Civil War II – Kingpin #1 Review

Civil War II – Kingpin #1
Shouldn’t Have Come Back
Writer: Matthew Rosenberg
Artist: Ricardo Lopez Ortiz
Color Artist: Mat Lopes
The Death and Birth of Janus Jardeesh
Writer: Matthew Rosenberg
Penciler: Dalibor Talajic
Inker: Jose Marzan Jr.
Colorist: Miroslav Mrva

At the end of the Secret Wars event, I told myself that I wouldn’t read anymore Marvel events. Civil War II released, I surrendered and gave it a shot.  I have also stayed away from reading any type of spin off from an event.  Today, I changed that as well.  I read that Matthew Rosenberg (4 Kids Walk Into a Bank) was going to be writing the Kingpin mini based on Civil War II, so I had to give this a shot.

Wilson Fisk, known as the Kingpin has returned to New York.  The only problem is there is no real opportunity for him to capitalize on now that the Inhuman Ulysses has the ability to see into the future.  Criminals are being picked up before they even commit a crime because it has been foreseen they would engage in illegal activities.  D-List villain Bushwacker makes an unsuccessful attempt on Kingpin’s life. Kingpin is more interested in protecting the life of his newfound friend, Janus. And in protecting him takes a few shots from Bushwacker. Of course Bushwacker “disappears” after this run in with Fisk. It just so happens that Janus is the ace up Fisk’s sleeve. Janus is an inhuman and his actions cannot be predicted by Ulysses.  The world just may open up for Kingpin after all.  This issue is separated into two stories. The first being the return of Kingpin to Manhattan and the second is the origin of Janus and how he gained his Inhuman powers.

Rosenberg does an exceptional job in this first issue.  He captures the essence of Fisk and does well in detailing his ups and downs. Because of Ulysses, Fisk struggles to find anyone to engage in illegal activities. His associates fear of being picked up. Towards the end of the issue, Rosenberg brings Fisk’s ruthless side back and it materializes as he makes his discovery about Janus.  The art by Ortiz is gritty and shows how towering the Kingpin is. It is a bit different and not your traditional “superhero” art, but it does work for this story.

Verdict:
Read it/Buy it (somewhere in between). If you are reading the Civil War II event, then you should at least check this out. I am curious if Janus will end up making an appearance in the Civil War main story as we move on into the later issues of the event. I also looked ahead and saw that Punisher will appear in later issues of Kingpin. This is a must read for me knowing that Castle will show up.  Plus, the Kingpin has always been a pretty bad ass villain and I like that he has a story based around him….even if it is only for a few issues.