THUNDERBOLTS versus NOVA
Home Truths (Marvel comics)
Where: Nova #3 When: August 2007
Why: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning How: Sean Chen

The story so far...
Now the last of the legendary intergalactic corps of Xandarian Nova Centurions; an exhausted Richard Rider embarks on a journey to return to Earth, acting on the advice of the artificial intelligence, the Worldmind.

Seasoned by his adventures in space, Rider returns a more mature hero than he once was as member of the New Warriors. Having led thousands to their deaths in the war against the Annihilation Wave, Nova finds the self-interested squabbles that have transpired in his absence easily dwarfed by the intergalactic threats to reality he has faced.

Confronted upon his return by Director of SHIELD, Iron Man; Nova is asked to join the Registration Initiative to turn his newly acquired cosmic powers and leadership to the training of a new generation of heroes. Given time to ponder the offer, Nova may find himself ultimately swayed by the intervention of his former teammate Speedball, and his new colleagues, the Thunderbolts!

Previous Form:
Thunderbolts [#6]: This incarnation holds a narrow victory over Jack Flag.
Nova (#73): A single victory over the villain Diamondhead.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Moonstone 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Radioactive Man 5 (Professor)
Speed: Nova 7 (Light Speed)
Stamina: Moonstone 6 (Generator)
Agility: Penance 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting Ability: Nova 4 (Trained Fighter)
Energy Powers: Radioactive Man 6 (Mass Destruction)


- The Thunderbolts are: Moonstone, Penance, Radioactive Man, and Venom.

Assembled under the leadership of an exonerated Norman Osborn; this version of the Thunderbolts are part of a US government division operating seperate, but in conjunction with, SHIELD's superhero registration agenda.

The team is exclusively comprised of reformed super-villains, with the exception of Penance, who, as Speedball, was a member of the New Warriors; the team responsible for the Stamford tragedy that killed hundreds of school children.

Moonstone and Songbird are the only two remaining members from Baron Zemo's original assemblage of diguised Masters of Evil. Their status as senior members, coupled with a divergence of acceptance for Osborn's direction, has led to friction between the two. Despite their familiarities, the frictions have been shown to interfere in their field competence, particularly in dealing with unfamiliar factors like Venom and the brooding, but massively powerful, Penance.

Lurking in the shadows is a contingency for the Thunderbolts in the form of the mass murdering assassin, Bullseye. Though effectively the team's trump card, Bullseye is kept from public eye, allowing for the delicately balanced charade of heroism to be maintained.

- As a teen; Long Island native, Richard Rider, was selected by the dying alien, Rhomann Dey, to assume the mantle of the Nova-Prime.
Swept into a world of intergalactic war and peace keeping, Rider eventually leaves behind his superheroing deeds to join other members of the Nova Corps on the reconstructed home world of Dey - Xandar.

Homesick, Rider relinquished his powers in exchange for the right to return home, but an encounter with the armored hero Night Thrasher would reveal that his powers merely lay dormant within him. Together the two would be prominent members of the teen superteam, the New Warriors.

Rider would revisit his role as a space cop in the battle against the Annihilation Wave. It is here that the Nova Corps of Xandar are once again exterminated, thus leaving Nova to inheret the entirety of their power matrix, the Worldmind.
With infinitely increased powers, Nova becomes the leader of the intergalactic resistence against Annihilus and his armies, and matures into a universal force for justice capable of generating energy blasts, tapping into a reality spanning encyclopaedia of knowledge, and travelling through time and space at fantastic speeds.

The Math: Nova (Average) Thunderbolts (Total) The Pick: Nova

What went down...
Having utilized his massive powers in the defense and arrest of his waiting arch-nemesis, Diamondhead [Nova #2]; Rider finds himself in the unfamiliar scenario of being attacked by the Thunderbolts under the jurisdiction of the Superhuman Registration Act.

Venom is the first to attack, triggering a distanced analysis by the Worldmind. Despite having learnt much from the AI system, it is Nova who this time informs his on-board advisory of the nature of the beast. The Nova Corpsman makes a late leap into the air, avoiding Venom's diving attack to leave him to eat pavement.

Nova chastises the team for attacking in a populated urban street; foibles that don't tend to bother the likes of Moonstone and Radioactive Man, who each launch an energy based attack on Nova. Combining their abilities, they incapacitate his control over self-gravity, resulting in a harsh descent.

