Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes - Posts Tagged "civil-war"

Superman: A Nation Divided by Roger Stern

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


A Nation Divided is a frustrating comic. It has an interesting premise: Superman lands on Earth in the 1840s and ends up fighting in the Civil War for the North in 1863, where he discovers his powers. I give Roger Stern credit for not going the Dave Gibbons route and insert a Lex Luthor doppleganger who just happens to have Krytonite. Superman does what you'd expect and roots the South with far less bloodshed and the war ends with a far less bloody Gettysburg.

From there, my big question is what happens? How does this change the shape of America, and of Lincoln? Does a Superman raised with 19th Century midwest values, most likely raised against the backdrop of "Bleeding Kansas," the pre-Civil War skirmish over slavery that set the stage for the 1860s election and the War, differ from a 20th Century Superman? What could the team of Abraham Lincoln and Superman bring to the world? If Superman was similar to his normal self, that would be one of the greatest combinations of goodness the world has ever seen, or would it still be?

And here's an interesting question, could Superman helping the union to a quicker victory actually prolong slavery? While Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863, it only applied to those states in rebellion and didn't ban slavery but rather freed existing slaves. The "border states" (slave states that stayed with the North) could still have slaves and could feasibly replenish the Southern slave population. Lincoln himself said he'd be happy not to end slavery if it kept the Union together.

On the other hand, with Lincoln alive, we may have seen a reconstruction that was far gentler on the South and far more generous. Slavery would certainly eventually be on the road to abolition in a decade or so due to changes in the economy that were accelerated by the War. However, without the heavy handed reconstruction which was enabled by a long and bloody war and the assassination of Lincoln, might full emancipation for all and Civil Rights have come with far less fighting and anger leading to more harmonious race relations today?

These are among the fascinating ideas which Mr. Stern's story doesn't address. Now to be fair, this is a Prestige comic book, and not a 300 page novel or a treatise, but if you're going to tell an alternate history as an ELseworld tale, you need to tell how this "What If?" scenario would affect the world or the superhero. Instead, Stern completely avoids the implications and imagines Superman discovering a message from his Kyrptonian parents that leads him to (in effect) become the Lone Ranger. What a waste of a good premise?



View all my reviews

Civil War: Ms. Marvel by Brian Reed

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects issues 6-10 of Miss Marvel and Special #1.

The Civil War issues are really on the periphery of anything major that happened in Civil War. She's tasked with taking down D-listers like the Prowler for failing to register. Thrn when one member of her team goes rogues, Carol goes a bit berserk, showing how her anger may be one of her greatest impediments to becoming "best of the best." The best thing about the three Civil War issues is that they bring Anya Corozan (later Spider-girl) as a young hero who because she was underage didn't think she was required to register. She is.

Issues 9 and 10 are a two part-story featuring her former identity Warbird. This Warbird is from another dimension where Carol got off booze and the world ended and now she travels to other universes killing their version of Rogue to get revenge for what Rogue did to her. It's a story that forces Carol to confront who she was and who she still is.

In Miss Marvel Special, a strange boy in a library begins reading Carol's novel based on her time using the identity of Binary. This is a really fun imagination-bending story.

Overall, this book despite getting bogged down in Civil War does manage to advance Carol's character arc.



View all my reviews

Ms. Marvel, Vol. 3: Operation Lightning Storm by Brian Reed

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 11-17 of Miss Marvel.

It contains three stories: First off in Issues 11 and 12, Miss Marvel faces off against a villain she defeated back she was at the Avengers. Interesting story, particularly loved the villain Doomsday Ma throwing off on the Avengers for failing to keep track of him so that AIM was able to snag him.

Issues 13 and 14: The Deal: Carol agrees to lead the Mighty Avengers in exchange for Tony Stark (currently director of SHIELD in this book) giving her her own detachment of superheroes and SHIELD agents (not actually reporting to SHIELD) to prevent major crimes before they start. After taking out an AIM sight, she decides to use this to help Julia Carpenter, who in the previous volume, she captured and dragged off to secret prison with her daughter watching and described bringing her in as "her pleasure." Carol's efforts to help Julia are meant to soften that image a bit, but instead the characterization is so off that the story instead makes me wonder whether she's a fit mother as she has little concern for her daughter's welfare and commits a parental kidnapping from the grandparents with SHIELD help.

Issues 15-17: The book ends with a big AIM story and it's a blast. It involves an AIM Civil War, witha variety of factions that include MODOK and different alternatives to him. It contains the cheesiest scene in the book , but is still a ride.

I thought both the first and last stories were pretty good. Carol also showed herself to be relatable. Not only does she feel regret over what she did to Julia, she also begins to question the wisdom of the entire Superhero registration movement in light of AIM being able to carry ou tattacks due to Tony spending an inordinate amount of time enforcing them.

Teenage superhero Anya Corazon was likable and this book made me curious to read her solo stories.

On the other hand, most characters in this book are either unlikable or flat. Tony Stark and Maria Hill come off as particularly unlikable. In one scene, Carol references "debriefing Tony Stark" and Maria asks if that's "the only time you debriefed him?" What is she? In High school?

The story tries to add in romantic subplot, maybe a bit of a triangle. However, both Wonderman and the non-hero potential love interest are dull, so it's hard to get into them.

In the end, this isn't bad, but there's a lot bad about this book. Hoping Volume 4 gets better.



View all my reviews