Civil War *SPOILERS!*

[J Marv]

Yup, Speedball is now Penance of the Thunderbolts.

And he got an awesome new costume. (though...uh, I would never put it on)

On the Hulkling thing, wasn't he in LA? (edit: apparently not, Wiki says Young Avengers/Runaways ended prior to CW#3)

[Missy]

The Young Avengers / Runaways storyline took place over a day or two.

[Mull]

Plus Cap hinted at the Hulking thing in 5#

[Bento]

Good write-up about CW on IGN.

http://comics.ign.com/articles/754/754836p1.html

[Mull]

Have we seen that final picture on page 4 before or is that brand new???

[Blane]

I don't recall seeing it.

The one before it with Namor looks new too.

[Bento]

Have we seen that final picture on page 4 before or is that brand new???

Good eye. I think that's new and I didn't even notice it. Spidey is in his red and blue outfit so has to be new, right?

[Mull]

Could of been done before the series started I suppose, most people knew it would come down to Cap vs Stark and smartly didnt show anyone else in the picture fighting as to not guess to who would be on whos side. Just the Spidey thing then really

[JackFetch]

Anybody have any thoughts on the big bombshell story about Stark that was the reason behind the Civil War? If you don't know what I'm talking about, read CW Frontline #10. No fair if you already know the answer, I want theories.

[Mull]

It was all done to create havoc while still leaving Strak as seemingly the good guy, the havoc would then take Hulks notice when he returns which is mainly what Stark was thinking. The Atlantians thing was nothing to do with Stark and I think he definetly regrets that occuring, but was it his fault or idea with what happened to Norman?

Its either all that, or Stark did it for the ladies

[Missy]

Have we seen that final picture on page 4 before or is that brand new???

That's the cover to CW#7.

[Dread]

I was half and half with this issue. I loved the set-up for the Initiative and the Cap/Punisher stuff. Everything else seemed a little forced. Filler til the final battle. Except for Strange, that was cool.

The whole Cap/Punisher thing is interesting. It has always been hinted that Punisher and Cap are the same men from different wars (they had a battle in a What If? issue and in another, Castle was Captain America) and many creators have come out and said that (Chaykin and Ennis being the two off the top of my head). It's interesting to see Spidey (who has a history with both men) mention that and what Cap thinks about it. It was interesting to see the massive respect Punisher has for Cap and seeing Cap recognize that was brilliant.

I see Punisher donning the costume in the future...we all know Cap will die right?

When Punisher gunned down the Zgraders and then said "What?" with everybody looking at him, I laughed out loud for about 15 seconds. Great.

[TheRetreater]

When Punisher gunned down the Zgraders and then said "What?" with everybody looking at him, I laughed out loud for about 15 seconds. Great.

I was a little loud for that too.

Part of me is screaming that the reporters' secret will actually help redeem Tony (not that the public really sees his image needing redeeming). Especially if Reg side pulls out the victory. That and I feel the "support tony" secret would be a big twist that these events tend to like.

[S-T]

This isn't comic-related, but it brings up some of the issues we're discussing in light of the Superhuman Registration Act. Obviously, there are some interesting parallels between real world and fantasy world here...

Thoughts?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml...05/ncrime05.xml

Once the doors were firmly closed, having seen the anxiety the female passenger had been caused, you did the public-spirited thing and flipped the yob a V-sign as he walked past the window. An appropriate end to the episode. Except the doors then drew open again.

The man jumped back into the Tube carriage and set about you with his fists. I remember hearing the crump of his knuckles into the side of your head, as well as the whimper of the London Underground guard who was hopping around in dismay at the end of the carriage (this was more than a decade ago, before they were replaced with cameras). Of the 30 people sitting around you, none came to your aid. You were on your knees, and the man was still pummelling. I grabbed my mobile to call the police – the station was above ground – but the battery died as I got through.

***SNIP***

When I met the minister, Tony McNulty, he was rigidly against personal intervention. If he saw an old woman being verbally abused in the street, I asked, what would he do?