Moonstone summons Penance, apparently unaware of his history with Nova as the light-hearted New Warrior, Speedball. She also notes Nova's status as a cosmically powered hero who is not to be underestimated.

Nova emerges from the hole his body made in the street, now having donned his helmet. He summons an energy blast to incapacitate the salivating Venom, while using more specific means for Moonstone, a "phased pulse" doing the trick.

Penance simmers with kinetic energy, but remains flat footed, while Radioactive Man picks up the slack. The radiation of the electromagnetic blast proves inconsequential thanks to the defensive capabilities of the Nova Centurion armor, but the blast is sufficient enough to send the hero hurtling through a stationary truck, into a building.

In a pile of rubble and reeling from the attack, Nova is unable to defend himself as Venom leaps in for a second lick. The burly symbiote pins Nova on his stomach, wrapping his taloned fingers around the floored hero's neck.

Radioactive Man summons Penance from his pause, hoping to utilize his awesome power to put an end to Nova's resistence.
Though reluctant, Robbie Baldwin turns his guilt inward to summon a massive burst of his other-dimensional kinetic energies, reminiscent of his first outing with the Thunderbolts [Thunderbolts #111].

The massively destructive power of Penance's kinetic energy quite literally brings an entire building down atop his former ally. Robbie's current leader, Moonstone, descends on the wreckage with the Radioactive Man with an order to summon their mobile imprisonment "T-Wagon".

To the shock of all, Nova saves them the trouble of finding a body, emerging from the wreckage with a blast of firey, rocketeering energy. The frustrated hero turns the tables on the Thunderbolts by reading them their rights on the basis of the Nova Corps "Pan-Worlds Jurisdiction Treaty."

The clash of law enforcement powers is interrupted by a third party: SHIELD!
Descending with a support team of field agents, the director himself, Iron Man, makes his presence known. Chastising Moonstone for her team's tactics in a densly populated public area, Iron Man does his best to pull rank and calm the situation, as the Thunderbolts leader tries to use Stark's own Registrated Act as justification against him.

Having previously offered Nova a senior position with his Initiative; Tony Stark accompanies him to a more private meeting place to discuss Nova's decision. Though tempted by the support network, the cosmic hero bows to his own responsibilities, and returns to the stars to rekindle the flame of the Nova Corps.

The hammer...
Well, as we close November with a crawl, I give you a draw!
Though both sides got their licks in, I think we can all agree IM pacified the situation before it could really reach any kind of definitive sway.

Adi Granov's covers have a way of demanding the attention of a reader with their futuristic render, typically dwarfing pencils any less than superb. This was entirely true of the fairly mediocre sequentials of Nova, but their plain presentation masks an exercise in super-mundanity that is, at the very least, worthy of acknowledging applause.

Baring the bittersweet branding of Civil War: Initiative after only one issue; the new series, written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning in unknown portions, spins out of the cosmic sleeper crossover, Annihilation.
The book connects with Annihilation's sequel, Conquest, as of issue four, and yet somehow it manages to earn that marketting without the negative conotations washing over your brain as you read this. This is truly a marvellous feat, but once you get past the obvious, it's even more amazing!

In a post-Civil War world where most pro-registrants are predictably concerned with anything but unregistered heroes; the Thunderbolts represent the most proactive element remaining, essentially dedicated to nothing but tracking that element. While Warren Ellis has meandered his way through a combination of light politics and thick character interactions, he's largely failed to deliver on the action in this monster-filled revamp of the Thunderbolts. My point?

It's titles like Nova that have picked up the slack on the street level, illustrating the expected prevelance of the Thunderbolts team. So not only are Abnett and Lanning graciously bowing to editorial mash-ups in their own job, but they're also picking up the slack of other jobs. All that: plus they manage to interweave tonnes of reference to days of Nova past by revisiting vague references with the same fluid flow that facilitated all this other content.

This isn't a great book. To be honest, having bagged all of the first four issues in one-hit, I haven't even the desire to read on, but that simply doesn't change the fact that the craft here is some of the finest Marvel superhero writing to be published in 2007 -- or maybe even years prior!
This book really does it all, without any of the advantageous pretentions or disillusions of being closed off to the rest of the Marvel world. These issues cram in as much character, story, and reality as any issue of Daredevil, but does so without ever feeling like a lazy conceptual hiding behind "style."

