You have to give Kingdom Come some credit, though, as it buried its political and sociological allegory beneath comic book grandstanding and religious jiggery pokery. That rascally Mark Millar has no time for such subtlety, naming his series about a civil war breaking out amongst the heroes of the Marvel Universe, um, Civil War. He also makes no qualms about putting references to post-9/11 America, terrorism and the Patriot Act front and centre with a story where an exploding supervillain who kills a bunch of civilians leads the federal government to demand all metahumans disclose their powers and secret identities. One of the promises the crossover event hype machine for Civil War made was the thrill of seeing not just heroes and villains fighting each other, but heroes fighting heroes! Friend vs friend! You know, the sort of thing that had happened in every team-up issue of a superhero comics since the thirties, where the costumed vigilantes initially tussle due to a misunderstanding, manipulation of brainwashing, before joining forces to fight the real enemy. Still, any notable unoriginality wasn't enough to put off fans, who bought Civil War in their droves. Marvel even managed that most coveted of comic book coups, breaking into the mainstream and enticing in readers with promises of grown-up storytelling and political allegory. We've already been through why the latter is a joke, and the former notion isn't too difficult to disprove either. Mark Millar is a child. He looks like an adult, talks like an adult, and his birth certificate may argue otherwise, but he is a child. Civil War offers a child's view of the geopolitical landscape, a child's idea of a satisfying narrative arc, and a childish joy in taking the best toys from your toybox and smashing them together. Which, admittedly, is fun, but it doesn't make for one of the best graphic novels of all time. Far from it, in fact.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
