Civil War: A Marvel Comics Event is a 2006 crossover series written by Mark Millar and drawn by Steven McNivens.  The story follows the government who passes a Superhero Registration Act after an incident involving the deaths of civilians.  However, superheroes opposed to the act, led by Captain America, find themselves in conflict with those supporting the act, led by Iron Man, with Spider-Man caught in the middle.

Plot:  The story is exceptional and really moving.  There is definitely a plus when seeing the conflict from both sides which gives the story a pretty well rounded feel.  The story is action packed but it does have its moments that focus on the characters and their motivations.  This gives the story a lot of meaning while exploring some pretty strong themes.  Though much of the story that focus on Team Cap versus Team Iron Man (both have compelling arguments) there are other subplots at play.  There’s the story of Spider-Man and his role in the shifting events which land him slap in the middle of the conflict.  Another is the Fantastic Four and how the conflict has fractured the group.  There’s this interesting subplot with the Punisher as well.  There’s definitely a great buildup, an explosive climax, and a good ending that’s sad but hopeful and that’s what we want to see in a good story. (4 out of 5)

Characters:  As with all of these “Events”, there’s a large crossover of characters which is always freaking awesome.  It was great seeing some favorites and how well they were portrayed.  The four main characters are Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Peter Parker, and Susan Storm.  Riddled with guilt from the death of hundreds of people Tony Stark decides to head the Superhuman Registration Act.  I liked Tony’s reasoning but I liked Cap’s as well.  Both made really good arguments.  Cap was kind of a dick at times but I understand him.  I really liked Spider-Man and how he was such an important character.  We get exposition of his relationship with Mary Jane and Aunt May and how the Spider-Man persona has effected it.  Susan Storm has a great character along with the other Fantastic Four members.  I really liked seeing a romance between Susan and Reed.  I’m not a big Fantastic Four fan so I never understood the chemistry between the two.  I liked the other superheroes/anti-heroes including Tigra, Falcon, Luke Cage, Hank Pym, and Maria Hill who’s just a total bitch. (5 out of 5)

Art Style: Steven McNiven does a fantastic job with the artwork.  The depth of characters, the focus of facial expressions, the intensity of action sequences, everything that makes for a compelling sequence McNiven nails it.  The character designs and backdrops are awesome. (4 out of 5)

Audio:  I’m relatively new to the whole audio book gig but I’m fairly certain I can point out quality.  And damn it if this isn’t some great sound quality.  The voice performances are fantastic.  The cast did a great job of fleshing out the characters and making them feel unique.  The only two issues I had was the voice actors for Captain America and Iron Man.  Captain America was too masculine while Iron Man wasn’t masculine enough.  They did a superb job but those are just nitpicks.  The sound quality was great making the world feel lively.  When heroes were fighting the sounds are great.  The music is solid being intense during the difficult moments, there are great buildups.  Just great sound design all around.  Loved the narration which was awesome.

The voice cast includes Richard Rohan, Richard Cutting, Tim Getman, James Keegan, Kimberly Gilbert, Jeff Allin, Julie-Ann Elliott, Ken Jackson, Evan Casey, Elizabeth Jernigan, James Lewis, Thomas Penny, Danny Gavigan, Tracy Olivera, Elliot Dash, Nick DePinto, Tim Pabon, Michael Glenn, Thomas Keegan, Alyssa Wilmoth, Lily Beacon, Colleen Delany, Karen Novack, Scott McCormick, Caleb Brown, Bradley Smith, Nora Achrati, Sherry Berg, David Coyne, Christopher Scheeren, Eric Messner, Joe Brack, Terence Aselford, James Konicek, Alexander Strain, Casie Platt, Joel David Santner, Nanette Savard, David Harris, Michael John Casey, Yasmin Tuazon, Patrick Bussink, Casey Jones, Steven Carpenter, Drew Kopas, Lily David, Dylan Lynch and Damyon “Chop” Richardson. (5 out of 5)

Writing:  The writing is extremely well done Mark Millar is just a talented actor. You can tell he knows these characters and does a fantastic job of establishing the personalities, ideals, and emotions. The dialogue felt unique, making the characters stand out.  There are a lot of strong themes that the story focuses on; civilians exchanging their rights for safety, civil liberties, and corporate/government power are just a few of the points that effect society as a whole today.  The story is pretty lighthearted in the beginning but after Nitro utters that awesome phrase “You’re playing with the big boys” that’s when the story shifts to Zack Snyder style.  (4 out of 5)

The Verdict:  In the end, Civil War: A Marvel Comics Event is not only a great graphic novel but one of the best Marvel storylines.  I heard the audiobook but I decided to read the comics to make a fair assessment.  I really enjoyed a lot about this graphic novel and can see why so many hold it in such high regard.  The combined efforts of Mark Millar’s writing and Steven McNiven’s art tells a compelling story.  There depth of characters is done exceptionally well, the writing and art is good, the audio is of the best quality, and the story is just awesome.  Civil War: A Marvel Comics Event gets 5 out of 5.