"I think you should ring the police in the first instance," he said. "It may well be that simply shouting at them, blowing your horn or whatever, will deter them and they will go away."

So let's say the thug starts hitting her and the police haven't come. What do you do now?

"The same," the minister replied. "You must always get back to the police, try some distractive activities and whatever else."

***SNIP***

Tom Noble's family know all about the cost, because they have paid it. A dedicated father of three and former soldier who switched to building work in Sunderland, Tom believed citizens need to be gently but firmly proactive to help keep order in the streets around them. One day he found a young girl being shoved around by teenagers near his home. His friend Geoff Bird was there. Both men, nearing 50, would have looked fit and capable. Geoff told us: "Tom walked straight in, amongst all of them, and asked what was going on. And one lad said, 'What are you gonna do about it?' He was the tallest in the group. Tom was ex-Army and he wasn't fazed by anybody, so he squared up to the lad and said, 'Well, I'm here to sort it out.' And the lad turned and ran away."

So far, a victory for any supporter of intervention. But as Tom turned back to Geoff, the youngster who had run off returned at speed. He threw a punch at the back of Tom's head. It hit his neck and Geoff saw the light in his best friend's eyes go out.

"He was looking directly at me when the blow hit him in the neck, and he died before he hit the ground, and that's that." He is, not surprisingly, almost too tearful to talk. The punch had burst a major vessel. Two days later, Tom's partner, Pauline, watched as his life-support machine was switched off.

[Bento]

This isn't comic-related, but it brings up some of the issues we're discussing in light of the Superhuman Registration Act. Obviously, there are some interesting parallels between real world and fantasy world here...

Thoughts?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml...05/ncrime05.xml

Once the doors were firmly closed, having seen the anxiety the female passenger had been caused, you did the public-spirited thing and flipped the yob a V-sign as he walked past the window. An appropriate end to the episode. Except the doors then drew open again.

The man jumped back into the Tube carriage and set about you with his fists. I remember hearing the crump of his knuckles into the side of your head, as well as the whimper of the London Underground guard who was hopping around in dismay at the end of the carriage (this was more than a decade ago, before they were replaced with cameras). Of the 30 people sitting around you, none came to your aid. You were on your knees, and the man was still pummelling. I grabbed my mobile to call the police – the station was above ground – but the battery died as I got through.

***SNIP***

When I met the minister, Tony McNulty, he was rigidly against personal intervention. If he saw an old woman being verbally abused in the street, I asked, what would he do?

"I think you should ring the police in the first instance," he said. "It may well be that simply shouting at them, blowing your horn or whatever, will deter them and they will go away."

So let's say the thug starts hitting her and the police haven't come. What do you do now?

"The same," the minister replied. "You must always get back to the police, try some distractive activities and whatever else."

***SNIP***

Tom Noble's family know all about the cost, because they have paid it. A dedicated father of three and former soldier who switched to building work in Sunderland, Tom believed citizens need to be gently but firmly proactive to help keep order in the streets around them. One day he found a young girl being shoved around by teenagers near his home. His friend Geoff Bird was there. Both men, nearing 50, would have looked fit and capable. Geoff told us: "Tom walked straight in, amongst all of them, and asked what was going on. And one lad said, 'What are you gonna do about it?' He was the tallest in the group. Tom was ex-Army and he wasn't fazed by anybody, so he squared up to the lad and said, 'Well, I'm here to sort it out.' And the lad turned and ran away."

So far, a victory for any supporter of intervention. But as Tom turned back to Geoff, the youngster who had run off returned at speed. He threw a punch at the back of Tom's head. It hit his neck and Geoff saw the light in his best friend's eyes go out.

"He was looking directly at me when the blow hit him in the neck, and he died before he hit the ground, and that's that." He is, not surprisingly, almost too tearful to talk. The punch had burst a major vessel. Two days later, Tom's partner, Pauline, watched as his life-support machine was switched off.