So, why aren't I reading on? I guess in a world of hiking prices and shrinking budgets, the reader becomes increasingly selective. As strong a read as this is, it does ultimately lead into a crossover I'm not sure I'm willing to indulge in, and shifts away from the settings that make the first three issues so enjoyable.

And before we wrap up, just to go back to Thunderbolts, I couldn't help but think to the recent issue featuring sessions with Doc Samson, while reading promotional interviews for Jeph Loeb's upcoming work on the "Red Hulk".

Apparently Samson is set to join the investigation surrounding the identity of this new Hulk, with Loeb adopting a deliberate conceit of an FBI profiler, that is interesting, but described in a way that leaves one ever so slightly disappointed.
Of the new Samson, Loeb says, "Leonard Samson, eager to prove himself beyond being just a psychiatrist with green hair, takes the lead."
Pursuing the Hulk in the field is hardly new for Doc Samson, but one can't help but feel that the character's portrayal in the pages of Ellis' Thunderbolts remains a glaringly unexplored facet of the Marvel Universe. It might not quite be necessary to go Dr. Katz with it, but with many heroes tied up in government funded operations, it would've been nice to see Samson employing his psychiatric expertise in more conventional manners.

Oh well, punch on, Doc!
In the meantime, I should probably admit that this one was a standby issue. We've been running a little slow lately, but hopefully December plans will serve up some satisfactory seasons readings for your Infinite Wars needs. Stay tuned for the Punch-Up for more of those Earth-spanning shennanigans!

The Fight: 4 The Issue: 5

Fans of solid superhero writing may just find this book a great way to explore a character they may otherwise be unfamiliar with. As described in the bulk of the review, these early issues of Nova manage to touch upon much of the Initiative, while also providing entry points for the cosmic reneissance occuring with the various Annihilation events. A great stocking-stuffer if you're doing some last minute Christmas shopping on Amazon!

THE THUNDERBOLTS versus JACK FLAG
Faith In Monsters Part 2 (Marvel comics)
Where: Thunderbolts #111 When: April 2007
Why: Warren Ellis How: Mike Deodato Jr.

The story so far...
Under the direction of Norman Osborn, the Thunderbolts have been completely overhauled in the wake of the Civil War. Incorporating existing members of the super-team and former criminals recruited to hunt rogue heroes, the new team is a volatile and untested mess.

Placing Moonstone in the position of leader, Osborn sends the team out on their first mission: Defeat and detain the rogue protégé of Captain America; Jack Flag.

With the press watching will this soft-target be the undoing of a team of reformed and manipulated villains. Or will they unravel live on the air?

Previous Form:
The Thunderbolts [#14]: Moonstone and Songbird were defeated by the Hulk as part of the classic Thunderbolts.
Venom (#63): Venom has a lethal victory over the Space Phantom.
Bullseye (#77): Bullseye has a victory against Daredevil, for two defeats.
Radioactive Man (#110): Radioactive Man was among the team assembled to take down the Anti-Registration Avengers.
Swordsman, Penance: Neither of these characters have been featured previously on the site.
Jack Flag: Jack Flag has not yet been featured on the site.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Moonstone 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Radioactive Man 5 (Professor)
Speed: Speedball/Penance 5 (Super Speed)
Stamina: Moonstone 6 (Generator)
Agility: Speedball/Penance 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting Ability: Jack Flag 4 (Trained Fighter)
Energy Powers: Radioactive Man 6 (Mass Destruction)

So, as we continue Marvel Ultimate Alliance Mondays, this is supposed to be the Radioactive Man representitive entry. Confession time: Radioactive Man is a pretty insignificant cog in this entry, but I'm not a huge fan of the character, so it's about as good as it gets.

As a character in this situation Radioactive Man is probably more of a second-tier performer, but he brings a great deal to the team. Strength, intelligence and radioactive power being his trifecta of terror.

There seems to have been some confusion about the origins of the Jack Flag character. He's only been on the job since the early nineties, and initially brought very little to the game as an admirer of Captain America.
His skills developed with intensive training and clearly he picked up some points from the Captain himself. It's difficult to tell to what degree it has been retained, but he also gained super human strength after a tussle with Mr. Hyde.

It seems Flag has maybe been scaled down a little from that level, bringing him back to more of a 'roid raging 4 on our stat tape.

