Civil War #3
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: David Marquez
Colorist: Justin Pondor
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Reviewed by David Hildebrand
Major spoilers ahead! You have been warned!
Tuesday night, I got tagged in a post on Facebook. I checked to see what was going on and it is a link to who will be killed in the third issue of Civil War II. I post that I am not going to click the link because I want to see it in the actual book when it is released. Following poster decided to ignore me or didn’t see my post. SPOILERS! Hulk is the one who dies. Now the issue is ruined for me and I feel unsure about the revelation. I am not a big Hulk fan to begin with. The last time I bought a Hulk book wasn’t for the Hulk, it contained the first appearance of Rocket Raccoon. Immediately I’m thinking that this is the turning point where I am going to not like the rest of this story.
I am very pleased to say that I was wrong. I picked up my copy of the book, read it, and I enjoyed it. Bendis continues to evolve this story at a slower pace but with this issue, but it works. We finally start seeing our heroes divide and choose who they are standing behind.
We pick up this issue with where we left off in the last one. Danvers has dropped in on Bruce Banner. Banner is surprised to see her, this is his secret lab. How did she find him? Stark shows up as well and the pair talk him out of his secret lab. The trio go outside and there is a large group of heroes gathered around watching. Deadpool is even standing there, doesn’t even make a smart ass comment. You know things are serious now! Stark and Danvers introduce Ulysses to Banner and explain his powers. Danvers says that Ulysses sees the future, Stark says that the Inhuman sees a possible future. With the help of Beast, they expose the experiments that Banner has been secretly working on. He begins to get angry and he is then silenced. I’m not exposing who kills Banner. I did warn of spoilers, but it is everywhere about the Hulk, I am going to keep his killer a surprise here. Go pick up the book and find out for yourself!
The issue flashes back and forth between the encounter with Banner and a courtroom scene where the heroes are being questioned about the murder by Matt Murdock. I like how Marquez illustrated the courtroom scenes. Combined with Ponder’s colors, they deliver an intense visual, detailing the emotions of our heroes as they explain the horrific demise of their fallen brother. The book ends with two cliff hangers and I hope that next issue really takes off with the pacing. Heroes are dividing, the struggle within is building. I’m waiting for things to explode!
The one thing that has bothered me since the second issue is how the heroes are relying on these visions that Ulysses has. Ulysses presents a vision. The situation gets taken care of. But could this ONE situation maybe been prevented? Banner was killed right before his rage built up further and turned into the Hulk. Well…..If they never showed up to confront Banner, he would have never went outside to meet his demise. The future is changed, BUT…what if they didn’t go at all? How true would the outcome have been had it played out like the vision showed? If Banner did “Hulk out” and kill whoever he was going to kill, would it still have happened if they didn’t go confront Banner? Am I confusing you? I am maybe confusing myself, but nonetheless I am looking forward to more events unfolding and maybe getting an answer to my question!
Verdict:
Buy it! If you are already reading this event, then you know this is THE defining issue at the moment. If you aren’t reading this, I suggest at least checking out this issue. It isn’t hard to catch up to the point where we are at now. And it will be interesting to see how the Marvel Universe plays out now that the Hulk is dead and what will happen to the individual that killed him. So if you come across it, check it out! There is also a variant out there that was an exclusive for the midnight sale by Joe Quesada that comes sealed in plastic. I thought it was a cool idea and was able to snag a copy. So if exclusives are your thing, ask your shop if they have any left over!
