Spider-Man decides he’s had enough of Tony’s shenanigans. He gets May and Mary-Jane out of Stark Tower, then confront Tony himself. They smash through a wall, and then Tony tries to talk Peter down. SHIELD agents show up, blast the window open for Spider-Man to escape, and Peter goes for it.
Iron Man follows him out and deactivates the Iron Spider-Man Armor. It shuts down, but it turns out that Spider-Man had an override installed in it. He takes down Iron Man and makes a run for it. SHIELD then unleashes Jack O’Lantern and Toy Man (new Thunderbolts) to follow Spider-Man into the sewers. Jack O’Lantern’s gas makes Spider-Man crazy and is about to be captured, when the Punisher shows ups and kills them both – then rushes Spider-Man to Captain America’s Secret Avengers headquarters. Turns out that he’s been keeping an eye on it, making sure it remains secure. We flashback and learn that Punisher discovered that Stark has building the Thunderbolts and it turns that offering criminals a “second chance” just doesn’t jive with Frank Castle. Captain America decides to take Castle in and make him part of the group.
After recovering, Peter goes to May and MJ for confirmation that he did the right thing.
Meanwhile, Daredevil has been captured (so has Cloak and Dagger) and hands over a piece of silver to Stark for being a traitor.
Speedball decides to present his case in front of Congress, but on his way in, he’s shot by the father of one of the Stamford kids. He’s rushed into an ambulance, which crashes on the way to the hospital when his powers go completely insane. Meanwhile, Congressman Sykes bails out Sally Floyd because he fought in ‘Nam for her right to say whatever the heck she wants. How nice of him!
Wonder Man spies on Joe the Sleeper Agent when he goes to a warehouse full of Atlanteans. The warehouse is then destroyed by the Green Goblin, with Simon knocked out as well.
The Thing heads off to Paris as he promised, where he teams up with the Heroes of Paris – basically JLA rip-offs – and battles some lame super-villain. It’s funny.
Things with the Wakandaian royal family aren’t that great. The white guys in Washington are continuing their smear campaign; the US is performing war games near Wakanda; and the tribal council is getting restless. T’Challa makes sure that everyone is loyal and getting along with the Secret Avengers while Ororo chats it up with Reed, and then joins her husband.
The imprisoned Kingpin gives some information to Iron Man, which eventually turns out leading Tony right to Hammerhead and his group of super-villains that he planned on using against the Pro-Reg forces and Secret Avengers.
On his wedding anniversary, Spymaster goes to kill Iron Man – but ends up in fisticuffs with Happy Hogan instead. Happy manages to take out Spymaster, but ends up in a coma. Pepper and Tony meet at the hospital, and Pepper asks Tony to uses the Extremists Virus to shut down Happy’s life-support. Unable to do so, Iron Man meets with various other associates. Eventually, he talks to Cap and finds out that Steve had nothing to do with Spymaster. After an argument with Invisible Woman, Tony cuts the life-support.
Johnny reaches out to Reed and Ben, but to no avail. Sue and the Mad Thinker meet with Reed regarding his equations, but Sue runs off again.
Captain America and Iron Man finally meet again at the decimated remains of Avengers Mansion, where they discuss the registration act and better times. Of course, it ends with them battling it out, then walking away, their friendship destroyed.
The Sentry heads to the moon for some peace and quiet, but ends up getting ambushed the Inhumans. They bid him welcome as a guest and when he’s about to do something naughty with Crystal, Iron Man shows up and wants Sentry to return home and to Register. Black Bolt kicks Iron Man out and the Sentry is still left undecided.
As the Red Skull continues his plotting and planning, the Winter Soldier does some work for Nick Fury – which mainly includes infiltrating SHIELD’s mainframe and getting the stats on the Capekiller armors.
An angry employee of Stark Tech sneaks into the Avengers Tower and shuts down Tony in his armor. Maria Hill rescues Tony then and hints that Tony could take her position at SHIELD.
Captain America infiltrates an AIM facility being raided by Hydra. After he busts through some agents, SHIELD shows up with Capekillers. He’s then rescued by Sharon Carter, who has joined his side.
Shortly thereafter, Winter Soldier is asked by Nick Fury to make sure that the Young Avengers don’t accidentally break-down a Hydra cell he’s been watching. Winter Soldier is not exactly happy about this, as this is his first Christmas free, but he does what he has to. However, after meeting the Young Avengers, they’re discovered by Hydra and the cell is destroyed anywho. The Young Avengers then traces Winter Soldier back to a cemetery, where they come to understand who he really is as Bucky makes peace with Jack Munroe. Finally, at the grave of Toro, Namor appears and the two chat.
The Sentry finally decides to register after fighting Absorbing Man. Captain America confronts Moon Knight regarding his use of too much force against criminals, touting that there was one person he could apply the Registration Act to, it would be him.
Breaking it down now . . .
The Spider-Man betrayal/Punisher joining Secret Avengers/Thunderbolts first unleashed is perhaps among the best sequences in all of Civil War. Flowing across three titles (each one adding just a little more to the various scenes without making it unrecognizable), it’s a well-executed affair. Each characters comes across honestly. Peter, just finally done with it all. Tony, trying to stop Peter from going too far. Punisher, deciding that the Civil War has just gone too far. The whole thing plays off so great.
The Speedball stuff continues to be rather intriguing, and really conveys a strong character piece. You really feel sorry for the guy.
The whole Sleeper Cell storyline is just as intriguing, though knowing where it’s heading . . . uh . . . well, it’s still pretty good and appropriately murky at this point.
Ben and Sally continue on their little quests for the truth, though to be honest, it’s getting a little old and has stopped having that “ground-up” POV that made this book so good in the first place.
Ben’s adventure in the City of Lights is fun, but not really worth much in a broader sense.
T’Challa comes across as a great character in Hudlin’s “Black Panther,” but let’s be honest here. This is really where Storm starts to take off again until Hudlin’s pen. In addition to be the most in character since he stared writing her, Storm also gets some great development and really comes across as the character we all know and love.
The Kingpin story is a nice little piece, really offering up some insight into the Kingpin’s jailbird adventures. It sometimes pushes a little too far here and there, but it’s a good look at the criminal element and what they’re up to while the heroes are fighting it out.
The Happy Hogan story is done rather well, though to be honest, it’s overshadowed by other elements of Civil War.
The various wartime reunions of the Fantastic Four are relatively pointless.
The Iron Man/Captain America story is really a fine tale, and one that should have come far earlier. It’s a nice character piece and despite the brief fight sequence, it’s a good floating heads book. Flashbacks are utilized well here as well.
The Sentry/Inhumans story does a good job of bringing in the Inhumans to at least the outer circle of this crossover. However, I need to harp on the sheer inconsistency between the portrayals of the Sentry. In New Avengers and The Return, his character goes from insecure to cocky. It’s whiplash – even with the “he’s crazy” explanation.
The disgruntled employee story from New Avengers is rather flat, too, to be honest.
The Captain America titles continue to do a good job of building the Red Skull’s “master plan” while also allowing the ripples of Civil War to affect Sharon, Nick Fury, and Bucky.
The Captain America/Iron Man special and the Winter Soldier: Winter Kills one-shot both do a good job of building on what an issue of Black Panther did as well and that’s offer flashbacks. Placing flashbacks to the days of the Invaders and the various adventures of the Avengers adds a broader context and aspect to Civil War, giving it even more meaning and evoking thoughts of changes and transformation done to the operational standards of the Marvel Universe’s super-heroes.
The Moon Knight/Captain America thing is about a strong as a fart in a stiff wind.
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