Guys like Venom, Radioactive Man and Moonstone all excede his strength level, and Moonstone, Venom and even Songbird have the skills to potentially outmaneuver the earth-bound Flag.

The key to victory for Flag would have to be using the inexperience of some of the characters, and exploiting the lack of preperation they've had as a team. Certainly the volatile nature of many of the characters only stirs the chemicals of dissent and distrust. That said, it's a big ask!

The Math: The Thunderbolts
The Pick: The Thunderbolts

What went down...
The Thunderbolts catch up with Jack Flag in Ohio, where he's been breaking up various criminal activities in defiance of the superhero registration act. Delivering justice without a paycheque or equipment and health benefits... Actually, why wouldn't a two-bit schmuck like Flag be signing up?!

In a scene that would send a film soundtrack platinum, the team struts in unison from their space age plane vehicle. If it were a Mattel the individual credits would go in an order along the lines of; sweet ass Songbird, marvellous Moonstone, radical Radioactive Man, peripherally challenged Penance, voulptuous Venom and the swinging Swordsman!

So, anyway, Moonstone goes about fullfilling her roll as new 'team leader' by orchestrating from the sidelines. With Jack Flag standing tall in the middle of a parking lot, Moonstone orders Radioactive Man to blow the gas tanks, making it appear to the on-looking press as though Flag had rigged the explosions himself.

The explosions put Flag on the back foot, as Moonstone sends in Swordsman and Venom to do the work of soldiers. Unfortunately she doesn't count on the strength and determination of the flag-clad hero, who shatters Swordsman's sword as it hovers above him.

Flag rolls back, booting the airborne sword end into Venom's chest, whilst using the follow throw to knock Swordsman for six.

Though the sword tip doesn't do any permanent damage to the symbiote-clad Mac Gargan, it does send him into a berzerker rage. As Flag stomps on Swordsman's helmet, Venom doubles in size and becomes a veiny mess... Hello!

Flag feels the sting of Venom's taloned fingertips, and finds himself in the grip of a creature that's pretty intent on eating his head. A prospect that would produce a win for the Thunderbolts, to be sure, but probably isn't the kind of press you want on the six O'clock news.

Moonstone plays moderator, calling for the activation of an implant that subdues Venom with an electrical charge. They'll pass it off as a hand-held weapon concealed in Jack Flag's gloves later. Oh, they're sly!

Songbird heads to the sky, but the smoke cover caused by the exploded cars proves to make her influence moot. Flag, freed of Venom's grip, goes about taking possession of something that may or may not be a misproportioned wheel mag.

Recalling the advice of his now deceased mentor, Captain America, he whips the cylindrical shrapnel into the air, ricocheting it off a street sign and lamp post, to strike Songbird directly in the throat. The jolt to her vocals quells her sound-based energy powers, and brings her into a heavy descent atop one of the surviving stationary vehicles.

Moonstone denies Radioactive Man opportunity to step in, instead seeing the opportunity to showcase the newest face on the team - Penance. Formerly Speedball, the massochistic turn he's taken, donning an iron maidenesque outfit, allows him to turn his kinetic powers outward.

With blood trickling from his suit, Penance brims with energy and hurls it into the lot. It stirs already twisted metal into the air, but ultimately finds it's target.

Though he's struck in the back, Flag is able to not only survive the onslaught, but turn it to his advantage as he attempts to make an escape down an alley.

The police cut off his backdoor, and he proves unwilling to fight the drones of the law. Perhaps a misguided mark of respect for the men in uniform and their distance from the 'Civil War', or perhaps the true sign of a hero.

Either way he switches strategy, kicking his way into the lower levels of one of the surrounding buildings. A chance to create a distraction and find his way to his goals. Unfortunately, there was one contingent he didn't count on.
There was one last trump the team didn't display in front of the cameras and the action figure buying children, and that was the scariest one of them all. The one scarier than the alien costume that eats brains, or the bulky Chinese guy who glows green.

Flag feels it before he knows what's happened -- a sai burying deep into his spinal column. The sting of the man called Bullseye, lurking in the shadows to clean up the mess before it spilled completely out of control.
He never misses his target. Flag's cauda equina is the victim, and he will never walk again. All in a day's work for the might Thunderbolts.

The hammer...
Well, with the assist going to the rest of the team, Bullseye scores the victory for the Thunderbolts. Go team!

