World Famous Comics: New Avengers, Vol. 5: Civil War (v. 5)
New Avengers, Vol. 5: Civil War (v. 5)
By: Brian Michael Bendis Publisher: Marvel Comics Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Marvel Comics Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 120 Publication Date: August 15, 2007 Reading Level: Young Adult
Product Description: The Civil War is on, and no book will be more affected than New Avengers. You think Marvel would never mess with its top-selling book? Wrong! The Avengers are about to go to war over their beliefs, and the shake-up will shock you. Each stand-alone story in this volume is illustrated by a genuine comics superstar! Collects New Avengers #21-25.
What's Chaykin? Exciting and interesting storytelling that requires a knowledge of Civil War, outside of this volume. More than anything else, this collection just fills in some of the more personal pieces in the overall story. I am not a huge fan of Chaykin's art, so the first story for me was hampered by it. Also the story about Spider-Woman and Hydra was a bit brief and almost ridiculous. Power Man's story though was maybe the most excellent of the whole bunch.
Decent Most of the stories are hit and miss. The art changes with every issue, but i found it annoying and inconsistent. This book is really just a unnecessary tie in
One of the more interesting "Civil War" books By and large, I've found Marvel's "Civil War" epic to be underwhelming and overblown... And since each continuity-altering mega-story seems to be instantly followed by another ("Secret War" > "Civil War" > "World War Hulk" > "Secret Invasion"> etc.) I'm getting kinda tired of all the gimmicky crossover "events".
That being said, I actually thought this volume was one of the better "Civil War" books, with some good character sketches, particularly the Luke Cage episode, where he decides to join the anti-registration resistance. The Captain America story, which starts the book, isn't the best-written thing ever, but Cap's interior monologue in the first few pages is pretty cool. I also like the final episode, where Iron Man gets (temporarily) taken down by a disaffected Stark Industries R&D scientist... There are details in here that help flesh out the otherwise irritating Civil War plotline... Definitely worth checking out. (Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain book reviews)
Mediocre collection of New Avengers issues #21-#25 This fifth New Avengers trade paperback collects issues #21-#25 of the Marvel series written by Brian Michael Bendis. The first four issues feature the respective reactions of team members Captain America, Luke Cage, Spider-Woman and The Sentry to the impending Superhero Registration Act. Issue 25 is the most interesting: it features an infiltration of Avengers Tower and a S.H.I.E.L.D. surprise at the end. Unfortunately these five issues feature five different art teams, little of which is notable. This non-essential book will probably only interest fans of the aforementioned heroes: Cap fans should instead read Cap's own Civil War TPB.
In Retrospect, Insightful and Pertinent I had the distinct advantage of reading this collection well after I read the unified edition of Civil War, so I must admit my perspective would be different from someone unfamiliar with the outcome of Civil War and its fallout.
That said, knowing what I know about Nick Fury, Iron Man, and Captain America's current storylines, this volume of New Avengers was incredibly insightful and pertinent.
Though Brian Michael Bendis is the writer throughout, each separate issue making up the larger volume is drawn by a different artist and focuses upon a different character from the New Avengers.
While I don't believe any of these issues are "must-reads" in order to understand the larger storyline of Civil War, they certainly help illuminate character's motivations and set up plots to come in New Avengers and Mighty Avengers.
I'd also like to say that there is a component to this volume featuring Sentry drawn by Pasqual Ferry that alone makes the entire volume worth buying. I could take or leave Sentry as a character, but Ferry's rendering of Sentry interacting with the Inhumans is an absolute delight. Certainly Dean White's colors add to the beauty of Ferry's art, and I really hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did. In my opinion, Ferry is the go-to guy when it comes to interplanetary adventure, as I first learned with his stunning art in Adam Strange: Planet Heist.
New Avengers: Civil War is a great volume if you're looking for different artists interpretations of some of your favorite New Avengers; it's enlightening if you desire further character motivation during Civil War; and finally, it's a nice springboard to new plots in New Avengers.
Had I read this in "real" time I don't know I would have enjoyed it as much, but with 20/20 hindsight, I thoroughly relished New Avengers: Civil War.
~Scott William Foley, author of Dr. Nekros: Phantasms and Chicanery (Volume I, Episode II)
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
