Broken Frontier

Why does it feel like every week Marvel is dominating my pull list at the comic shop? I’ve always read more Marvel than anything else, but lately is seems like I’m buying twice as many comics as usual. And all the new additions are Marvel books. The culprit is the Civil War fiasco! Civil War is the most all-encompassing event book in Marvel history.

Marvel’s had some huge events in the past like Acts of Vengeance, the Infinity Gauntlet, and the more recent House of M, but never has there been an event that has held such serious repercussions as Civil War. Nary a Marvel title has escaped its grasp. But the vast pull of the event isn’t the only thing different about this Marvel event: This one is actually really good.

Out of Civil War came some of the biggest changes the Marvel Universe has ever seen. The two biggest: Spider-Man’s unmasking and the Death of Captain America. Both occurrences gained widespread media attention for the comic giant. And while nothing is permanent in comics, these are still biggest things to happen in or as a result of an event series.

I imagine Joe Quesada and the folks at Marvel had a conversation that went something like this, “Too many fans are holding out for the trades. Let’s create something that’s so exciting, and so involved, they’ll feel the need to pick up every book the day it comes out.” That’s exactly what they’ve done. I know, because it’s happened to me.

I’ve been switching to trades on several titles. When Mighty Avengers was announced, I said right off the bat, “That one’s going to be in trades for me.” But once Civil War ended and the new Marvel Universe was underway, I couldn’t wait that long. I had to find out what was going on immediately.

With new tie-in books coming out on a weekly basis it doesn’t appear that fans are going to have any rest (or extra spending cash) any time soon. Fallen Son, Avengers: The Initiative, Punisher: War Journal, Omega Flight -- these are just some of the successful titles fans are gobbling up. Existing titles like New Avengers and the Spider-Man books aren’t doing too shabby either. I used to buy Captain America just in the trades but now I’ve found myself buying the single issues because I’m dying to see what’s going to happen next.

In my honest opinion, nothing to come out of the series has had the raw emotion and nonstop barrage of talent as the mini series itself. But everything to come out of it has been pretty damn entertaining, which is more than I could say for House of M.

Some of you might remember me bashing event comics a few columns ago. I haven’t changed my stance. My complaint is that there have been too many events lately and the Marvel Universe could use some time to cool off a bit. Of course, we all know that won’t be the case with World War Hulk riding in on Civil War’s coattails. We will just have to wait and see how much the new event will affect the post-Civil War Marvel. Personally, I don’t think Hulk is interesting enough to carry a company wide event all on his own. But I’ll reserve judgment for when I’ve read it.

The comic industry is constantly shifting and changing, and the Marvel Universe is no exception. As long as they continue to tell compelling and original stories I think they can continue to enjoy their impressive sales. Will Marvel try its hand at more event comics? Absolutely. Will they all be as great as Civil War? Who knows? But for now I’ll run to the comic shop as quickly as I can and buy up nearly anything pertaining to the event like a loyal Marvel monkey.