Y'know, there's a certain level of excitement that occurs when a person says "Warren Ellis" and "Thunderbolts" in the same sentence. Especially when that prospect is said to entail a complete overhaul of the B-list team. Which is a fact that only becomes even more exciting when names like Green Goblin, Venom and Bullseye are getting thrown around!

Unfortunately, the imagination tends to run a little wild with those ingredients, and what actually rests in one's hands is of a flavour more pedestrian, perhaps.
Actually, that accurately describes the tone of the book, as Ellis panders to the 'real world' repercussions of a world where the superheroes have been dubbed outlaws.

There are a handfull of criticisms coming the way of this, and none is more sound than the theory that Bullseye and Mac Gargan could be sold to the public as the good guys. Bullseye, a character we featured just recently, wherein he was dubbed number four on America's Most Wanted list, a hero? [Daredevil #49]

Fair enough, he seems to be lurking shackled to the shadows with armed guards, but Venom is among the public face of the team. His raging "kill!" screaming outburst is dismissed by Moonstone as she fronts the press after the assault, as she assures them Venom is quite incapable of killing, despite a long history of being a known killer and menace in public. Something that dates back even to the days of Eddie Brock [a 'lethal protector'], should there be illusions about who is wearing the symbiote.
Of course, Gargan is the Venom that only a couple of years ago tore buildings down in the streets of New York in an effort to gain the advantage over Spider-man.

I digress, there are some issues to be taken with the details.
What was perhaps most disappointing to me was the subdued nature of the book, and the shadowy psuedo-realistic artwork by Deodato Jr, someone who seems to be being pushed in this sort of street realism capacity; presumably for his photo referenced pencil work.

I think what I hoped for was something a little less covert, exhibiting the unbridled enthusiasm of a Nextwave, or something akin to it. Not necessarily so over-the-top or tongue-in-cheek, but more vibrant, and action packed, and free flowing.

Remove those expectations and there is a good read to be found here.
Some of the conventions and tools are a little obvious, but the first three issues approach facets of the concept with purpose. The first issue reveals the new team, the second issue puts them into action and exposes some problems, and the third issue explains and faces some of the changes, including superficial qualities like Radioactive Man's new suit, or the dramatic changes.

Love it or hate it, it's a decent read, and though seemingly slow paced, as an opening arc it seems to be taking very sure steps forward. Things should hopefully pick up by the second, as team dynamics begin to settle, motivations become clearer, and problems escalate outside of the parade of Z-list heroes.

One can't help but anticipate the in-house problems that will arise with guys like Bullseye on the team. A character who couldn't possibly remain on the team for much longer than a few years, guaranteed.

As for Jack Flag, it's a shame they crippled him. He actually seemed to have come out the end of a revamp looking like a strong prospect for a hero in the post-Captain America world. Maybe that's a little too Death of Superman for some, but I think it might have been nice.

Norman Osborn is looking better than he has in a while too. Hilarious ending!
Songbird apparently got herself a character too, which helps. Albeit, she stole it from Dr. Cameron from TV's House MD, but fair enough...

The Fight: 4.5 The Issue: 5.5

NEXT WEEK: Fin Fang Foom!

THE AVENGERS versus THE SECRET AVENGERS
Civil War (Marvel comics)
Where: Civil War #3 When: September, 2006
Why: Mark Millar How: Steve McNiven

The story so far...
As the stars of a new superhero reality television programme, the New Warriors have embarked on a journey already of a controversial nature, but when a fight with some villains escalates the Marvel Universe will be rocked forever.

When amped up villain Nitro uses his explosive powers, there are far more casualities than the heroes, and far younger. A nearby school is wiped out, and thousands mourn the deaths of their children.

For the first time ever, the question of hero registration is answered with swift action. Leading the initiative, along with SHIELD commander Maria Hill, is Tony Stark - aka Iron Man.

Registration is mandatory. Those who do not declare, will be declared by Iron Man and the various registered heroes who are obligated by law to server and protect.

