra-powerful Dr. Minerva. And, oh the chaos that woman can cause. If only there was a way to foresee massive tragedy and prevent this kind of crap from happening! While the major conflict in the main Civil War title seems to be a brewing clash between the Inhumans and the rest of the superhero community, this Captain Marvel arc should provide more insight into the philosophical divide that separates Danvers and Tony Stark. You’ve got an Inhuman kid who can help you predict and possibly prevent future catastrophes. Now, should you?
Charles Soule and Carlos Pacheco’s Uncanny Inhumans #11 takes place directly after the events of Civil War II #2, with the Inhumans justifiably pissed that Tony Stark so brazenly invaded sovereign territory and kidnapped one of their own. In case you’d forgotten, you do not want to upset Queen Medusa. She begins a personal war on Stark that will have direct ramifications on the event as a whole. In much the same way that the tie-in arcs of New Avengers and Captain America added a great deal to the original Civil War back in the summer of ’06, this Uncanny Inhumans storyline feels like an indispensable companion to the main event.
Meanwhile, Marvel’s website is reporting more on the latest “Marvel NOW!” initiative that will be unveiled this fall. They also teased the following image. Is that Doctor Doom holding an Iron Man helmet? Did Riri get herself a War Machine upgrade? Are we really supposed to care about Slapstick? (I don’t.)
One of the characters in Mike Deodato’s teaser image, Mosaic (that dude hovering in the back dressed in black with blue electric accents) makes his debut in this week’s aforementioned Uncanny Inhumans #11, and is the focus of one of the first big new series confirmations in this upcoming Marvel NOW! initiative. And when Civil War II #3 hits the stands on July 13, Marvel will be releasing a preview magazine, similar to how they introduced the All New All Different Marvel Universe last year, showcasing the rest of the new Marvel landscape.
DC: Rebirth, Week 6
It’s a catch-up “bye” week in DC’s Rebirth initiative, with the shop shelves cluttered with reprints of various one-shots, including a new squarebound edition of the DC Universe: Rebirth that kickstarted this party. Here’s a bonus blurb from one of last week’s premieres.
Wonder Woman #1
This book is a great reminder of how little I know about Wonder Woman. I have no idea what is going on, and knowing that this book will jump back and forth between two storylines makes the idea of keeping up with it about as much fun for me as calculus homework. Still, the bat-people and Cheetah look really cool, and the concept of Wonder Woman unable to remember her origin is interesting. I just don’t think this book is doing a great job of attracting new readers. Unless it’s an Alan Moore book, I don’t want to read a comic that needs an appendix. – RF
The Institute of Idle Time 