Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Marvel’s Civil War mega-event rages on, with all kinds of violence and murder, but issue #541 shows we can still have some laughs during this time.
As the Civil War began, with all the superheroes battling and even killing each other in the streets over the Superhuman Registration Act, Ben chose to follow the path of the ex-pat by leaving the US for France. After talking about this for a while, and then incongruously fighting alongside Iron Man’s team against Captain America’s side in Civil War #3-4, in this issue, Ben finally arrives in France.
Except Ben’s still not in France. After some comedy shtick with a New York cabbie, Ben arrives at the airport in NYC, where he’s stopped by goons from the IRS. Ben tells them that he’s not giving up his US Citizenship, just leaving for a while. They ask about the huge amount of money he recently received from Fantastic Four Inc. They say he hasn’t paid any income tax on his newfound fortune, and that the IRS is freezing his accounts prior to Ben’s leaving for a non-extradition country. “Have a lovely flight,” one of the IRS guys says. Then it’s even more comedy shtick as Ben goes through airport security and must sit in coach on the plane.
Ben finally arrives in Paris, where he goes out to see the sights. People are rude to him when he asks for restaurant tips. He gets an outdoor table at a small café (because it’s France, you know) only to fall through a trap door into some underground complex. There, he meets Adamantine, a Superman-like character who calls himself “commander in absentia” for a group called The Heroes of Paris. Adamantine says the city is in danger and needs his help. Ben then meets the rest of the Heroes of Paris, who are somewhat similar to DC’s Justice League:
Comte De Nuit, a.k.a. the Night Count, a Batman-like dark vigilante.
Anais, queen of a lost cat civilization, a Catwoman/Wonder Woman hybrid.
La Lumiere Blue, a Green Lantern type, whose light-based powers can reveal others’ secrets.
Detective Fantome, a supernatural guy akin to the Specter or the Phantom Stranger.
Le Vent, a.k.a. the Wind, a Flash-ish speedster.
Le Docteur Q, a guy wearing high-tech armor, similar to Steel, Cyborg or, I guess, Iron Man.
And finally, Le Cowboy, who is… just a cowboy.
Even though Paris is in danger, the French superheroes nonetheless stop for lunch. Ben assumes the crisis is a multinational conspiracy manipulating superheroes into fighting each other. Instead, it’s a supervillain called the Emperor of the Underground World, who plans to overthrow Paris with an army of subterranean monsters. Ben is moved to tears by the thought of an uncomplicated, old-fashioned good guys versus bad guys slugfest.
Cut to the fight, in caves deep beneath Paris. Ben is at the center of the action, fighting all the monsters, while the rest of the French heroes have some classic superhero banter. Ben confronts the Emperor, deducing that the villain turned to evil not for political reasons, but because a girl once turned him down for a date. Ben smashes the Emporer’s doomsday machine, destroying the caves in the process. The other supes think he didn’t make it, only for him to crawl out of the wreckage with the Emperor, saying “Now that’s what I call doing it old-school.”
Paris is saved, and the Emperor’s lady friend appears. She forgives him, he proposes, and just like that they’re off to get married. Ben responds, “It’s Paris. What’re ya gonna do?” The issue ends with the superheroes heading off for another meal. Ben does his version of the line from Casablanca (which is actually Morocco, but does reference Paris), “I got the feeling that this is the beginnin’ of a wonderful friendship.”
Clobberin’ time: Ben’s catch phrase in French is “Il est temps de battre!” The caption tells us this means, “It’s clobberin’ time!” I’ll take their word for it.
Trivia time: This is the only appearance for all but two of the Heroes of Paris. The Marvel Wiki states that the team vanished without a trace after this, leaving Paris forever vulnerable to attack (!). My conspiracy theory: DC’s lawyers called.
Speaking of which, Ben states a couple of times that there’s a multinational conspiracy behind the Civil War. I find it unlikely he knows everything that was revealed in the Wolverine issues, and he certainly doesn’t know what will eventually be revealed at the end of Front Line. But he’s right – not all is at it appears.
The Marvel Wiki is pretty slight when it comes to Paris. It skips everything from the 1950s all the way to the Fear Itself crossover. I just know Marvel characters have been there in between, including this issue. Off the top of my head, our own FF hid out in Paris in vol. 3 #1, and the trial of Magneto from Uncanny X-Men #200 was set in Paris.
Fantastic or frightful? Writer J. Michael Straczynski seems to be picking up where he left off in Supreme Power just before this, and then The Twelve just after this, by putting his own spin on the Justice League. Still, it’s nice to have some lighthearted fun during the otherwise dark and megaviolent Civil War.
Next: Mutants in the desert.
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Todd McFarlane is a mega-millionaire with success undreamt of. I’m just some guy. But as I’ve been buying and reading – and enjoying! – Gunslinger Spawn, I’m struck with how the dialogue and captions are something of a mess. Hence, here’s my attempt to copyedit Gunslinger Spawn.
Wrapping up issue #5. For a couple of issues now, Gunslinger and Clown have confronted each other in a field outside of town. Clown wants Gunslinger to work with him to kill the Al Simmons Spawn. After fighting for a bit, Clown said Gunslinger is his kind of guy, and their conversation goes on.
I question whether that first sentence is needed, as this thought continues from the previous page. Other than that, some small edits here:
“Neither of us were Hell’s first choice. They never thought we were good enough. It started with the first symbiote, the one we turned into the Hellspawn costume.”
–
From there, it’s a few pages of Clown retelling Spawn’s origin from his point of view, followed by how Clown was sent into the future where he became the new and improved Clown we see in this series. These passages are well written and easy to follow. Then Clown circles back to his offer:
Some confusing wording here regarding this key Clown wants. My suggestion:
“Simmons has grown into the most powerful Spawn. He’ll sense me coming. But he wouldn’t suspect another Spawn. Bring me the key that gets me back into Hell.”
–
Gunslinger responds with another too-long sentence.
It’s a simple matter of breaking this up for better sentence flow. Maybe end it with a question to give the dialogue a back-and-forth feeling:
“Wouldn’t have taken you for the cowardly type. You want to unlock the dead zones, then run and hide?”
–
Clown’s response:
Making this less wordy can make it more dramatic:
“The treasure I’m looking for lies in Hell – Malebolgia’s empty throne!”
–
Then, a twist. Wolves emerge from the nearby woods, apparently under Gunslinger’s control.
“Turns to see” and phrases like it are safety words, and always something to lookout for when writing and editing. This is especially true in comics, where we can see Clown turning to look.
“Clown’s not the only one who commands an army.”
–
Gunslinger says he’ll help Clown, but only Clown sends him back not to 1864, when he came from, but two years earlier in 1862. While Clown considers this, wolves emerge from the nearby woods, apparently under Gunslinger’s control.
“Participants” is awkward, and perhaps “salivate” is awkward as well. One possible suggestion:
“Tensions build. Monsters. Wolves. Minions. All hungry.”
–
The standoff continues.
For this panel, what if their lines were not just shortened, but reversed:
Clown: “Get them to obey!”
Gunslinger: “I didn’t call them here.”
–
This next caption sets up a big one on the following page which reads “All hell breaks loose!” That’s a cliché, but this is a Spawn comic. Themes of Heaven and Hell are omnipresent.
Instead, how about a more direct intro to the next page:
“Too many primal instincts are triggered…”
(Next page): “And ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE!”
–
After all this talk about after Clown has reinvented himself, the wolves are too much for him and his minions. I’m sure if they had more pages, McFarlane and artist Brett Booth could have established that these wolves are just as powerful.
There’s not much I can do with this caption other than shorten it:
“The battle is wild savagery with no winners.”
But… If I were actually McFarlane’s editor, I’d suggest a complete rewrite for this panel, establishing the wolves as being supernaturally powerful, and how they’re overwhelming Clown’s forces to the point of surrender.
