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Civil War II #8: Review

Dec 2016
Brian Michael Bendis, David Marquez

Story Name:

(no title given)

Review & Comments

Rating:
4 stars

Civil War II #8 Review by (January 6, 2017)
The multiple futures (all drawn by different artists) shown by Ulysses include some things probably from upcoming comics:-
(Adam Kubert) The Monsters Unleashed event with 6 new giant monster characters (Aegis, Fireclaw, Hi-Vo, Mekra, Scragg and Slizzik) fighting other giant monsters.
(Leinil Francis Yu) X-Men attacking maybe New Attilan in Inhumans Vs X-Men.
(Daniel Acuna) The ruined Capitol scene with Miles Morales and a beaten Steve Rogers, possibly part of the Hydra-Cap storyline.

(Parenthetically I thought this issue was leading up to the Cap/Spidey scene from Ulysses' vision with the Capitol ruined by the Captain Marvel/Iron Man fight and Steve Rogers injured by it - as he was. But it didn't.)

Other scenes are from known alternate futures:-
(Alan Davis & Mark Farmer) Killraven and gang fighting Martians in War Of The Worlds.
(Marco Rudy) (Days Of Future Past)
(Mark Bagley & John Dell) (Age Of Ultron)
(Esad Ribic) King Thor and Loki from the Thor: God Of Thunder series.

SHIELD Agent 22 has been seen before but only in Thunderstrike #13-14.

The pose where Miles Morales is holding Tony Stark's body is a variation on Michelangelo's Pietà (note in particular Spidey's left hand) of Mary and Christ.

Is it Extremis that is keeping Stark alive? Or something else he developed in the rebooted Marvel Universe?
But whatever, Tony can return without having to come back from the dead.

The ending, as is usual for these events, points to new titles or new directions for existing ones.
Captain Marvel's future plan will presumably unfold in CWII Aftermath: The Oath and the Mighty Captain Marvel series.
Champions and Defenders are foreshadowed along with Hawkeye's Occupy Avengers, Riri Williams' Invincible Iron Man, She-Hulk in the new Hulk series and Guardians Of The Galaxy and its spin-offs.

There are no tie-ins to this issue, but 2 follow it:-

Ultimates #12. Set after CWII is over. Black Panther and Ms America have quit. The government disbands the team because of CWII.

When CWII: The Oath came along it wasn't what I expected. Captain Marvel gets the rug pulled from beneath her and is left only controlling a new planetary defence shield. Steve Rogers is given control of SHIELD and effectively all US defence. And he does a monologue to Tony Stark's comatose body about how he'll make sure this leads to Hydra running the country. Cue the next big event Secret Empire.




 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Civil War II #8 Synopsis by Rob Johnson
Last issue ended with some of the battle between Captain Marvel and Iron Man in a War Machine-like armour in front of the Capitol Building. This issue begins with a repeat of that watched by aghast civilians and Captain America (Steve Rogers) and Spider-Man (Miles Morales). Apparently CM''s closing power-strike to IM''s chest wasn''t as devastating as it appeared because the fight continues.

Overhead in the SHIELD helicarrier Director Maria Hill says she and CM don''t want Alpha Flight (Aurora, Puck and Sasquatch) and the Ultimates (Blue Marvel, Ms America and Spectrum) to interfere. She asks Agent 22 to contact the Inhumans but Queen Medusa is already calling her. Medusa says that Ulysses has had another vision and claims that they must stop the fight. But now he''s back in vision-mode and can''t tell them why. Hill hangs up and Medusa decides to take Ulysses to Washington for a direct intervention.

Steve and Miles are at the Capitol because a previous vision predicted that Spidey would kill Cap there - and they want to prove it false. Carol Danvers came here to take SM into protective custody so that it couldn''t happen. Tony Stark was determined to stop her arresting the kid for a deed he hasn''t committed. But he himself has enclosed Miles in a forcefield to keep him safe, which isn''t that different - and Spidey wants out.

IM fights back by launching some missiles. CM avoids them and they explode near CA. Tony''s AI Friday confirms that Cap is still alive, but he''s lying unconscious. And Stark blames Danvers (for dodging?).

But Maria Hill has heeded the warning and she sends Alpha Flight and the Ultimates to stop the fight, alongside Iceman, Magik, Marvel Girl and Storm of the X-Men and Drax and Star-Lord of the Guardians Of The Galaxy. And Ms Marvel and Nova see a report of the battle and Nova rockets to the aid of their friend Miles.

Lockjaw teleports a bunch of Inhumans in. Karnak uses his ability to find the flaw in the forcefield around Spidey. But CM''s continued assault has IM''s systems failing. As Nova arrives, freed SM swings up accompanied by other flying heroes. But it''s too late as Captain Marvel tears and blasts Iron Man''s armour apart. And Tony Stark falls insensate from the sky.

Then Ulysses shows CM, Medusa, Nova and SM his latest vision. It is a vision of multiple alternate futures, not just 1, so this means his previous visions were never definite.

Then Eternity shows up in the vision-space, with unidentifiable other figures, and says Ulysses has evolved into a higher being like him. And takes him away to a greater existence.

Back in reality Cap has recovered but Miles holds Tony Stark''s body. Later Beast examines it and tells Carol Danvers and Maria Hill that something is keeping Tony from dying - the result of experiments that Stark has obviously been doing for years. But Hank McCoy can''t say if he will ever recover, and he doesn''t understand what''s happening so he daren''t interfere.

When Hill has gone Hank tells Carol that Tony wasn''t fighting her because he didn''t trust her with Ulysses'' predictions. He did, but he couldn''t allow the precedent to be set because others less scrupulous would use them for their own ends.

When McCoy has gone Hawkeye drops by. He tells Carol he''s going to do something to make up for killing Bruce Banner (despite many people praising him for it). He won''t say more, but wants her to trust his judgement when she eventually hears about it.

Later Danvers meets with the President who wants to know what the reaction in the superhero community is. We see:-
Miles Morales overwhelmed with grief.
The Guardians Of The Galaxy trapped on Earth and splitting up.
The Champions forming their own team.
Steve Rogers she thinks unsure about the Avengers. (But we know he really has totally different thoughts.)
She-Hulk filled with anger and doubt.
The Inhumans in disarray(?).
Black Panther hewing his own course (after leaving the Ultimates).
Riri Williams becoming the next ''Iron Man''.
Daredevil, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage getting together.

And the Pres offers Carol carte blanche to build a better future.



David Marquez
David Marquez
Justin Ponsor
Marko Djurdjevic (Cover Penciler)
Marko Djurdjevic (Cover Inker)
Marko Djurdjevic (Cover Colorist)


Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Black Panther
Black Panther

(T'Challa)
Captain America
Captain America

(Steve Rogers)
Daredevil
Daredevil

(Matt Murdock)
Hawkeye
Hawkeye

(Clint Barton)
Hulk
Hulk

(Bruce Banner)
Iron Man
Iron Man

(Tony Stark)
She-Hulk
She-Hulk

(Jennifer Walters)
Spider-Man
Spider-Man

(Peter Parker)
Star-Lord
Star-Lord

(Peter Quill)
Storm
Storm

(Ororo Munroe)
War Machine
War Machine

(James Rhodes)



> Civil War II: Book info and issue index

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