MARVEL PREPARES FOR "CIVIL WAR"

[MattBrady]

According to the solicitation copy for March's New Avengers: The Illuminati special, the Marvel Universe "is about to split down the middle", and now a preview of this month’s cover to Marvel Previews (for products shipping in March) officially gives that split a name and reveals the title of the “Whose Side Are You On” summer event/limited series by writer Mark Millar and artist Steve McNiven to be “Civil War”.

Continuing the upheaval that began in Avengers: Dissembled and then House of M, and as previously revealed stemming from the March Brian Bendis/Alex Maleev The Illuminati one-shot, the tagline and now title strongly suggest factions will develop amongst the Illuminati members – Reed Richards, Tony Stark, Namor, Black Bolt, Doctor Strange, and Charles Xavier – leading to all-out war between these factions, and likely causing or forcing many of the other heroes of the Marvel Universe to choose sides.

”The tone of the world is changing and the Illuminati can see it coming”, Joe Quesada explained to Newsarama previously, before the title of the event was revealed. “The lack of mutants has changed much of the power balance in the world and when there’s a change in balance there will be those that want to see it tip over onto one side or another.

“Because the Illuminati can sense these trends, they make several key decisions that will now begin to literally shake the foundation of the Universe. I will argue that the Marvel Universe may even become unrecognizable to some extent if the balance shifts too much and if the Illuminati are wrong. It may even get worse if they’re right!”

Quesada went on to explain that the story is about “one simple idea” ... an idea we now know to be “Civil War”…

"This idea will affect all of the Marvel Universe if not all of comics when you come right down to it because it’s going to resonate with all our lives,” Quesada added. "Of course our characters will have to contend with the same decisions, what side do they fall on and those choices will shock you! Whose side are you on? It may not be as clear-cut as you think.

"The event though simple in nature will have enormous implications to the point where I believe it won’t be as insular as many comic events tend to be by their very nature. I think this is going to get quite a lot of mainstream attention because of what it’s saying about our world as well and the Marvel Universe. Like so many great stories, the metaphor is very poignant.”

Diamond’s “Splash Page” profile of the Illuminati special reveals this additional insight…

"The storyline centers on a secret past that was supposed to stay hidden from even the most trained electric eyes in the sky. Yet, as history will show us, most secrets are revealed in time. And when exposed, combined with events that have been unfolding in public view, these secrets point to new collaborations we never would have contemplated. In the case of The Illuminati, imagine a new world order! Expect such revelations in the New Avengers: The Illuminati. Witness Marvel's secret team ripped apart too soon after revealing their existence!”

Quesada also told us previously that Civil War will match or exceed House of M in terms of scale, not only in its impact on the Marvel universe story-wise, but also in the number of tie-in specials, mini-series, and aftermath projects House of M entailed.

"Yeah, this is in many ways bigger than House of M,” he said. “We’ve been building to this point for some time now. This event really involves so many facets of the Marvel Universe that I can’t see how we can do it small. New characters, old characters, deaths, resurrections.”

Look for updates on Civil War when they’re available…

[HartyPotter]

I'm really glad Millar's doing this rather than some of Marvel's other top guns. If it had Bendis or Ellis, people would complain about decompression, but Millar really seems to have a talent for huge, over-the-top action and drama, moreso than anyone else in comics right now. And awesome payoffs. As long as it's in the tradition of the Ultimates and Wolverine Enemy of the State, I'll be there. But I'll probably wait for trade.

[Omegastorm]

I am mixed on this. I will just wait to see.

o

[innocentboy]

curious to see how this will effect the parallels between comic book reality, and actual reality reality

[User Name]

I learned how the schism starts.

It all starts when Blob finds out about how Professor Xavier wiped his mind in the early issues of X-Men.

Then Captain America found about how the Prof wiped Blob's mind so he built spy satellites to monitor the X-Men and the Avengers and it all went downhill from there.

[bizarrolike]

Can't wait to see what they got coming. a massive battle that coencides with space,earth,everywhere.

and the Marvel bashers should start arriving in 5,4,3,2,......

[kryptic6]

I feel like Millar can't disappoint with this. Lately, his stuff has really been on and I love his twisted take on Marvel's super heroes.

[Poolboy]

Originally posted by HartyPotter
I'm really glad Millar's doing this rather than some of Marvel's other top guns. He really seems to have a talent for huge, over-the-top action and drama, moreso than anyone else in comics right now. As long as it's in the tradition of the Ultimates and Wolverine Enemy of the State, I'll be there. But I'll probably wait for trade.

This is more exciting than House of M was. Though depending on who the characters or situations are, I'll stay away from the tie-in minis. They proved to be really bad stories with little or no connection to the House of M storyline.

[vardaman]

...I'm getting a little event fatigued...

[canalla]

"The Road to...begins here!"

Deja vu.

[Dave Fury]

Originally posted by bizarrolike
Can't wait to see what they got coming. a massive battle that coencides with space,earth,everywhere.

and the Marvel bashers should start arriving in 5,4,3,2,......