–
Now evenly matched, Gunslinger and Clown go over their deal. Gunslinger asks what’s his part.
Just some small edits here for clarity:
“Two things for now. One, Spawn stays alive. We’re screwed if he dies. Two, become his friend. Or at least get him to believe you are.”
–
That’s the cliffhanger that ends issue #5. But, as we’ll see in #6, Clown and Gunslinger aren’t done negotiating yet. We’ll get to that… next time.
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Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. As Marvel’s Civil War mega-event continues on, this week we’re looking at the Black Panther issues from the crossover. This might not seem to be that connected to the Fantastic Four, but by the time this is over, you’ll see these will be big events for the FF.
Black Panther had recently married Storm of the X-Men, naming her Queen Ororo of Wakanda. Then, they courted controversy in a series of diplomatic meetings turned into fights with Namor, the Inhumans, and even Dr. Doom – all while the US government watches nervously.
Then, in issue #22, we catch up with Jim Rhodes, a.k.a. War Machine, who is now in charge of the government’s Sentinel program. With the Earth’s mutant population reduced to a few hundred in The 198 crossover, Sentinels are now stationed around the X-Mansion, ostensibly for the mutants’ safety. Black Panther and Storm, meanwhile, are in England meeting with Captain Britain, who is not a mutant but associated with the mutant team Excalibur. Black Panther states he’s against the US’s superhero registration, and that he doesn’t intend to sit on the sidelines. Captain Britain says that Storm being anti-reg will make things harder for mutants, and she responds, “Not at the cost of wholesale injustice.”
Panther and Storm do a bunch of charity work for good PR, while Agent Ross of the CIA plots to use their PR against them. Storm meets with Emma Frost of the X-Men, who insists on the mutants’ impartiality in the superhero civil war. The couple then visit the White House, except the president refuses an audience because Storm is not registered.
When anti-reg protestors outside the White House start getting out of control, Panther and Storm try to stop the violence, only to be attacked by Jim Rhodes piloting a Sentinel. Iron Man shows up and joins the fight, with Black Panther donning an Iron Man-ish armor suit of his own. They fight for a bit, only for Rhodes to break them up. Black Panther walks away from the battle saying that the US needs his help, and he’s not leaving.
In issue #23, Panther and Ororo visit Giant-Man’s grave, along with Giant-Man’s family/supporting cast. We see how Giant-Man’s death further divided the superhero community, and the US at large. Agent Ross and a bunch of US government goons continue to watch Panther and Storm’s moves from a distance. Our heroes visit the Wakandan embassy where we catch up with the series’ supporting cast. Black Panther’s advisors want him not to get involved in US politics and maintain Wakanda’s isolationism. Panther fears that Wakanda cannot keep its borders closed forever. Then there’s a media campaign questioning just what the Panther and Storm are doing in the US, and who’s side they’re really on.
Panther sneaks out at night, using his bodyguards the Dora Milaje to keep Black Widow off his trail. He finds Captain America, in Cap’s new secret identity as a mailman. Cap is suspicious, so they fight for a bit. Black Panther says Cap’s side doesn’t have the resources to fight Iron Man’s team, so he offers Cap some Wakandan tech – strictly under the table, of course. Cap then asks Panther for help breaking into the enemy’s newly-built prison in the Negative Zone. At the new Baxter Building, Black Widow and Iron Man talk about what to do about Panther and Storm, with Iron Man saying, “Time for the big guns,” revealing the Thor clone is still up and about.
Issue #25 begins with Iron Man showing up at the Wakandan Embassy, where Storm refuses to let him inside. Storm creates a (what else?) storm, but Iron Man and his troops maintain their positions around the embassy. Black Panther, meanwhile, is meeting with Captain America in the resistance’s underground HQ. He meets with FF’s own Susan Richards, who’s trying to stay strong despite being separated from her kids. Panther gives her the smell test (ew) to determine her loyalty, and then determines she’s a good choice for a spy. He also meets with Falcon and Monica Rambeau, the former Captain Marvel who now calls herself “Photon.”
Storm leaves the Wakandan embassy to visit her grandparents, who conveniently live in the US. Then she flies to the new Baxter Building, demanding an audience with the FF’s own Reed Richards. Inside, she sits down and says to him, “We need to talk, Reed… about registration.” Although the next issue continues this scene, it also crosses over with the big finale in Civil War #6, which means we’ll have to hit the pause button and get back to this series in a few weeks. In other words…
To be continued!
Unstable molecule: Reed is seen at the new Baxter Building, working on the Thor clone in hopes of making the clone more obedient. (Not a good look, Reed.) These issues depict the Baxter Building and not Stark Tower as headquarters for Iron Man and the New Avengers.
Fade out: Sue asks Black Panther not to talk about her children, because she’s been crying over missing them. Harsh.
Clobberin’ time: Ben appears in a one-panel flashback to T’Challa and Storm’s wedding.
Fantastic fifth wheel: Black Panther and Storm initially visit the Inhumans to resolve an issue involving Quicksilver and some stolen terrigen crystals, in hopes the Panther can resolve the conflict diplomatically. Crystal is the one who reveals this crisis to the Panther and Storm. Later, the Panther reveals the real reason for their trip to the moon. Medusa requested a special vibranium room where Black Bolt can speak normally, just for him and Medusa to chat in private. The Panther said he’ll work on it.
Tigra, who was once part of the short-lived “Fantastic Seven” in the 70s, is shown hanging out with Sue in the anti-reg headquarters. Tigra doesn’t know that Black Panther is there meeting with Sue, Falcon, and Monica.
Trivia time: What’s with the Black Panther/Storm marriage? The big event took place in Black Panther vol. 4 #18, right before Civil War started. All the big superheroes attended, with the marketing calling the wedding a “Civil War cease-fire.” But from what I can tell, the marriage was before Civil War #1. T’Challa and Storm became Marvel’s power couple for a while, until they split up during the Avengers vs. X-Men crossover.
This is the second time during Civil War that a superhero fight has taken place at the White House, with the first being the Cable and Deadpool issue. We don’t see the Oval Office in the Black Panther issues, so there’s no way to know which battle happened first. But it says a lot about the extremity of Civil War that this has happened multiple times.
Fantastic or frightful? Hollywood writer Reginald Hudlin, of Everyone Hates Chris and The Bernie Mac Show, manages to find parallels between real-world politics and the made-up superhero registration politics, perhaps better than the main Civil War series tries to do. But Hudlin also leaves the artists multiple pages to go for it in the fight scenes. This is super-heroing on a truly global scale, and it’s interesting to see.
Next: Viva la France!
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Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Our favorite foursome is inseparably part of Marvel’s controversial Civil War crossover, so let’s dive into issues #3 and #4, featuring the major tuning point in the entire event.
All the Marvel heroes are fighting each other about superhero registration, where all superhumans must register their secret identities with the government. Iron Man leads the oppressive pro-reg side, while Captain America leads the fugitive anti-reg side. Issue #3 begins in Wakanda, where Reed is there to deliver a message to Black Panther from the U.S. President. Black Panther refuses, saying he doesn’t like the idea of the Fifty States Initiative, with superhumans policing other superhumans who don’t agree with them. He says, “We don’t like it when America interferes Wakandan affairs, and I can only assume the feeling is reciprocated.” Panther leaves Reed with a word of advice, “Call Susan.”
Then there’s some short vignettes catching readers up to what’s happening in the Marvel Universe at large. Captain America’s anti-registration team are still fugitives, but still crimefighting as the Secret Avengers. Iron Man tells reporters he’ll hunt them down. Dr. Strange has retreated to his “arctic lodge,” to meditate until the conflict passes. Iron Man then meets with Emma Frost at the Xavier School. She says the X-Men won’t join his fight, but don’t want to fight the government, either. She promises him they won’t join Captain America’s side.
