Civil War II #5: Review

Aug 2016

Brian Michael Bendis, David Marquez

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Civil War II #5 Review by Rob Johnson (September 25, 2016)

The events in Guardians Of The Galaxy tie-in closely to this issue. In their #11 Captain Marvel called the team in from outer space. They turned up and met with her. And Carol told Peter Quill in private that the Ultimates had Thanos prisoner in the Triskelion (since CWII#1 or the FCBD issue). And she didn't want Gamora to know because she didn't want the carnage that ensues when Gamora tries to kill him.

In GotG#12 they disagree amongst themselves as to which side is right in the Civil War, but they are committed to Carol. Then they are called in to the battle as at the end of last issue. Their comic skips immediately to their ship being destroyed and crashing into the base of the Triskelion. Then it skips again to the aftermath (which we probably haven't reached here) where there's another explosion at the base of the Triskelion which they assume is more of the ship blowing up. Then Gamora overhears SHIELD worrying about the prisoner Thanos in the basement.

Ultimates is also heavily connected. In their #10 they discuss the case of Alison Green, so that has to occur before Nightcrawler rescued her near the end of last issue. But then Thanos breaks free with the help of an explosion caused by fellow prisoner Anti-Man, and SHIELD don't seem to know about that. The comic doesn't read this way, but it could be that the explosion there is the 2nd 1 in GotG#12, and Thanos is just making his break. (The blurbs for next issues of GotG and Ult don't give us any clue.)

Meanwhile Rocket Raccoon and Groot have their own CWII adventure in their #8-10 which suggests it occurs during the period between their arrival on Earth in GotG#11 and the battle in #12. Similarly I'm putting Venom: Space Knight #11-13 in there, although what happens in the forthcoming #13 may cause me to revise that.

And the destruction of their spaceship will leave the Guardians stranded on Earth in future issues.

Other tie-ins aren't so closely linked:-

International Iron Man #7 is another issue that was promoted as a CWII tie-in, but it was published without the banner and had no CWII content.
Captain America: Steve Rogers #5. We learn that Steve-Hydra-Cap went to kill Ulysses but Iron Man kidnapped him in CWII#2. He sent Bruce Banner the gamma research that made Captain Marvel suspicious and led to his death in CWII#3, which also led to the final breakdown between IM and CM in CWII#4. We also learn that Alison Green is *not* a Hydra agent, so Ulysses was wrong. But Red Skull wants Ulysses for his own purposes. And the issue ends with CWII#5 and the prediction of Cap's death.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Civil War II #5 Synopsis by Rob Johnson

Last issue Iron Man sent Nightcrawler to rescue Alison Green from Captain Marvel's custody. Ms Green had been arrested on the basis of 1 of Ulysses' precog visions but there was no corroborative evidence. This has led to a confrontation on the roof of the Triskelion building between massed supporters of the 2 sides. And this is what they used to call a 'big battle issue'.

Iron Man has the ANAD Avengers, Captain America (Steve Rogers), Dr Strange, Hawkeye (Kate Bishop), Luke Cage, Old Man Logan, Riri Williams (a new Iron Man) and some X-Men. Captain Marvel has Alpha Flight, the Guardians Of The Galaxy, the Ultimates and some other X-Men. And in New Attilan Medusa calls Karnak from training Ulysses and they assemble some Inhumans to go help CM.

Carol Danvers and Tony Stark fight each other. But IM has prepared a special weapon which takes CM out of the action.
Dr Strange fights Storm's X-Men.
Luke Cage tackles Blue Marvel, but it's only a set-up so Nova can zap BM. But BM shakes it off and chases Nova into space.
Maria Hill holds unconscious Marvel Girl (who's been taken down by means unknown) and organises the evacuation of the Triskelion.
Sasquatch brings down Logan while Hawkeye fights Aurora.
And there's lots more going on in the background, including Thor fighting Gamora.

Various people watch/hear confused news reports:- Matt Murdock in his office, Peter Parker coming out of a shower, Mary Jane Watson in Stark International HQ and Hawkeye (Clint Barton) in the wilderness. Then back to the fight.

Magik sends Cap (Sam Wilson) through a stepping disk to Hollywood, and then gets clocked by an arrow.
Rocket Raccoon is enjoying himself until he gets a flying kick from Spider-Man (Miles Morales), who is then attacked by RR's teammate Venom (Flash Thompson). Flash is angry at this Spidey-impersonator, but Miles shuts him up with a venom-blast in the mouth.
Star-Lord (Peter Quill) is fighting Cap (SR) when Tony Stark contacts him to ask why his GotG ex-teammate is fighting on the other side. Quill says he's friends with Carol Danvers too, and she called them in because Tony had 'gone off the rails'. And he supports the idea of using Ulysses' visions to prevent future crimes.
During this conversation we see the 2 intangibles Kitty Pryde and Vision duelling. Vision fires a solar blast which passes through Kitty and destroys the GotG spaceship.

Then the Inhumans arrive, including affiliates Beast and Human Torch. Iron Man attacks Karnak in revenge for the destruction of Stark Tower. Black Panther tries to stop him. But then Capt M gets back in the fray and beats IM up.

Meanwhile back in New Attilan Ulysses has another vision, but manifests his power in a new way. We know that he can let others see his visions. But now he emits tendrils of light which stretch across New York Bay to wrap around the combatants. They see a ruined Capitol Building with Spidey (MM) with bloody hands holding a dead Cap (SR).

As the vision subsides Ms Marvel rushes to assure her friend Miles that it won't happen. But CM arrests him.

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