Previous Form:
Captain America Annual #9: Cap bitterly challenges a possessed Iron Man.
Marvel Team-Up #145: Jim Rhodes teams up with Spidey against Blacklash.
Captain America #6: Cap and Cable do battle with the forces of AIM.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Thing 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Mr. Fantastic 6 (Genius)
Speed: Spider-man 4 (Olympic Athlete)
Stamina: Vision 6 (Generator)
Agility: Mr. Fantastic 6 (Rubber)
Fighting Ability: Hercules 6 (Warrior)
Energy Powers: Radioactive Man 6 (Mass Destruction)

It's been a couple of weeks since the last update. I'm doing this one now on Nov 6, having actually done a November update a couple of days ago.
I'll have to admit, I wasn't looking forward to this entry when I realised exactly what I was dealing with. I suppose it's worth establishing first up, exactly what we're dealing with:

Pro-Registration (Avengers)
Atlas
Black Widow
Doc Samson
Invisible Woman
Iron Man
Joystick
Mach-V
Mr. Fantastic
Ms. Marvel
Radioactive Man
She-Hulk
Spider-man
Thing
Thor-Clone
Tigra
Yellow Jacket
Wasp
Wonder ManAnti-Registration (Secret Avengers)
Cable
Captain America
Cloak
Dagger
Falcon
Goliath
Iron Fist
Hawkeye Jr
Hercules
Hulking
Luke Cage
Patriot
Stature
Vision
Wiccan




Okay... That's a lot of characters... Which made doing the stats pretty overwhelming. But, this is the website that's supposed to indulge in these discussions, so I'm going to try not to cheap out on you too much.

I think you can pretty much take one universal fact here, that does seem to be pretty indisputable - The Pro-Registrants have the Anti outnumbered.
This is particularly telling when you take into account the power the pro-team is packing. Characters like Hercules and Captain America are great allies to have, but against a force with the Fantastic Four, Thunderbolts, Iron Man, Doc Samson and other heavy-hitters, it's just tough to bet against them.

By the nature of the argument, I suppose, the anti-registrants are chiefly street level characters, who really have very little business duking it out with the combined forces of the establishment.

The core Secret Avengers team of Goliath, Iron Fist (DD), Cap and Hercules isgreat for punking out Vulture's latest team of Sinister Six, but against an organized group of characters who can go toe-to-toe with the Hulk, they're kinda outmatched.
Just for clarification's sake, we're talking about characters like Thing, Doc-Samson, She-Hulk, Atlas, Iron Man... A mighty shield can only do so mcuh against that, and that's not even acknowledging the fact that half the Secret Avengers' allies are the Young Avengers. Against their seniors, you'd have to think experience counts for something.

It seems ill-conceived for Cap to lead this ragtag mob into a head-on collision with Iron Man's forces, and I guess that's perhaps a highlighting point.
This is not a planned confrontation. This is a trap, and a damned good one.

You can never count out Captain America all-together alone, let alone with an army of troops to be inspired. The numbers make it hard to tip against anyone else, though.

What went down...
I'd have to admit, this is probably a somewhat boring section more often than not. Summaries of what's going on the page are never going to be as interesting as seeing it, especially since sometimes I'm just not that interested anymore.

No WWD has ever been as injust as this one, though.
The team of McNiven, Dexter Vines, Mark Morales and Morry Hollowell make this one of the most amazing looking books I have ever read. This truly is artwork that can not be done justice by dull descriptions such as mine.
Never the less, I attempt to at least relay the events of the fight, for future prosperity.

After hearing a call over the police radio, the Secret Avengers rally their troops to converge as Geffen-Meyer Chemicals, where a tragedic accident has said to have left three to four hundred factory workers in peril.

Scanning his info-net, Cable finds nothing in terms of panic signals or other indicative informations. It's this, coupled with a nasty find, that lead the soldier of the future two twig first. Geffen-Meyer is a subsidiary of Stark Industries, and this scenario is purely for their benefit.

Darts fly dramatically from the sky, burying in the backs of Cloak and Wiccan, an attack to designed to prevent mass retreat. An ambush.
SHIELD helecopters and soldiers descend on the area ans the heroes gather in the presence of pro and anti groups.

Tony Stark attempts to reason with his old friend and ally, and with each faction standing tensely, Iron Man extends his gauntlet in the name of the greater good -- and Cap returns the favour.
"All right! Way to go, Wing-Tips! Didn't I say this was all gonna work out fine?," pipes Spider-man, just as Stark notices something attached to his metallic outer-hand.

As the SHIELD Electron-Scrambler, designed as a contingency against Iron Man, and given to Cap by the renegade Nick Fury, fries the Iron Man armor, Cap springs into action with Black Goliath following suit.