Then we see Captain America, Daredevil, Hercules, and Goliath (a.k.a. Bill Foster) at a diner, where Cap gives them all fake IDs for their new secret identities. Foster gets a report of a fire at a petrochemical plant nearby, with several civilian lives in danger. Cap calls the Secret Avengers to save the day. We also get a quick scene at the hospital, where the FF’s own Johnny Storm finally wakes from his coma, asking to see his sister.
The Secret Avengers teleport to the chemical plant, and Cable reports that something he’s getting interference on his electric devices. He sees a sign stating that the plant is owned by Stark Industries, and he does the classic, “It’s a trap!” Cloak and Wiccan, the Secret Avengers’ two teleporters, are immediately taken out with dart guns. Iron Man and his team (are we calling these the New Avengers, still?) arrive on the scene, and Iron Man says, “Of course it’s a trap.” Reed and She-Hulk are there, on Iron Man’s side, and so is Ben, despite previously stating he was leaving the country to avoid the fighting. Maria Hill calls in, saying that S.H.I.E.L.D. agents have the site surrounded, and will only step in if anyone on Cap’s side tries to retreat. From here on, there are tons of Marvel heroes in the background. Good luck keeping track of them all.
It’s the moment we’ve been waiting for – the big confrontation between Iron Man and Captain America. Iron Man offers Cap one last chance at amnesty if Cap surrenders. Cap says he’d rather take his chances. He also criticizes Spider-Man, who’s also there, for endangering Mary Jane’s life by revealing his secret identity to the world. Iron Man says he doesn’t want to fight. He only wants a chance for Cap to hear his side of the story. Cap says, “You’ve got five minutes” and extends his hand. Iron Man shakes it, only to find that Cap put a tiny device on his palm. Cap says it’s an “electron scrambler,” and it shorts out Iron Man’s armor.
Goliath grows to giant size, and now we’re into the big brawl! Everybody fights everybody. Goliath tries to clear a path to a nearby river to retreat, but Yellowjacket (secretly a Skrull in disguise, setting up a secret invasion) also grows to giant size to stop him. We get a lot of match-ups: Hercules vs. Wonder Man, Cable vs. Radioactive Man (not the Simpsons one), Stature vs. Atlas, and Luke Cage vs. Ms. Marvel. Ben fights Hulkling of the Young Avengers, with his only dialogue in these two issues as he says, “I don’t wanna fight you guys,” and “Why can’t you just do like you’re told?”
Spider-Man uses his Iron Spider armor’s stealth mode to sneak up on Captain America and give him a beating. Iron Man’s armor reboots, and he rejoins the fight, going straight for Cap. That’s where we get this panel, which is the entirety of Civil War condensed into a single image:
Hercules charges through the crowd, hoping to rescue Cap before Iron Man kills him. Maria Hill gives the signal for “Codename Lightning,” and Herc is blasted through the sky with a massive lightning bolt. It came from Thor, who is flying down from the sky, ready to join the fight. Remember that Thor’s series had been cancelled and he’d been killed off prior to this, so seeing him back was quite a shock. This is the issue #3 cliffhanger.
Issue #4 starts with Falcon and Dagger trying to appeal to Thor’s better nature (How are Dagger and Thor friends?), but Thor is on a rampage, sending Cap’s crew flying with a single throw of his hammer. Nearby, a bloodied Captain America refuses to quit, calling Iron Man a “pampered punk.” Iron Man unleashes a sonic weapon, which brings everyone on Cap’s team to their knees.
It seems like the fight is over, but then there’s an explosion as Hercules reaches Iron Man and shuts the sonic weapon off. More fighting, this time with Goliath front and center. Falcon takes over as leader of the anti-reg side. He picks up Captain America and flies off, ordering Cable to mind-link with Cloak so everyone can teleport out of there.
Goliath, now several stories tall, confronts Thor, towering over him. Thor responds by blasting a lightning bolt through Goliath’s chest, killing him. This is often cited as the moment for Civil War (and for Marvel in general) when everything changed. The “there’s going back from this” moment.
Falcon has everyone regroup and fall back. But now they’re all together, so Thor blasts another lightning blast at them. This one, though, is stopped by an invisible force field. Sue appears, confronting Thor while telling the anti-reg heroes, “Get out of here. Now.” They all teleport away, reluctantly leaving behind their wounded. Before they go, Falcon says “Thank you” to Sue.
Another surprise twist: Reed gives Thor a shutdown code, and Thor bows his head. This is not Thor, but some sort of machine. Yellowjacket snaps at Reed, saying this new Thor was supposed to be programmed with directives to act just like the old Thor. Reed ignores him, instead pleading with Sue for a moment of her time. She says, “Don’t even speak to me. Don’t say a damn word.” Looking over the dead Goliath, Spider-Man says, “I thought we were doing this so no one else got hurt.”
Later, Stark Tower becomes a makeshift hospital as the pro-reg heroes tend to their wounds. Yellowjacket is especially upset about the new Thor’s actions, saying he never intended Thor to kill Goliath, one of his best friends. “I can’t believe we cloned a god,” he says. (This scene takes on a whole other tone when you remember Yellowjacket is a Skrull in disguise. Could he secretly be responsible for the Thor clone’s murderousness?)
At the Secret Avengers underground HQ, a recovering Captain America addresses his troops. He says that their side picked up another twenty members overnight, and those on Iron Man’s side are starting to switch sides in large numbers. The tragedy of Goliath’s death is turning the tide in the anti-reg favor. Nighthawk (a member of the Defenders) asks about all the anti-reg heroes already locked up in Reed and Iron Man’s new prison. Cap answers, “And you’re willing to let them get away with that?”
The pro-reg heroes attend Goliath’s funeral. Ms. Sharpe, the mother of one of the children killed in the Stamford incident that kicked off the Civil War, assures Iron Man that he’s doing the right thing. She says Goliath would still be alive if he’d followed the law and registered. Also at the funeral, Yellowjacket notices Peter Parker acting suspiciously, and a man in a black ski mask watches the whole thing from a distance.
Time to get back to the Fantastic Four. Sue writes Reed a letter, saying that Johnny has fully recovered from his coma. She then tells Reed that she’s leaving him to join Cap and the Secret Avengers. She says she’s leaving Franklin and Valeria with him at the new Baxter Building, where they’ll be safe. Sue leaves the letter for Reed while he’s sleeping. She leaves with her bags packed in the middle of the night, and Johnny goes with her. Ben watches them go from a window inside.
At Stark Tower, Iron Man says more and more of his team are leaving to join Cap. The anti-reg heroes now have the advantage. To even the odds, Iron Man says he’s recruiting a new team of Thunderbolts. He says the new team is temporary, and each one is chipped with nanobots to follow their every move. Turn the page, and we see these “Thunderbolts” are all deadly villains – Venom, Bullseye, Lady Deathstrike, Taskmaster, Songbird, Jester, and Jack O’ Lantern.
To be continued!
Unstable molecule: We don’t see who Reed fights during the big brawl. We also don’t see his reaction to Sue’s letter, except that he’s back at work at Stark Tower the next day.
Fade out: Does Sue break up with Reed in this issue, or in Fantastic Four #540? These events overlap so it could be read either way. No matter which issue you read first, what happens is that Sue tells Reed she’s leaving him, she still hangs out for a little while, and then she really leaves him.
Clobberin’ time: Ben’s presence during the battle also feels out of character. Based on his one line, we can surmise that he was there in hopes of stopping the violence. Behind the scenes, I believe Marvel editorial wanted everyone to pick a side, with as few neutral characters as possible. Therefore, Ben gets put in the pro-reg category.
