General Information
Title: Civil War: The Return
Author: Paul Jenkins
Illustrator(s): Tom Raney (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Gina Going (colours
on the lead story) and Sotocolor's A. Crossley (colours on the Sentry
story).
Original Publication Date: This issue cover dates March 2007.
Cover Price: $2.99 US, $3.75 Can
Past comic reviews can be found
here.
Premise
In the first story, a character long missing from the Marvel universe
stumbles back into it. In the second story, we see the Sentry's decision to
register, which apparantly had nothing to do with his encounter with Iron Man
in New Avengers.
High Point
The Sentry defeats the bad guy in a way that only he can.
Low Point
That's how the long missing character comes back? Given how he
left when last seen, I was really expecting more. If anything begs for a
double sized issue or more, it's this, but instead we get half an issue.
The Scores
The originality is hard to judge
when there's so little meat here. The first story does look like it's going
somewhere interesting, but the second is really more of the same when compared
to the other Civil War crossovers. I give the complete package 3 out of
6.
The artwork is nice and clean, with no question
of what's being depicted and some well conveyed emotions. (In some cases,
it's still not clear about what's happening, but that's not the fault of the
art.) I give it 5 out of 6.
The story serves as proof that not all
comics today are extremely decompressed. This one really should have been
longer. There are just too many missing details to make this the main story.
Had this been a back-up to promote the new ongoing offered free in another
title, then it would have been different. Instead, the story that generated
all the buzz and speculation wasn't satisfactory. The second story told its
story well, but the story had already been told in a completely different way.
I give it 3 out of 6.
The characterization of the Sentry
was nicely done with his internal dialogue. The characterization in the first
story sets up some nice ideas, but doesn't take the time to follow through
with them. I give it 3 out of 6.
As you've probably guessed by now, the
emotional response was weak. With such a dissatisfying introduction,
I'm probably less likely to pick up the new ongoing than I was before I read
this, and that's definitely not a good thing. I give it 2 out of 6.
The flow is there in the second story. The first
seems to be missing a page, only that page would belong in the middle of an
existing page, so I know that can't be the case. I give it 4 out of 6.
Overall, as with many of the late
additions to the Civil War line, this feels quite lacking. I give it 3 out of
6.
In total, Civil War: The Return receives
23 out of 42.
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