Right, cause if anyone ever says anything remotely negative they are automatically have Marvel. This statement is pretty much pulled on every single post about an upcoming Marvel Comic. So if anyone even thinks of questioning something, they are automatically put on the defensive.

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil - at least not at Marvel.

[nowpot]

Is it just me or does it reaaly sound like Infinte Crisis?

[ChaosArtist]

This is gonna be great! I hate Bendis and how he ruined the Marvel Universe. Millar is easily a comics legend who has hardly any works out there considered sub-par. He knows what hes doing thats for sure. And on a scale bigger than House of M, hopefully he'll be able to set things right again.

[canalla]

Originally posted by nowpot
Is it just me or does it reaaly sound like Infinte Crisis?

It does. Even the slogans are the same.

I can't wait for Marvel doing One Year Later.

[Mac]

Originally posted by nowpot
Is it just me or does it reaaly sound like Infinte Crisis?

It's probably you and a few other people who make snarky comments on the boards.

Maybe it also sounds a like the War of the Roses or the American Civil War. Probably because they contain a very popular common thread. That thread being similar to the Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman division that stemmed from the OMAC mini-series.

Just because they share a basis doesn't mean it's executed in the same manner.

[samnoir]

It would appear that DC threw down the gauntlet and now Marvel needs to respond.

It will be intersting to see how long these big events can be sustained.

It will be even more interesting to see if there will be in fact "lasting changes" from any of these events.

History has shown us that other than Crisis or perhaps Legends, even with good intentions, "Lasting Changes" are easier said than done.

________________________________

HORROR MEMORABILIA FOR SALE ON EBAY! HAMMER. RE-ANIMATOR. EVIL DEAD. ROMERO'S LAND OF THE DEAD. VINTAGE FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND MAGAZINES. KOLCHAK THE NIGHT STALKER.

BATMAN BEGINS POSTERS and MAGAZINES for sale on EBAY! 1 cent!

[saiyanspider]

Weren't hints dropped in Millar's run on MK Spidey?

[Evil Rick Shea]

Wow, another giant event so soon after Marvel's "event of the decade" House of M. Their words, not mine.

http://www.marvel.com/catalog/showco...6&format=comic

So at best, this must be the second best event of the decade?!?With all the hype about how House would change everything for years to come, it feels cheap to already be told that this will be bigger and better than House of M. Don't forget Decimation, Spider-Man: The Other, Planet Hulk, Illuminati, Annihilation, and who knows what else? I also think the fact that Iceman already has his powers back is pretty cheap.

I have heard some scoop about some of what Marvel has coming up, and it's actually making me excited about some characters that I haven't cared for in years, but I do feel like they've got so much going on at once that they're competing with themselves. This upcoming story having more tie-ins than House of M is quite scary and reeks of cloning Infinite Crisis. "Whose Side Are You On?" and a splitting of the heroes sounds unbelievably similar to the main themes DC has been building to over the last two years. Their three biggest characters don't see eye to eye and it sounds like they're copying that formula. We'll see how well executed it is.

Evil Rick Shea
Famous Faces & Funnies
Melbourne, FL

[Ozmodiar]

Me be f**ked, this sounds great.

I'm not too happy about that whole HoM stuff, but now I'm sold. So glad it's not Bendis diving into this.

[Wellness]

As long as Millar approaches this like his Ultimates' run and doesn't just throw random things out there without proper build up, I might dig into this event.

Till I know more I will be looking toward Annihilation to be my favorite Marvel 'event'.

[Winteriscoming]

Wow! This sounds great but I'm a little upset. These events are murder on us who have a pretty limited comic budget. I'll be forced to drop on-going titles to make room for this stuff.

[cleazer]

Sounds cool, and sounds way better than House Of M.

[J.C. Bakken]

Ah, yes the glows are off, the Gentlmen are prepering to slap each others, and make snide comments in Oxford English. 'This a Civil War after all.


I fart in your generall direction.

[seesoul]

How am I going to buy all of these comics? Marvel is bleeding me dry... Give me a break between events, please!

[Jed Saxon]

"The storyline centers on a secret past that was supposed to stay hidden from even the most trained electric eyes in the sky. Yet, as history will show us, most secrets are revealed in time. And when exposed, combined with events that have been unfolding in public view, these secrets point to new collaborations we never would have contemplated.

Bla, bla, bla...
Why not move those properties FORWARD instead of re-writing history over and over and over again. The old stories are good as they are/were and will ever be - they are not in a need of a retcon!
Come up with NEW ideas instead of re-hashing old moments because you are not able to create NEW villains/heroes, NEW menaces and NEW stories without re-writing the old stuff.
After a while it gets pretty annoying, especially for long-time fans.

Aside from that I think that Mark Millar will at least provide a script were actually something DOES happen without spending 8 panels of showing Grandpa America getting his mail.
And McNiven on art is also a pretty good choice.

Originally posted by User Name
It all starts when Blob finds out about how Professor Xavier wiped his mind in the early issues of X-Men.

Before or after he raped Jean Grey?