Flame on: When Sue leaves the Baxter Building, she uses an invisible force field as an umbrella in the rain. Not to be outdone, we see Johnny make a fire umbrella over his head. He and Sue drive off in a red sports car with a “TORCH” license plate.
Fantastic fifth wheel: She-Hulk is at the battle, getting punched out by Hercules. (Didn’t they date for a while?) We don’t see how Luke Cage fares against Ms. Marvel. They seem to be standing off more than outright fighting. Cage then gets thrown around twice by Thor’s lightning blasts. Tigra is at the fight, too. She’s mostly in the background, but made it onto the back of the wraparound cover.
Four and a half/our gal Val: The kids are seen enjoying a board game with Johnny after he gets home from the hospital. This suggests the horrors of the Civil War haven’t reached them yet.
SUE-per spy: The 2019 Invisible Woman miniseries revealed that Sue had a double life as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent all along. I thought that Sue didn’t appear at the battle until her big save, but there’s one small panel earlier showing her on Iron Man’s side. This makes no sense, as she’s been vocally against registration from the start. Could this be because of her S.H.I.E.L.D. connections?
Trivia time: The clone of Thor, which we’ll later learn is not a clone but some kind of bio-mechanical monstrosity, was controversial among readers at the time. The fans dubbed the character “Clor,” but the Marvel Wiki just calls him “Thor clone.” He’ll stick around though, later going by the name Ragnarok.
Throughout Civil War, and especially in issue #3, we see the giant Sentinel robots lurking around in the background whenever the X-Men are around. The X-Men are currently dealing with fallout of The 198 event, when 90 percent of mutants lost their powers. In response, the U.S. government assigned the Sentinels to the Xavier School, not to attack it but to protect it. Many mutants were not happy about this, another reason for them not wanting to get involved in the Civil War. They will, though, because Bishop’s secret meeting with Iron Man in #3 sets up the Civil War: X-Men miniseries.
Although there have been a bunch of versions of the Thunderbolts over the years, the original premise was villains pretending to be heroes, only to start acting a little more heroic. So the reveal at the end of #4 is more or less consistent with Thunderbolts history.
Fantastic or frightful? This was the peak of Civil War, when the world of comics fandom was feverish with each new development, while also grousing about the violence, the character choices, and how this turned Marvel continuity upside down. On this re-read, it’s clear that this is the mid-point, and it’s falling action from here on out. We’ve still got a long way to go before it’s over.
Next: Western civ.
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Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Just as the Civil War crossover divided the Marvel Universe down the middle, our heroes feel that divide at home in issue #540.
Because this is a re-read and not a first-time read, I’ll go ahead and spoil things. While the rest of the Marvel Universe was divided down the middle during Civil War, so to were the Fantastic Four. With everything else going on, Reed and Sue are separating due to the conflict. One problem, though. Because events are happening simultaneously across multiple comics at once, we get two versions of the breakup, one in Fantastic Four, and one in the Civil War miniseries. It could go either way, but I feel that this breakup is the one that happened first.
We begin with Reed and a bunch of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in his lab. They’ve apprehended Wildstreak, who you’ll remember from that time when Marvel introduced a new character in each of that year’s annuals. We’re told she’s in a containment field, about to be sent into the Negative Zone. One of the agents accidentally damages the field, and Wildstreak makes a run for it. She seems to disappear and then smashes through a window. Reed is quick to deduce that Sue used invisibility to help Wildstreak escape.
Reed chides Sue for violating the law. She chides him back about the superhero registration law being immoral. She further criticizes him for using the “I’m just following orders” attitude, comparing the situation to Nazi Germany (!). Reed raises a fist in frustration (or perhaps more?) but Sue doesn’t back down. “We are done,” Reed says. Sue responds, “You’ve got that right.”
Sue says she feels like she doesn’t know who Reed is anymore. He says he’s doing all this to protect her, and this infuriates her. She creates a force field in the shape of a cylinder, which reaches up through the building’s roof, and all the way down to its underground parking garage. She accused Reed of being too afraid to stand up to his own government, and that he’s so accustomed to following rules he doesn’t know to do anything else. She says it’s not about protecting her, but about protecting their rights and freedoms. “I think they’re worth dying for if necessary,” she says.
Sue says, “You’re not the man I married,” and Reed only responds with, “I think you should leave now.” She uses her force field to fly up and out of the hole in the roof she created. Reed concentrates on the numbers, immediately estimating repair costs. But his thoughts, in the captions, show that he hopes she’ll understand his point of view and come back. “Please let her come back,” he thinks.
Reed returns to his lab and starts cleaning up from Wildstreak’s escape. (The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are no longer around. They’re out looking for Wildstreak.) Ben steps in and tells Reed that he’s leaving the country, which means he’s leaving the FF too. He says he doesn’t want to fight his own government, but he can’t stay silent either. He plans to live out stories from his childhood and American expatriates fleeing to Paris, and now he’ll enact them in his own life. Ben assumes that Reed will try to talk him out of it, but Reed lets him go. Ben realizes that Sue and Reed didn’t just have a fight, but that Sue left.
Later, Iron Man and Peter Parker visit Reed’s lab. Reed says he wants to show them the new “holding facility” they’ve built. He opens the Negative Zone portal, and Iron Man and Peter enter it. Time passes, and they return. Peter asks to speak to Reed in private. Iron Man goes into the next room and uses his armor’s tech to eavesdrop. (He really is the villain of Civil War, isn’t he?) Peter asks Reed a simple “Why?” Reed tells Peter about his uncle Ted, an eccentric writer who was accused of communism in the 50s by the House Un-American Activities Committee. It ruined the man’s career, his whole life really.
Peter speaks of Ted with admiration, but Reed says Ted was wrong. Ted disobeyed the law. He says that without the law, people would become savages. “We have to support it, no matter what,” he says. Peter remains hopeful, reminding Reed that Reed loved his uncle. (Peter shows incredible restraint by not mentioning his own uncle.) They leave Reed in his lab, alone with his thoughts.
To be continued!
Unstable molecule: The issue begins and ends with Reed singing to himself the song “Wernher von Braun” by Tom Lehrer, with emphasis on the lyrics, “Once the rockets go up, who cares where they come down? That’s not my department, says Wernher von Braun.”
Fade out: It’s left up to the reader to decide why Sue drove a force field through the entire Baxter Building like she did. My opinion? Driving a spike through their home is metaphor for driving a spike right through Reed’s heart.
Clobberin’ time: It was already a safe bet that Reed and Ben are no longer WWII vets in current continuity, but Ben musing on WWII-era (era) stories from his childhood confirms it.
Trivia time: This is the final appearance of Wildstreak, a former Olympic hopeful given a superhuman exoskeleton after a debilitating accident. In fact, her only other appearance between her debut and this issue was a single guest spot in Thunderstrike #11. Fingers crossed that Marvel can bring her back someday.
This issue pretty much spells out that a Negative Zone prison is what Reed’s been working on. It’s been mentioned off-hand in several other Marvel comics leading up to Civil War as well, and yet the main Civil War miniseries keeps acting like it’s some big mystery.
Fantastic or frightful? One of the big problems with Civil War is that it’s meant to create this divisive issue between pro-reg and anti-reg, but it’s really hard to see things from the pro-reg side. Reed has a long and often unfortunate history of prioritizing his science over his wife and family. I’d thought that’d been resolved by now, but instead it comes to a head in this issue. But, Reed and Sue still aren’t technically broken up at this point, because Civil War isn’t done with them yet.
Next: We’ve got chemistry.
* * * *
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Todd McFarlane is a mega-millionaire with success undreamt of. I’m just some guy. But as I’ve been buying and reading – and enjoying! – Gunslinger Spawn, I’m struck with how the dialogue and captions are something of a mess. Hence, here’s my attempt to copyedit Gunslinger Spawn.
