Whoa, I’m reviewing a stand alone issue instead of a trade paperback? Well, these things happen I guess and it was pretty awesome to have acquired this issue. Nothing beats reading a comic in its true form right? Naturally, the comic is short though and you can read it in around 5 minutes or so. Following that logic, this review will naturally be on the short side. This is in the middle of the Civil War event, but it’s still easy to understand what’s happening. There’s even a previously segment just in case readers did jump on here.

The government passed a bill for heroes to surrender their secret identities or they would be hunted down. Captain America leads the side for freedom and Iron Man is on the side of the government. Most of the issue follows Iron Man as he tries to recruit as many allies as possible. Doctor Strange says no and then the X-Men also refuse. Iron Man does leave some subtle threats and clearly can’t be trusted, but such is the way that things go when politics are involved. Captain America’s team is really just lying low, but when they hear that a few hundred people are trapped in a factory, they decide to make their move. Unfortunately, it turns out that it was a trap by Iron Man’s team and the big battle to decide the fate of the country begins.

Definitely a fun issue and Marvel’s art was really at its height here. There aren’t any current Marvel titles that can match this level of quality. You can really feel the epicness as the teams go at it and every character design is really on point. The energy blasts look great and the issue is over before you know it. It helps that there is an ad on every page of course. I wonder how many people actually care about the ads enough for it to affect their purchasing habits. Hopefully a lot, but I don’t really mind the ads since it does make the comics feel official somehow.

I’m still on Cap’s side as always and they certainly seem to be portrayed as the heroes, but it does depend on who you think is in the right. That being said, Cap’s team is at a big disadvantage as far as power and numbers are concerned. It’s why having the X-Men on Cap’s side would have really tipped the scales. At least having Spider Man at the ready would help the resistance and those who followed the event definitely know what side he ultimately ended up on.

The cliffhanger for the issue is definitely pretty intense even if it’s obvious that this cannot be the real Thor. “Operation Lightning Bolt” definitely sounds ominous right when the characters utter the phrase and it certainly doesn’t help Cap’s chances of getting through this in one piece. It would have been really cool for Hulk and Thor to have shown up, but as the event was only 7 (Really short) issues long, it probably would have been very rushed so better not to bite off more than you can chew right.

Overall, Civil War is still one of the best Marvel arcs out there. It was short, but it definitely changed the status quo for a little while and I’m always up for seeing heroes fight other heroes. It does make you have to wonder how these guys can ever work together again, but that’s just the nature of the business. Of course, people do seem to love having Captain America and Iron Man fight so they have a lot of disagreements in the modern comics. Cap’s usually in the right if you ask me, which is almost a little odd since you would expect Iron Man to be the guy who defies the government. In the upcoming film remake, it’ll be interesting to see who’s on the right side as Iron Man seems to be the guy that I will be rooting for so far. So far……it’s likely going to be a tough call though. Either way, if you’re looking for a good single issue to buy, definitely check this one out. There’s a lot of action and Spider Man certainly gets his props as he gives Cap a good fight!

Overall 9/10