Civil War II #8 Review

Civil War II # 8

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: David Marquez
Future Artists: Adam Kubert, Leinil Francis Yu, Daniel Acuna, Alan Davis, Mark Farmer, Marco Rudy, Mark Bagley, John Dell, Esad Ribic
Colorist: Justin Ponsor
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: Marvel

Reviewed by David Hildebrand 

I am very pleased to say that as of today, Civil War II #8 is the final issue bringing Civil War II to a close. It has been a long journey with this book. There have been a few shining moments. I have tried to be positive, but reflecting on everything that has happened, I think I now have more negative feelings about the story overall. I was hoping that this issue would bring some much needed closure and restore my faith in what I have been reading and also restore my faith in reading future Marvel events. Civil War II #8 did neither of these things and once again I consider this issue passable at best. I can thank the artists for that.

THERE WILL BE SOME SPOILERS BELOW, AS ALWAYS, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!  

There is absolutely no reason that Civil War II should have taken eight issues. And Civil War II #8 is a prime example of this. There isn’t enough of a story to justify it lasting as long as it did. I mentioned in my review for Civil War II #7 that I hoped everything wouldn’t be jammed into this final issue. Well, after reading this final issue, I’m kinda wishing they did. It would be at least something compared to the nothing that I read in issue #8. The majority of the issue is a long, drawn out fight scene between Captain Marvel and Iron Man. After that? Well, in my opinion the rest of the comic is an advertisement of future story lines and upcoming Marvel events. We wrap up the final pages with what happens to Stark and then a glimpse into Danvers’ future. Where is Ulysses, you ask? Well he is too good for Earth and gets taken away, I wish he took me with him. Maybe we will see him again, hopefully we don’t. And that hurts to say because Ulysses was a decent character that I thought had some potential, but in end was used purely as a plot device.

The conclusion to Civil War II #8 should have been so much more. I expected more, I wanted more. I thought Danvers should have dealt with consequences over her actions, but to be offered a promotion was more than mind blowing. We find out that Stark has been doing experiments on himself after Danvers blows him out of the sky and his armor. Tony appears dead like many readers thought would happen. Although he isn’t dead, we don’t know what he has done to himself and Beast doesn’t want to do any tests on him. So… who is confused on Stark’s future in the Marvel Universe? Is it Bendis or Marvel? The conclusion to Starks is so paper thin, he is sealed up in a metal coffin. I guess it’s a coffin, it is a metal confinement. So who knows what is going to become of Stark. Maybe Beast will open him at the next event that I will surely be skipping. The one aspect that REALLY bothered me about this issue is that in the end, no one learned a damn thing! Danvers and Stark stayed their hard-headed selves all the way through. Where is the message? Where is lesson? I’m not going to get into the lesson that I learned.

Once again the art is what stands out in this issue.  Marquez’s back has to be hurting as much as he has carried this event. He brings out the life in these characters where the writing is lacking. The action is incredible to look at and squeezes out the drama and emotion that the script is sorely missing. The splash pages with the additional “future” artists were also gorgeous to look at it. The one with Spider-Man holding up an unconscious Captain America on the steps of the Capitol stood out to me the most. Mixed with Ponsor’s colors, the issue is a showcase in artist talent. I just wish Bendis’s story was half as good as the art.

The Verdict
Skip it. After all is said and done, Civil War II #8 doesn’t pay off in the end. Civil War II will make me go back into retirement for reading events. This story had so much potential and for it to end the way it did was almost an insult for those of us that have followed it since the beginning. Ulysses deserved so much better, Tony Stark deserved so much better. The Hulk and War Machine, who dies in this event, deserved so much better, and finally the readers deserved so much better.