Civil War II is a comic book crossover storyline 2016, written by Brian Michael Bendis and art by David Marquez. It is the sequel to 2006’s “Civil War“, the story sees opposing factions of superheroes led by Captain Marvel and Iron Man come into conflict when a new Inhuman named Ulysses emerges with the ability to predict the future.

Plot:  The story is pretty cool and actually really interesting.  I know, I know.  A lot of people compare the story to Civil War mixed with Minority Report which is actually based off another work.  I liked the concept and the potential avenues that the story could’ve gone with Ulysses’ ability to see potential futures.  There’s a lot of great action, the best scenes being the tension between Tony Stark and Carol Danvers.  There’s meaning and depth to the struggle between their two ideologies, and both sides of the argument are rooted in truth.  The story does leave off without addressing many of the subplots focused on Miles Morales, Captain America, She-Hulk, and even Ulysses. (3 out of 5)

Characters:  The large cast of characters were well-written and deep, though one or two of the incarnations are different.  The main characters are Tony Stark, Miles Morales, Carol Danvers and Ulysses. Even though Ulysses is the center of the conflict he isn’t particularly interesting.  He doesn’t have a moment where he clearly shines and we don’t clearly see his thoughts on situation.  It is more interesting seeing the conflict from Tony and Carol’s point of view. Despite Tony doing some pretty extreme things that escalates the situation, his motivations are pretty understandable. Carol is actually pretty extreme herself and perspective isn’t entirely wrong either. She was pretty bullheaded though.  Miles is like the middleman for the conflict much like Peter was in Civil War.  Miles is interesting but I don’t particularly find him a strong enough character to stand with the big dogs.  In fact, he kind of feels forced.  They could’ve easily put in another character, one with more history with Tony and Carol.  The introductions of the Inhumans into the conflict was pretty cool, especially since I didn’t known much about them.  In fact, before this, I didn’t care enough to even look them up.  There are some characters who get killed off and of course fans don’t like it, but in a universe of superheroes/villains, monsters, interdimensional beings, and gods of course there are some casualties.  Despite one or two hiccups with the characters I liked them.  (5 out 5)

Art Style:  I thought the art style was really good and that David Marquez really impressed me with his direction as well as Justin Ponsor with the coloring.  The character designs are great, scenes feature depth and scope.  I like the facial expressions during the more intense sequences.  One of the best scenes are the when the future visions occur and we get to see artwork from other artists. (4 out of 5)

Writing:  I know a lot of people don’t like this graphic novel but I really appreciated it.  Brian Michael Bendis’ direction was different and I like that focus.  This isn’t as bad as people claim it to be and Bendis delivers anything but.  There’s a lot of levels to the writing especially when it comes to the actually story that it is being told.  Which is worse, arresting people who could potentially do wrong (determinism) or waiting to arrest them after they do wrong (free will)?  If you arrest them before you could potentially save lives or arrest someone who would’ve have done wrong and if you wait til after they might not have done it at all or they could’ve done something disasterous. It’s a strong argument that just keeps going down the rabbit hole.  I like the depiction of Ulysses abilities where his visions aren’t set in stone which is the point of the conflict.

Now, that’s not to say this is perfect because I have some points that I think could’ve been better.  I didn’t like the character of Ulysses and found him evolving into this higher being as being weak writing.  All of this fighting the heroes are doing and Ulysses basically just leaves with no resolution.  I didn’t like the whole Tony is put into a coma when his death would’ve actually been more meaningful.  It could’ve been the catalyst for Carol to change her mind set and would’ve given her better depth.  Carol did feel stubborn and standoffish and should’ve been more open to the idea.  I do question Miles’ importance in all of this.  I personally think they could’ve had more compelling characters such as Wolverine, She-Hulk, Black Panther, or even Medusa. I liked Brian Michael Bendis’ approach but he did have a couple of missteps.  (3 out of 5)

The Verdict:  In the end, Civil War II is a good graphic novel.  Despite a lot of negative attention the story gets, it’s interesting and complex.  Yes, most of the problems are set around some of the writing and whether is Bendis or Marvel is in the air.  However, the story is interesting, the art style is awesome, the characters good, and the underling themes are important.  Civil War II gets 4 out of 5.