Civil War II #0

   Since the movie is (deservedly) a huge hit, it's no surprise that Marvel has gone back to the well with Civil War II.

   There's one thing missing this time around - Captain America.

   This time around, it looks like the conflict is going to be between Iron Man and a different Captain - this one is named Marvel.

   This issue #0 (I hate issues numbered zero on general principle, I should admit) doesn't give us much to chew on.

   There's some nice artwork by the always-excellent Olivier Coipel, but the script by Brian Michael Bendis is disturbing - and not in the ways he intended.

   We're just given a handful of scenes without much in the way of context. For example: She-Hulk argues in a case defending a retired super-villain threatened with prison for having a discussion of his past crimes; War Machine (James Rhodes) meets with the President (carefully covered so you can't identify him) who promises to make Rhodey the next president (can he do that?); Captain Marvel meets with Doc Sampson (I thought he was dead?), who does some not-so-subtle analyzing of her state of mind; and the Terrigen Mist sweeps across a campus in Ohio, leaving behind a few cocoons, and three new Inhumans.

   How does all that tie together? I have no idea - and the closing pages depict a scene that makes no sense at all. Is it a scene of destruction, an illusion, a vision of the future, or something else? No clue.

   Heroes fighting each other is a Marvel staple, and the movie Captain America: Civil War shows how to do it right. The original mini-series, Civil War, shows how to do it badly.

   We'll see which category this series ultimately falls into.

Grade: B-

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