Civil War II: Gods of War #2 Review and *SPOILERS* - Marvel Mondays

Old School Throwdown

Written By: Dan Abnett
Art By: Emilio Laiso, Guru-eFX
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 13, 2016
Publisher: Marvel

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

So far, there have been three different types of tie-ins to this crossover. There have been tie-ins that are directly responding to the events that happened in the main series, there have been tie-ins that focus on a side story but still deal with the ideas presented in the main series, and there have been tie-ins that follow the original story presented by the creative team that occasionally are inconvenienced by the events happening in the main series. So far, Gods of War has been an example of the final type of tie-in. This story has seems so far separated from everything else, I find myself pondering why it even has Civil War II in the title. That said, the title hasn’t been bad recently. The first issue was more of an introduction to what was happening in the previous Hercules book. This way, new readers such as myself can understand what is going on. However, now that we’re all caught up, does the book finally get its story going? Let’s find out.

The story starts with a scene in Berlin in which a giant serpent is rampaging and in fly two Asgardians: Lorelei and Sigurd. They question the serpent about why it is attacking and it mentions The Uprising Storm and its pantheon of false gods. This is the first these two have heard of it until Sigurd’s phone starts ringing. The serpent and the Asgardians pause the fight for a moment so Sigurd can talk with Hercules. Hercules describes the situation happening with the new gods and they agree to meet up. Then Sigurd hangs up his phone and the fight with the serpent continues. We then switch over to Theseus, who is breaking into some place with high security to steal something valuable. His phone goes off and he assumingly gets the same talk that the Asgardians did, although he must fight off guards instead of giant serpents. Finally, Beowulf is sitting in a meadow when his phone goes off as well. He sees who it is from and considers hanging up, but decides to take the call.

Fast forward and we are in Queens, NY. All the gods have met up again and Hercules tells them about the dangers of The Storm. The gods, being who they are, soon find themselves bickering. However, Hercules is able to calm them all by showing the curse mark on his shoulder. Soon, the curse will take over his mind and he will become a member of The Storm. Just at that moment though, the new gods arrive to break up this meeting of old gods. This is when an all-out brawl gets underway.

The new gods are Catastrophobia, Horrorscope, and Cyrptomnesia. These new gods may be young but their abilities make them incredibly dangerous. However, despite the fact that they were able to easily beat Hercules in the past, when the old gods all work together, it would seem that they are actually a good team and make quick work of the new gods. However, the fighting catches the attention of other heroes. Now, the new gods have a special power that makes it so only other gods can see them. So when Captain America (Steve Rogers) and Captain Marvel see the old gods fighting nothing in the park, they decided that they must intervene. Back at the fight, Hercules has got his hands around Cyrptomneisa’s throat, when suddenly the curse mark on his shoulder begins to act up. Hercules has run out of time. The curse makes him go berserk and he becomes a part of the new gods, as their god of chaos. This is where the issue leaves us.

This comic is fucking fun! It’s like the part of a heist film where you get to meet all the members of the team. Then, we get an awesome and epic fight scene. So far, this story has been separated from the rest of Civil War II and I think that has helped Abnett write the story that he actually wants to write. That may change in the next few issues as other heroes get involved but so far, I like where this story is going. The art is really something special and I’m a big fan. Frankly, I can’t wait for issue 3 now. This issue got me invested in this story.

Bits and Pieces:

Dan Abnett gives us a fun and exciting story. We get to meet a few new characters that some readers may be unfamiliar with but those characters are quickly established and even likable. The art compliments Abnett’s great writing and storytelling by being gorgeous and really being able to show movement and action in an incredible way. This issue got me investing in this book and I’m excited for next month when issue 3 comes out.

8.5/10