Justice like lightning

I'm never quite sure what Warren Ellis thinks about superhero comics, but when he writes one it is always something special. At the moment he is writing Thunderbolts for Marvel and it is mind blowing. After the Civil War event the Thunderbolts are now a team of villains hired by the American government to do their dirty work. Made up of the likes of Venom, Bullseye, Penance, Moonstone and led by Norman Osborne, anyone who knows Marvel history will know that this is not the most mentally balanced group running around.

Ellis though is turning in amazing scripts that highlight the obvious unbalanced nature of this group. The group is also supported by a massive advertising campaign led by the government to gain support for the group, though Bullseye's membership is a secret as he is a convicted mass murderer. Venom and Bullseye have used their Thunderbolts membership as a blank cheque to create as much mayhem as possible. Venom ate the arm of Silver Spider, and Bullseye stabbed Jack Flagg in the spine making him a quadriplegic. And then there's Penance, once known as Speedball, who kicked off the whole civil War thing with his attempt to capture Nitro which led to the deaths of thousands.

So fertile ground for the warped intelligence of Ellis, and matched by beautiful artwork by Mike Deodato Jr. This series is a great read, as it explores the dark side of superheroes.

The Other Side

Civil War: Iron Man is an attempt to show this conflict in the Marvel Universe from the less popular side. Many readers would have found themselves agreeing with Captain America as he argued for individual freedom. But Iron Man was just as passionate in his belief that super powered beings registered with the government and trained properly would benefit everyone.

The first part of this graphic novel has a debate between Captain America and Iron Man and is probably the best discussion of both sides of this argument, you can feel the passion both sides are dealing with.

Unfortunately the rest of the stories don't hold up to this high standard with not much actually happening apart from lots of talking, a complaint of the Civil War series as a whole.

If you are interested in this 'event' then keep an eye out for it but it's not really worth owning.