For almost a year I've been intrigued to see how Marvel's hero-versus-hero Civil War would play out. However, I never expected it to degenerate into a rather anti-climatic super-powered playground brawl (Civil War #7).I guess I'd hoped for something clever from Mark Millar, more akin to the ending of its companion title Front Line (#11) with the "unmasking" of the traitor in the pro-registration ranks. The irony here being that Front Line had been comparatively lacklustre up until this point and Civil War had appeared to be building to "something big".
In The Amazing Spider-Man #538, J.Michael Straczynski tells the story of this final scrap from the perspective of Spider-Man and his supporting cast - without giving away the final result (which was really never in any doubt, unless Marvel had some Dr Strange-sized deus ex machina up its sleeve).
Even without revealing the outcome of the Civil War - and JMS gets round this with a variety of smart tricks - this is a far more powerful conclusion to Marvel's big "event" of 2006/2007; and doesn't just read like a thin excuse to radically change (hopefully only for the short-term) how superheroes operate in the Marvel Universe.
Amazing Spider-Man #538 is character-driven and thus the issue's final page is a blinder! This really suggests that dark times are ahead for Peter Parker - hence the new "Back In Black" story arc that will be running across across all the Spider-Man titles; all far more interesting, personal and dramatic than the "superhero army" story that appears to be taking over the bulk of Marvel's output at the moment.
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