After a fight, the Clown offered Gunslinger a deal. If Gunslinger helps Clown defeat the Al Simmons Spawn, then Clown will send Gunslinger back to the Old West. It seemed like a done deal, but issue #5 continues the conversation.
The issue begins with Clown lording over an unconscious Gunslinger.
Breaking up these sentences into shorter ones helps with readability and flow:
“I thought he might die too, my pet. I would have crippled my plans if he had. I’ve been waiting too long for that to happen.”
–
This next passage has some awkward wording.
You can almost always remove “So” at the start of sentences. Is “like a hooked fish” a cliché? Is it meant to be a joke? I say it can be cut. And the repetition of “this one” is odd, making Clown sound like Mantis from Marvel Comics. My suggestion:
“Give him some space while his body resets. This one’s weaker than I thought. But, unfortunately, my pet, we need him alive for a while longer.”
–
Gunslinger wakes, ready for a fight. Clown laughs at him.
Again, just some small edits could make a big difference:
“I’m still waiting for an answer to my offer. Though, I’m beginning to have doubts. I need someone strong by my side.”
–
Time for more action as the two duke it out:
We’ve got more overwriting, with potential cliches like “going down without a fight.”
“Gunslinger knows he can’t win, but he’ll be damned if he’s going down like this.”
–
More fighting:
What on Earth is that comma in the first sentence? Delete it. I’m not sure about the “two titans” line. I get that Todd and co. want to make this huge and epic in readers’ minds, but is now the moment for this? Why not instead continue to emphasize how Clown is more powerful than Gunslinger?
“Clown is ready for this fight, but Gunslinger rages on!”
–
Then we see how outmatched Gunslinger is.
Is it important for the reader to know that Clown is two thousand pounds? I guess Todd is telling us that Clown’s power is not just demonic hellfire, but also Hulk-like physical strength. Is the third caption needed at all? Perhaps the visual says it all. My suggestion:
“Gunslinger holds his own against his two-thousand-pound enemy. But, after mustering everything into one last blow…”
–
Clown has a “Hulk smash” moment, hitting Gunslinger so hard it leaves a crater.
Just some small suggestions for this caption:
“Ground fissures snake out a quarter mile, attesting to Clown’s new power.”
–
We get this exchange between Clown and Violator. Remember that they’re two distinct characters now.
I wonder if we could replace the caption with more dialogue from Clown. Something like this, maybe:
“Want to join the fray, Violator? I appreciate your concern, but I’ve got this handled.”
–
Another display of strength.
For these panels, I suggest deleting the first caption, which is unneeded info, and moving Clown’s dialogue to the first panel.
–
Gunslinger’s back on his feet.
Again, the caption is unnecessary information. You could delete it to Gunslinger’s line more of a dramatic impact.
–
Clown ends the fight by being cordial. He laughs and says to Gunslinger “I’m beginning to like you!” And that’s where we’ll leave it this week.
* * * *
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Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Except I’m going “bigger picture” this time. I’ve read a lot of Marvel Civil War comics this week, and it’s way too much to summarize in just the trivia section at the end of the post. And quite a lot of it involves Fantastic Four’s peripheral characters. Therefore, let’s get into just how expansive of a narrative Civil War really was.
To recap: The New Warriors battled villains in Stamford, Connecticut, resulting in an explosion that killed hundreds. This led to the passing of the superhero registration act, in which all superhumans must register their secret identities with the government. Those who are pro-reg join Iron Man’s side, becoming government agents. Those are anti-reg join Captain America’s side, as fugitives of justice. Spider-Man joined the pro-reg side, and then shocked the world by revealing his secret identity to the public.
New Avengers #21-24 did a series of solo stories about various members of the team choosing sides. We saw Captain America recruit the Falcon shortly after Cap became a fugitive. Then we got the very dramatic story of Luke Cage (an FF alternate member) standing up to S.H.I.E.L.D. and making the tough choice to leave his wife and baby behind to join Cap’s team.
Spider-Woman was caught by S.H.I.E.L.D., and we’re told that she’s the first anti-reg superhero to be arrested. But then Hydra rescues her from S.H.I.E.L.D. in hopes that she’ll be Hydra’s new leader. She refuses, escapes from them, and joins Cap’s team. What makes this interesting is that this isn’t Spider-Woman, but a Skrull secretly plotting an invasion (a Secret Invasion, as it were). Marvel totally knew this at the time, and there a few Skrull-y clues throughout the issue.
The Sentry, anxiety-ridden as usual, fled to the moon once the fighting started in hopes of escaping it all. The Inhumans don’t want him there, though, and they try to fight him. Just when it seems like the all-powerful Sentry will destroy the Inhumans, Crystal (an alternate FF member) approaches him with an invitation from Black Bolt. The Sentry meets with Black Bolt and says he’s not there to fight them. The Inhumans are shocked to learn they all have memories about the Sentry that have been wiped from them, and they refuse to have the Civil War and other superhero crises find their way to Attilan.
Then Crystal reveals that she and the Sentry once had a romantic fling, after she broke up with Johnny but before her relationship with Quicksilver. They share a passionate kiss, but Sentry breaks it off. He says, “I’m married,” only for her to respond, “But only on Earth, right?” Iron Man then shows up to recruit the Sentry, causing more tension between him and the Inhumans. Sentry agrees to join Iron Man’s team. Medusa (an alternate FF member) muses that the superheroes of Earth have no idea what’s in store for them after the Civil War ends.
In She-Hulk #8-9, there’s only two Civil War tie-in issues rather than a whole trade, but a lot happens. Still working as a superhero-themed attorney, She-Hulk is tasked with protecting two former New Warriors, Justice and Rage, who are getting blamed for the Stamford incident that started the Civil War. She-Hulk is pro-reg, having to defend two heroes who are anti-reg. She argues that registration shouldn’t mean making their identities public, just as a blogger threatens to expose their identities online. She-Hulk and even more former New Warriors track down and stop the blogger.
Meanwhile, She-Hulk’s current boyfriend John Jameson, astronaut and test pilot, is approached by Captain America. Cap wants John to convince She-Hulk to switch sides. John instead shows his loyalty to She-Hulk by proposing to her! Amusingly, J. Jonah Jameson learns about the engagement mere minutes after learning about Spider-Man’s secret identity! Poor Jonah’s had a rough day. She-Hulk and John are married in a quickie ceremony in Vegas. After that, the She-Hulk series drifts away from Civil War into more drama about her and John.
While the many mutant characters were side-players in Civil War #8-9, there were nonetheless interesting things happening in the X-books. In X-Factor, the titular team came out as anti-reg, promising sanctuary in NYC’s “Mutant Town” neighborhood (where is this?) for any mutants hoping to escape registration. In Cable and Deadpool #30-32, Deadpool joins the pro-reg side, only for lucrative bounty hunter gigs hunting down other superheroes. This puts him in conflict with his frenemy Cable, who’s on Cap’s team.
Cable teleports them both to the White House (!) where Cable tells the US president that he’s not opposed to registration per se, but to the Fifty States Initiative, which he says will turn the US into a totalitarian police state. He and Deadpool fight in the Oval Office and then on the White House lawn. Cable succeeds in discrediting Deadpool’s bounty hunter gig, which Deadpool suspects was Cable’s plan all along, and the entire world sees the White House trashed in another Civil War superhero fight.
In the Wolverine solo series, issues 42-48, his status as a New Avenger makes him pro-reg, but he doesn’t dwell on that much. Instead, he learns that Nitro is still alive. You’ll remember Nitro is the explosive villain whose nuclear powers were behind the Stamford explosion, after the New Warriors attacked him. Wolverine goes searching for Nitro, eventually learning that Nitro had been given mutant growth hormone (!) at the time, which greatly enhanced his power.
