General Information
Title: Civil War: X-Men #1-4
Author: David Hine
Illustrator(s): Pencils by Yanick Paquette (with an assist by Aaron Lopresti on issue 3), inks by Serge LaPointe (with an assist by Jay Leisteon on issue 3), and colours by Stephane Peru.
Original Publication Date: These issues cover dated September through December 2006.
Cover Price: All issues are $2.99US. The first issue was $4.75 Can, and the other three are $3.75 Can.
Past comic reviews can be found
here.
Premise
Domino and Shatterstar orchestrate the escape of several of the 198 remaining mutants from the protection of the Xavier institute. The remaining X-Men decide to track them down before Bishop and the rest of the O*N*E do. Unfortunately, not everyone in the government chain of command wants a peaceful resolution.
High Point
The use of Johnny Dee.
It seems he originally appeared in the Son of M miniseries I didn't read (which may be true of many readers who picked this up because of the Civil War tie-in), but he's an interesting villain. The X-Men haven't had a good, new villain introduced in some time.
Low Point
This seems to take a whole lot of pages to establish a fairly straightforward change in mutant status in light of the superhuman registration act. This could easily have been done as a 48 page one shot instead.
The Scores
This doesn't feel terribly original. It is very much a culmination and reference to X-Men history, which limits how original it can actually feel. I give it 3 out of 6.
The artwork is mostly good. There was a distinct lack of detail in the Shatterstar/Micromax attack, but otherwise things are looking good. We've got distinct colour pallettes in different locations, too, which is a nice touch. I give it 5 out of 6.
The story is light on details and heavy on combat. The politics behind the changing status were predictable to readers, and detailed in one panel in issue 2. The rest of the series was spent trying not to mess that up. There's just no meat here. I give it 2 out of 6.
The characterization is pretty light. The characters I recognize all act as I'd expect them to, but the cast of characters is so huge that there's really no time for any individual to get any depth. I give it 3 out of 6.
The emotional response was weak. When you brush over characters on predictable paths with battles that can't impact major characters (as they're also appearing in other titles that take place in continuity after this), you can't expect your readers to get very involved. I give it 3 out of 6.
The flow is smooth, but slow. This felt like it was dragged out to the length it was just to have more "Civil War" product on store shelves. I give it 4 out of 6.
Overall, while not a bad miniseries, it just didn't deserve the length or prominence it received. I give it 3 out of 6.
In total, receives 23 out of 42.
Civil War Review Checklist