As battle begins, the heroes peel off into various pairings.
Goliath/Yellow Jacket, Atlas/Stature, Ms. Marvel/Cage, Cable/Radioactive Man, Wonder Man/Hercules, Thing/Hulking, Spidey/Patriot...

Iron Spidey intercepts Captain America's shield, and uses it against men he once called friends. Iron Fist (DD) and Vision go down, as Thing gets the better of the Young Avenger, Hulking in the mid-ground.

Cap and Patriot go back-to-back, as Spider-man fades from sight.
Cap explains the stealth function built into the Stark-produced Iron Spider-man outfit, and then has opportunity to feel the full effects of the suit, as Spidey rematerializes right infront of him - using the shield against him!

Meanwhile, Iron Man is rebooting his fried armor, and as Cap fights back against Spider-man in the foreground, IM looms rather ominously with his suit fully functional, and ready to torpedo into the fray.

Hercules, battling Doc Samson, does his best to warn Captain America of the incoming attack, but IM's speed gives him the opportunity to plow the patriot through a partially demolished brick wall.

Cap tries to continue the good fight, but the spiritual leaders of the opposing forces are poorly matched. Stark totes the armor's knowledge of Cap's arsenal of moves as he drives his gauntlets into Captain America.
Blow after blow reigns down, with little regard for the distinct margin between the suit of armor's strength, and the Captain's.

"Out of my way, you filthy traitors! He's killing him in there!"
In one of the less 'widescreen' moments, but also most inspiring, Hercules tosses Samson aside, and barrels through She-Hulk and Spider-man with the objective of saving Captain America.
"HOLD ON, CAPTAIN! I'M COMING!"

From the safety of the SHIELD Helicarrier, Maria Hill gives the order to initiate "codename lightning," as a result, Hercules does not have the opportunity to reach his target.

Hawkeye, Cage and Dagger are caught up in the lightning swirl also, as rain begins to fall on the battlefield.
Cable and Iron Fist gaze up to the pouring sky and gaze upon a sight they never expected to see.

They gaze upon a dead God.
They gaze upon Thor.

The hammer...
After Civil War #4, we all now know of course that Thor was in fact a clone manufactured by Mr. Fantastic and Iron Man, and no doubt in the future if I end up getting a hold of the issue, we'll talk some about that.

This is really a difficult situation as far as drawing a usual conclusion. With unfinished fights like this, I think it's best to just consider the end of the issue a cut-off point, thus, it's with no uncertainty that we call the Pro-Registration team he winners.

I probably talked out some of my key feelings on the Civil War during the entirely unrelated review of Thing against the Frightful Four [Fantastic Four #129], and I'm very keen to get this overdue update online, so I'll try to be brief.

I guess what Civil War #3 indicates particularly well is just how mismatched the two sides are at this point in the story. Likewise, it further highlights the lengths at which Captain America is going to fight against a system in which he's already practically involved with.

I mean, I think it's safe to say Cap's stance is one of principle and understanding, rather than one of necessity. He himself could probably be counted among the very first heroes to be techncially registered, purely by his very nature. It's a problem he's run into in the past when he's disagreed with decisions of an establishment, and has been forced to handover the property and trademarks of the government if he wishes to continue superhero-ing.

Even though Cap is probably the majority sentimental favourite, Civil War #3 goes lengths to highlight just how pig headed his stance of principle really is.
The very first scene sees one of the group of children he's leading into battle get taken down. With death right at the heart of this matter, and also all the recent history for the Avengers, there's definitely a negative light to be cast on Captain America and his team's actions.

There's not a lot I can say that hasn't already been said, but I think, when you stop thinking about the pro-registrants who are justly viewed as antagonists, and forget about the victimization of the anti-resgristrants, the other point is there.

Iron Man's team is right because in a Marvel universe where reality is being emphasized, security is what we would want. Likewise, Captain America is turning on his country to the point of blind vendetta, ignoring what is potentially the greater good, and leading this kids into a fight, rather than keeping them safe from the establishment.

The justification comes from the previous discussion [again; FF #129], because these are people reacting to tragedy, but ultimately... Is this the way Cap should go?
Probably not.

The Fight: 5.5 The Issue: 6

NEXT UP: The latest top five, and an all new feature in the long overdue September punch-up!