Wolvie then learns the drug came from Damage Control, who’s gone from comedic fourth-wall breaking characters to evil drug profiteers. By giving the drug to mutants, they create more destruction in superhero fights, and that means more profit when Damage Control cleans up after the battle. Wolverine confronts Damage Control’s leader, Roger Declun, and kills him after a huge fight. Brutal! Nitro, meanwhile, is apprehended by Namor and imprisoned by the Atlanteans for the crime of murdering Namorita, who was among the New Warriors at Stamford.
Frontline #2-3, meanwhile, remains essential reading for anyone wanting to follow Civil War. Most of the narrative is about Speedball, the only New Warrior to survive Stamford. He’s arrested and having a tough time. She-Hulk is his attorney, yet she doesn’t mention her defending the other former New Warriors (she keeps a tight lock on lawyer-client confidentiality, it seems). Despite already being arrested and imprisoned, Speedball refuses to register.
Also, in Frontline, we get an extended version of Spider-Man’s press conference, with him fielding humorous questions from reporters. He’s then asked about Norman Osbourne, and he dismissively says Norman is just another criminal, nothing more. This angers Norman, who’s watching on TV. Meanwhile, Iron Man battles B-lister Prodigy. It’s a fight that’d normally be over in seconds, but they duke it out with such ferocity that it wrecks a building and injures several civilians. This shows the severity of the conflict.
Then we finally circle back to Fantastic Four, where reporter Ben Urich interviews Reed Richards, with more references to a confidential project he and Iron Man are working on. Reed shows Urich the same mathematical projection he showed Sue in Civil War #2, showing that superhero conflicts will continue in extremity unless something is done now. Urich compares this to baseball stats, saying one team might have higher numbers, but another might still dominate a game. He says, “It’s absurd to think you can measure public sentiment, and then pretend numbers don’t lie.”
This leads right into the next issue of Fantastic Four, which we’ll get to next time.
Unstable molecule: Reed and Ben Urich walk down some gravity-warped hallway inside the New Baxter Building, allowing them to walk on the ceiling. I have no idea why this is there, except for Reed to show off to visitors.
Clobberin’ time: One of the Wolverine issues retells the meeting at the Baxter Building from Civil War #1, including the Thing calling Wolverine “Stumpy.” Luke Cage gets in on the act, also calling him “Stumpy.”
Flame on: These issues have occasional references to Johnny being in the coma.
Fantastic fifth wheel: How does Crystal remember her romance with Sentry? An Inhuman telepath named Thyta restores her memory, alone with all the others. This is the only appearance of Thyta. You’d think that if the Inhumans had a telepath, they’d use her more often.
In addition to everything else happening in the She-Hulk issues, there’s also some business about Dr. Strange undoing the spell that protects her secret identity. This was the only way for her to be able to transform from human to She-Hulk and back again without needing special gamma-related gadgets.
Luke Cage’s escape from the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents is broadcast on TV, with a reporter saying the Avengers are now split down the middle.
Four and a half: When Urich asks Reed about baseball, Reed says it’s Franklin’s favorite sport.
Fantastic or frightful? This was a lot to absorb. Overall, the Frontline, Wolverine, and New Avengers issues are quite good. She-Hulk had a huge supporting cast with a lot of subplots at the time, and that might be confusing to readers who hadn’t been with the series from the start. X-Factor was also confusing, with a lot of weirdness about Jamie Madrox’s many duplicates – although perhaps that’s by design. Cable and Deadpool contains a major Civil War incident, but for some reason doesn’t get mentioned as much throughout the event. These comics contain a lot of what was controversial about Civil War, and yet I’m impressed with how this one event so thoroughly took over all of Marvel like it did.
Next: Splitsville.
* * * *
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Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Don’t believe me that Marvel’s Civil War crossover was earthshaking and controversial? Just wait until you see what Spider-Man does in issue #2.
The first half of this issue is a bunch of short scenes catching readers up on how much the Marvel Universe has changed now. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents find supervillains the Vulture and the Grim Reaper beaten and tied up in the sewer. The bad guys reveal that Captain America caught them. Maria Hill of S.H.I.E.L.D. notes that Captain America is continuing crimefighting while on the run. But, Cap has taken down fifteen criminals in seventy-two hours, meaning it’s not just him. He’s recruiting more of his fellow heroes to his side.
Next, Iron Man’s team is also continuing to be crimefighters, but they’re doing it out in the streets on broad daylight. Reed and She-Hulk join Iron Man and others, where they’ve all defeated a giant Doombot. The nearby crowd cheers for them, “People are starting to believe in heroes again,” Iron Man says. She-Hulk questions their stance on superhero registration. Iron Man says there will still be superheroes, it’s just that registration will weed out the teens, the amateurs, and the psychos, leaving only the purely good heroes. Tigra asks what category Captain America is in, and Iron Man only says that Cap is “wrong.”
Then we go to the New Baxter Building, where Reed is all in with Team Iron Man. He says he and Tony are working on a project that’s the most exciting thing he’s ever done (!). Sue questions him about hunting down and apprehending other superheroes, including some of their friends. Reed says, “They don’t leave us any choice if they refuse to register.”
Sue then sees math figures drawn all over the walls of Reed’s lab. Reed says this is an exponential curve. He explains that the number of superhumans is growing at an alarming rate, and if something isn’t done to keep them reigned in now, it’ll become an apocalypse. Sue finds a disc on Reed’s desk marked “42.” Reed refuses to tell her what that is, saying it’s classified. She leaves for the hospital to visit Johnny, who is still in a coma, and Reed dismissively says to give Johnny his love.
At the Daily Bugle office, J. Jonah Jameson and Robbie Robertson discuss preparations for Tony Stark’s upcoming press conference. Jonah says that superhero registration is everything he’d spent years fighting for. Robbie wonders if the superhero community will actually register and reveal their secret identities. “Just the smart ones,” Jonah says as Spider-Man swings by outside his window.
Tony talks with his buddy Happy Hogan. They haven’t any word from Captain America. Happy says Cap is putting together is own team, and that Cap won’t stop fighting until the fight is done. Tony has a rare moment of self-doubt during Civil War, as he leans his head back and says, “Oh God. Please let us be doing the right thing here.”
Then the issue’s main storyline begins, featuring not Spider-Man but the Young Avengers. Patriot, the team’s leader, is running across rooftops trying to escape a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopter. They shoot him full of tranquilizer darts, but he’s so strong he keeps going. He breaks through a window into a nearby skyscraper, so the helicopter fires a missile in after him, resulting in a massive explosion of knockout gas.
Outside, a bunch of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents have rounded up the rest of the Young Avengers, fitting them with some sort of power-dampening shackles. The team is Wiccan, Hulkling, the android Jonas, Stature (a.k.a. Cassie Lang), and the new Hawkeye (a.k.a. Kate Bishop). They’re being loaded up into one of those big convoy trucks we last saw in Fantastic Four. What the characters don’t know is that Daredevil and Luke Cage are watching from a distance, with Luke saying that Captain America and the Falcon are already at the scene.
The truck heads through the city. Inside the driver’s seats, one S.H.I.E.L.D. agent rants about how much he dislikes superheroes. The agent driving says, “You talk too much,” and he crashes the truck. It’s Cap in disguise! Then we see the Falcon is in disguise in the back of the truck. He undoes the manacles on Wiccan so Wiccan can cast a spell to get them out of there. He does, and the entire truck teleports away.
The truck reappears inside a giant underground complex, where members of Cap’s team aid the Young Avengers. Cable of the X-Men is there, saying “Welcome to the resistance.” Captain America explains that this location is a S.H.I.E.L.D. safe house that’s so secret, only Nick Fury knows about it. Fury’s not there, having gone “deep underground” once registration began. Daredevil says the team is already at work forging new identities for the Young Avengers. Cap warns that Tony Stark is up to something big.