It's a tough call. I'd like to think that I would step in on a situation like that and 4 years ago maybe I would have, but now I have to think of others like my wife. Plus, nothing is guaranteed anymore. There used to be a time when heroic deeds would be applauded. Now, anyone can be sued (except the rich and famous), even the defendant. In a way, I do blame the government because all they've managed to do is scare the sane people into not speaking out. The insane people don't give a shit about the consequences and by the time official help arrives it's often too late.

As far as comics go... I look to them and sci-fi for that escape from reality. For me, I don't want my fictional characters to cross over to reality, cause then it just becomes a soap opera. Writers walk a fine line when dealing with that.

[JackFetch]

Um, is this story still going on? I lost interest with all the delays.

[Mull]

This weeks the last Civil War, no idea about any more Front Lines though

[Missy]

Civil War #7 (of 7) will be released this Wednesday, and Front Line #11 (of 10... er... 11) will hit shelves next week.

[Blane]

That ending...

Left a bad bad taste in my mouth. I woulda been pissed if I had paid for most of these issues.

[TheRetreater]

it is pretty much exactly what I expected it to do. sure it doesn't supply a catharsis of any kind, but I really don't feel like one could have happened while still keeping the event relevant and truly world-changing.

[Missy]

I thought the last issue ruled. The action was solid, the characters were spot on, everyone pushed everyone to the limit. But most of all I enjoyed Cap's journey throughout the series. He started off as a resistant war hero and ended as a crestfallen man. Watching him build himself back up over the next year or so will be an exciting time.

[Blane]

Man me and yoda just don't see eye to eye on much of anything with comics.

[Missy]

I see people ripping on this issue all over the place, but most of those people say nothing more than, "Mrvl sux~!!1!!," or, "Cap is a Frenchy / pussy / quitter." Hell, I couldn't care less if people enjoyed the issue (and series), all I ask is that they don't blindly rip on it and, gasp, explain what was so bad about the issue (and series).

(Blane, I'm not saying you fall into the aforementioned group; I'm simply venting.)

[JackFetch]

I thought it was a rushed piece of garbage. They were building up to a great climax, and pulled the plug right when it was getting good. Everything up to the people stopping Cap was great. After that it was Stupid. After all Cap went through. After all the damage he had already caused during the whole civil War. He picked right then to decide he was wrong? Does he really think they will think of him as Steve Rodgers and not Captain America just because he took his mask off?

Why is Cap......er Steve in jail, and all the other heroes pardoned? That just doesn't make sense. They spent the whole run showing the anti side in a more favorable light, and now it feels like the wrong side won.

[Stavros]

Pretty shitty. I wouldn't mind but they spent damn near the entire time positioning the readers to like Caps side and mistrust the pro-registration side and then they pull the rug out from under all of us by having Cap surrender after what was for a comic book minimal collateral damage.

Best thing to come out of the end of civil war? In Amazing Spider-man they finally killed of Aunt May. Finally. At last. I'm so freakin' happy that she's done, after all those false deaths and whatnot her continuity was insane. However the problems with having the Kingpin kill her are obvious, especially with Norman Osbourne out there and government sanctioned. Why the hell is Spidey not focused on Osbourne and the fact that Stark is fine with Norman being free and clear? I honestly think that with regards to this whole arc I could have skipped the main book and just read the peripheral titles and not even noticed it was gone.

On top of this there still arn't any pro or anti registration results. Some sort of amnesty for all the non-registered guys and apparently all the registered ones are screwed because they didn't read the small print and have joined the army?! So registration was a failiure because tons of guys can still run around unlicenced. Isn't there some kind of middle ground with this or is it just extremes? This solved squat.

Captain Marvel's return? Meaningless. Utterly meaningless. Half the guys out there fighting were at his bedside when he died all those years ago and the man gets to be in ONE FREAKIN' PANEL! Not even a "hey didn't you kop it a while back?"

I'm not saying that the fallout won't be good, but this issue solved nothing. Its just blatant cash-mongering by Marvel to try and get me to buy the 18 titles that will explain everything that happened and its just not going to happen. I'm going to continue with Amazing Spidey and Thunderbolts but the rest of it can sit on the shelf.