Cut to Tony Stark, at the press conference mentioned earlier. Here’s one of the most talked-about moments in Marvel history. Tony is there with parents of kids who died in the Stamford incident at the start of Civil War #1, and then he introduces Spider-Man. Spidey comes out in his classic uniform, not the “iron spider” armor he’d been wearing recently.
“I’m not wearing my old mask because I’m ashamed of what I do,” he says. “I’m proud of who I am, and I’m here right now to prove it.” Then, in front of all the news cameras broadcasting this to the entire world, he takes of his mask and says, “My name is Peter Parker, and I’ve been Spider-Man since I was fifteen years old.”
Cut to the Daily Bugle, where J. Jonah Jameson has fainted.
To be continued!
Unstable molecule: The overall narrative of Civil War is that Iron Man is a futurist, and he’s doing all these things because he’s mathematically predicted where the future will go if he doesn’t. This issue, however, suggests that the future-predicting math came from Reed, not Tony.
Fade out: There’s little doubt that Sue is anti-reg at this point, but Reed is oblivious to that. I’d thought these two had moved beyond the “he’s so busy in the lab he never has time for her” thing, but Civil War moves characters around the board in all sorts of out-of-character ways.
Clobberin’ time: Ben is one panel at the new Baxter Building, showing he hasn’t left the country yet. He won’t for a while, but it’ll happen.
Flame on: Sue watches Spider-Man’s announcement from Johnny’s hospital room. It would have been hilarious if that’s what woke Johnny up from his coma, but I’m okay with Jonah getting the end-of-issue joke.
Fantastic fifth wheel: She-Hulk and Tigra are both on Iron Man’s team, yet both are questioning whether they’re doing the right thing. I keep forgetting to put Luke Cage in this “Fantastic fifth wheel” section, but yes, he’s Captain America’s right-hand-man throughout Civil War.
Four and a half/our gal Val: Ben watches the kids while Sue and Reed have their conversation. It’s a somber scene, suggesting Franklin and Valeria can tell something’s up.
SUE-per spy: The 2019 Invisible Woman miniseries revealed that Sue had a double life as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent all along. The question during Civil War is, how much does she know? Is S.H.I.E.L.D. after her for info on Cap’s team? Does she know stuff about Cap’s team she’s not saying? There’s no way to know.
Trivia time: Young Avengers was hugely popular when it first debuted, but the series never quite recovered from Civil War. The characters have endured, though. Hulking and Wiccan got a lot of press as one of Marvel’s most prominent openly gay couples. Hulking went on to be a major player in the Empyre crossover. The two female Young Avengers have become stars in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Cassie getting her powers in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and Kate being a regular in the Hawkeye series. Kate was also a main character in the 2020 Avengers video game.
Yes, the Casssie Lang of Young Avengers is the same Cassie who lived with the Fantastic Four for a while during the Tom DeFalco years, when her dad Ant-Man was a member of the team. She’s had quite the growth spurt!
I can’t find any info on what this giant Doombot was doing attacking New York. This doesn’t seem like Dr. Doom’s M.O. My theory is that Doom knows something’s up with Thor’s hammer, so he sent the Doombot to distract the heroes from learning about it.
Allegedly, the framed newspapers on the wall in Jonah’s office are the exact same ones seen in his office in the movie Spider-Man 2. They’re too tiny for me to tell, but I’ll take the fans’ word for it.
Fantastic or frightful? Weird how Spider-Man revealing his identity is the big selling point of this issue, yet it’s mostly a Young Avengers story instead. (You had to read the regular Spider-Man titles to get the full story about his unmasking.) The issue does, however, do a good job of selling how the Marvel Universe as we once knew it is over, and we’re now in an unpredictable place.
Next: It’s Splitsville.
* * * *
Want more? Check out my new ongoing serial, THE SUBTERKNIGHTS, on Kindle Vella. A man searches for his missing sister in a sprawling city full of far-out tech and secret magic. It’s a sci-fi/fantasy hybrid full of action, romance, mystery, and laughs. The first three chapters are FREE! Click here for a list of all my books and serials.
Todd McFarlane is a mega-millionaire with success undreamt of. I’m just some guy. But as I’ve been buying and reading – and enjoying! – Gunslinger Spawn, I’m struck with how the dialogue and captions are something of a mess. Hence, here’s my attempt to copyedit Gunslinger Spawn.
Continuing with issue #4, Clown has Gunslinger slung up in a tree. This gives Clown the opportunity for exposition.
Clown does the sarcastic villain thing, talking in a sarcastic formal manner. Still, it could use some trimming:
“Cute trick, hiding weapons in your hat. I can’t pry them out.”
–
Clown continues, with more info about Gunslinger’s weapons.
More opportunities to shorten this dialogue for efficiency, while not losing Clown’s sense of self-importance:
“Appears you were clever enough to fuse them with your symbiote so only you can remove them. Your bullet belts won’t budge either.”
–
Clown returns Gunslinger’s hat.
“Don’t look so surprised” could be considered a cliché. A quick edit:
“Surprised? You’re not the only one with necro-powers.”
–
In the next caption, we see more opportunities for some efficient edits:
This can become:
“You know who gave me those powers?”
–
Then, a lot of exposition that further ties Gunslinger Spawn into the greater Spawn continuity.
It’s understood among Spawn readers that, despite multiple hellspawns running around, just the name “Spawn” refers to the Al Simmons character. I kept this language plain, because it is expository:
“Spawn! He thought he got rid of me, but the opposite happened! As I was shot into the time rip he created, I scraped a little power from everyone coming the other way. This includes you.”
–
Clown explains that this power allowed him to turn his Clown persona and his demonic Violator persona into two separate beings.
Lots of unneeded words in this dialogue. You could delete the word “ever” from the first sentence, but I kept it to give Clown some “Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons” energy.
“Gunslinger, you might be the weakest hellspawn ever! It’s no shock that you acquired your powers illegally.”
–
Clown wants to make a deal:
The problem with this caption is how it flows into the next one on the next page, in which Clown says, “You can’t do that without me.” My suggestion:
“Your best chance for survival is to go back to your own timeline.”
Now follow that with “You can’t do that without me.”
–
More exposition:
Remove the single quotation marks, which serve no purpose. Then simplify the language, because this is important info the reader.
“The rip in time only moves in one direction, bringing people here. No one can go the other way because the dead zones are locked. Only Spawn has the key to them.”
You could argue that my adding “to them” at the end of the last sentence is unnecessary, but I did it to emphasize the importance of this key.
–
More world-building:
The “mortal enemy” phrase could be a cliché. Also, Gunslinger spent the first three issues wanting to take down the Bartletts, so you’d think they’re his mortal enemies. Also, there’s a lot of unnecessary wordiness in the second caption. My edits:
“Cogliostro wants the key too. If he gets his hands on it first, do you think he’ll offer you the same deal? He’d sooner cut his own throat.”
–
Clown tempts Gunslinger with the possibility of returning to the Old West.
I don’t get the line “Spawn can’t do it,” when we just learned Spawn holds the key that can do it. My suggestion:
“Spawn, Cog, or anybody else don’t give a sh*t about what you want.”
And:
“I don’t care either. But if you have even one reason to go back, I’m your best hope.”
The phrase “I’m your best hope,” could be a cliché. I kept it to emphasize the tempted-to-join-the-dark-side drama of the scene.
–
Gunslinger refuses, but Clown cuts him down from the tree anyway.
When using dashes, stop and think about whether what you’re writing can be multiple sentences instead.
“I’d prefer you didn’t. I like having a sharpshooter at my side. Your job’s easy. Get close to Spawn. Then, when the time comes, stab him in the back!”
That’s the cliffhanger for this issue, with Gunslinger not giving an answer. It’s not a done deal, as their talks will continue throughout the next issue. We’ll get to that… next time.
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Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Marvel’s Civil War mega-event continues with more heroes vs. heroes action in issues #538 and 539. Which side is Ben on?
One of the interesting things about Civil War is that rather than following the story from issue to issue, events are happening simultaneously across various comics. It’s a fascinating experiment, but it’s also difficult to assemble a timeline of what happened when. Case in point, it’s understood that during Civil War the superhero battles were so extreme and the collateral damage was so severe that this was practically a world-ending threat. But after reading all these comics over the last two weeks, I can not figure out where that started. What was the first big city-leveling battle of Civil War? When did the mega-violence begin? From what I can tell, between the previous issue and these two, the fighting just… happened.
We begin in Johnny’s hospital room, where he’s in a coma following the beating he took from civilians in Civil War #1. A doctor tells Reed, Sue and Ben that familiar voices might help him. Reed says he has important work to do, and Sue bickers with him about him and Iron Man fighting and arresting heroes previously thought of as their friends. They leave, and Ben stays behind him. He tells the sleeping Johnny that Thor’s hammer is still stuck in the ground in Oklahoma, with a line of local hicks trying and failing to pull it out. Sue returns, and she admits to Ben how conflicted she is about superhero registration.
On the way out of the hospital, Ben sees a TV news report about anti-reg protestors fighting police on Yancy Street. “It never ends,” he says. He travels to Yancy Street where pro-reg Ms. Marvel is battling anti-reg Silverclaw. Ben doesn’t interfere, letting them fight. Ben meets with some local cops, who say that they get attacked by the Yancy Street Gang every time the enter the gang’s territory looking for non-registered superhumans. Ben says he’ll take care of it.
All alone on Yancy Street, Ben demands a face-to-face meeting with the gang. Their new leader, Cee, approaches Ben. Another Yancy Streeter named Mouse is also there. They call Ben a “fascist” for being pro-reg. Ben says he’s neither for nor against registration, just that he’s “thinking about it.” He says he doesn’t like the idea of registration, but he doesn’t like the idea of fighting his own government either. Cee says Ben isn’t Switzerland and can’t remain neutral forever.
Later, we see a bald man receiving info about a security convoy for the heroes who’ve already been arrested. The man thanks him and goes inside. Turns out this is the Puppet Master, who is hanging out with the Mad Thinker again. The Thinker says the feuding heroes are the perfect fall guys, and they have the perfect opportunity eliminate a large chunk of the superhero population at once.
In Oklahoma, the line of people wanting to try Thor’s hammer has grown longer. A man whose face we don’t see fights his way to the front of the line and touches the hammer. It explodes with golden light and blasts off into the sky.
Issue #539 begins in Captain America’s secret underground hideout, where he’s meeting with Daredevil, Luke Cage, Cloak and Dagger. Cee and the other Yancy Streeters are granted an audience with Cap. Cee says he has information about a security convoy transferring the arrested superheroes through the city, and when and where it will happen.
We return to Puppet Master and the Mad Thinker, revealing their hideout is an abandoned factory in the middle of nowhere. They talk for a bit about their shared anger management issues (!), and then we see Puppet Master has built a huge scale model of part of Manhattan. They know that Cap’s side will attempt to stop the convoy, while Iron Man’s side will be waiting for them. Puppet Master plans to use puppets to recreate that area, mind-controlling civilians during the convoy. He says it’ll be a slaughter that will eliminate a bunch of their enemies at once.
Ben is eating at a diner when the convoy nears, while Captain America’s team are following the convoy in the sewers under the streets. New York civilian protestors block the streets, stopping the convoy. Puppet Master then mind-controls a military helicopter pilot overhead, making him fire on the convoy. Fighting breaks out between the two sides. Ben rushes in to help the civilians, while both Iron Man and Luke Cage assume he’s on their separate sides.
Puppet Master then mind-controls Mouse, getting him to retrieve a bomb hidden nearby. Mouse throws it toward the crowd. Ben picks up one of the convoy trucks and throws it atop the bomb, partially containing the explosion. It isn’t enough, as Cee dies in the blast.
Ben gets everyone to stop fighting for a sec. He shows them Cee’s body, saying this is what their violence has wrought. Iron Man and Captain America both try to get Ben to join their side. Ben says registration is wrong, yet he will not fight his own people. His only choice, then, is to leave the country. “I may not come back,” he says.
To be continued!
Wait, what about the convoy fight? This same battle is depicted in two other comics, letting us know what happened next. In Amazing Spider-Man #534, Cap’s team made a run for it, leading to an excellent Cap/Spidey fight scene. Then, in the Civil War: Choosing Sides one-shot, the Irredeemable Ant-Man got involved in the fight to do some jokey shtick. Afterwards, we learn Cap’s team successfully escaped, and Iron Man’s team stayed behind to help the surviving civilians.
Okay, NOW it’s to be continued!
Unstable molecule: Reed says that because the FF have no secret identities, they have nothing to fear about superhero registration. Sue and Ben disagree with him. Reed talks about rounding up other heroes, but he’s not present during the convoy fight. We’ll learn what he’s been up to later in the crossover.
Fade out: Although the big break-up won’t be until later in Civil War, Sue is already anti-reg, criticizing Reed’s choices during their scene.
Clobberin’ time: Ben tries to cheer up the comatose Johnny by singing the “YMCA” song, claiming it’s a song he learned at temple.
Flame on: Again, I must ask how ordinary humans could beat Johnny so badly that he ended up in a coma. Even if he let them attack him so he wouldn’t accidentally burn anyone, you’d think he’d find an escape before it got this bad. The necessities of plot, I suppose.
Fantastic fifth wheel: She-Hulk and Tigra are both at the convoy battle on the pro-reg side, but they have no interaction with Ben.
Trivia time: Who were the arrested superheroes aboard the convoy? Did they escape with Cap’s team or are they still arrested? Was this all a big set-up by Iron Man? Or the Mad Thinker, even? Neither the comics nor the Marvel Wiki has any answers.
The Mad Thinker will show up again in Civil War, but not Puppet Master. It’ll later be revealed he fled the US and ended up Chile, where he created humanoid puppets for a gross human trafficking scheme.
Daredevil in this issue isn’t Daredevil! It’s Iron Fist wearing the DD uniform while attorney Matt Murdock fights the Civil War from within the legal system. In the Amazing Spider-Man issue, Daredevil is seen fighting Dagger, even though they’re both on Captain America’s team. Whose side was Iron Fist really on?
Who is Silverclaw? She’s the adopted niece of the Avengers’ butler Jarvis (!), who used her shape-changing powers mostly to protect her Central American hometown. She had a short-lived membership with the Avengers and was a supporting character in Ms. Marvel for a while.
Who’s the Irredeemable Ant-Man? Eric O’Grady was a low-level S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and all-around troublemaker who stole an Ant-Man suit and used it to get into all kinds of hijinks. Strangely, his Civil War story is his first appearance, hitting the stands before his own miniseries.
The Marvel Wiki says Clark Kent appears in issue #358. Look closely, and that’s definitely him standing in line to lift Thor’s hammer. The epic JLA/Avengers crossover revealed that Superman can indeed lift Thor’s hammer.
Fantastic or frightful? Here we have Marvel characters – Ben, in this case – watching Civil War from the sidelines rather be in the thick of it. Stories like these were the best parts of the crossover, such as the excellent Front Line miniseries. Fantastic Four managed to have a little bit of fun amid all the big drama of Civil War, and we see that here.
Next: The big unmasking.
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Want more? Check out my new ongoing serial, THE SUBTERKNIGHTS, on Kindle Vella. A man searches for his missing sister in a sprawling city full of far-out tech and secret magic. It’s a sci-fi/fantasy hybrid full of action, romance, mystery, and laughs. The first three chapters are FREE! Click here for a list of all my books and serials.
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