Civil War II: Choosing Sides #5 Review and *SPOILERS* - Marvel Monday

Are We Done Yet?

Alpha Flight
Written By: Chip Zdarsky
Art By: Ramon Perez

Colleen Wing
Written By: Enrique Carrion
Art By: Annapaola Martello, Nolan Woodard

Nick Fury – Post Prologue Part 5
Written By: Declan Shalvey
Art By: Declan Shalvey, Jordie Bellaire

Cover Price: $3.99
Released Date: August 31, 2016
Publisher: Marvel

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

At this point, this comic has become a chore to read. Even the stuff that I end up liking a lot about this book is just tainted by the stories that bog down the entire issue. Why this series will be six issues long is a bit of a head scratcher for me. It seems rather clear to me that there are only enough good parts to fill about 3, maybe 4 issues and of course, it seems that the Nick Fury story could EASILY be cut down to fit into four issues. And yet, it has been extended into a six issue series and it has suffered because of it. There’s a part of me that legitimately believes that this series might be truly loved if it was shorter but it’s not and now I loathe the day that the final issue comes out. However, we aren’t there yet, let’s take a look at issue 5 and see if it was worth our time.

Part 1 – Alpha Flight

This part of the issue follows the members of Alpha Flight, who are citizens of Canada. The issue begins with the team fighting a couple of men and arrest them in Michigan thanks to a vision by Ulysses. The next scene we see has Alpha Flight meeting with the leader of Canada, Justin Trudeau. He voices his concern about using preemptive justice and he certainly doesn’t like Canadian citizens being the ones that are carrying out these arrests. Alpha Flight voices their point of view to him about how they support what Captain Marvel is doing and they just wanted to talk to him out of respect. Trudeau further voices his concerns before excusing them. Later that night, Trudeau is visited by Tony Stark and the two put on their pads and begin boxing. The two argue a bit while they trade blows and eventually Trudeau hits Tony and knocks him on the ground. During this boxing session, Tony was voicing his concerns and Trudeau agrees with his concerns. However, while he thinks that Captain Marvel is in the wrong, he also believes that Tony is wrong as well. There has to be a middle ground.

It certainly was very interesting to see an actual world leader to appear in this comic and he actually came off very well, however as I’ve said before this is a debate about what people should do with the main character eventually saying that there has to be some kind of middle ground. This is a story from Civil War II that we’ve gotten again, and again, and AGAIN! Not only have we gotten it from Civil War II, we’ve gotten it in this series before. At this point we’re just repeating ourselves every couple of weeks. Not only is it boring but it’s a waste of my money.

1.2/3.3

Part 2 – Colleen Wing

This issue is more focused on Misty Knight than it is focused on Colleen Wing but the issue is about an extraction of a man who can locate people with powers. They are extracting him for S.T.A.K.E. which I don’t know a whole lot about. Considering Dugan shows up later this issue, I’m guessing they are a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. Anyway, the issue starts to ramp up when the extraction team is suddenly being attacked by a woman on a motorcycle. They attempt to get away but the pursuer easily is able to catch up. Turns out the assailant is Colleen Wing which hits Misty pretty hard. Colleen is able to easily get around other members of the extraction team but she stops to talk with Misty. The two have been on the outs for a while but Colleen asks Misty to help her. She needs the man that they are extracting in order to help her find a missing child. We then cut to when Misty arrives at S.T.A.K.E. without the man they were extracting. Dugan shows up and is obviously upset but Misty simply walks away and tells them not to call her again.

The only way that this part ties in to Civil War II is when Dugan drops Captain Marvel’s name near the end. It feels like a story that someone was writing and then they just kind of threw it into this issue because they have to reach 6 issues. In fact, I would happily bet money because I’m certain that’s what happened to this issue. Don’t get me wrong, it was okay but had nothing to do with the crossover. Even the bad parts of the previous issues had some way to connect to Civil War II. Unfortunately, this issue does not and once again feels like a waste of my time.

1.2/3.3

Part 3 – Nick Fury: Post Prologue Part 5

Of course, we get another part of the Nick Fury story which really should have been wrapped up by now. We finally get a look at who Nick Fury has been hunting this entire time as the issue begins with him confronting him. The man turns around and it’s Nick Fury! The original Nick Fury! However, the original Nick Fury is dead and it is quickly revealed that this is a Life Model Decoy of the original Fury. This is why the shot in the arctic didn’t kill him. The life model removes his eyepatch to show a massive bullet hole is all that remains. The two quickly get into a fight and Nick Fury has a clear upper hand. It’s at this time that the Life-Model reveals why he has been trying to kill Nick Fury. It is because the Inhuman Ulysses had a vision that showed that if Nick Fury goes on his next mission he will die, but if he doesn’t die S.H.I.E.L.D. will no longer exist. So the Life Model is trying to save S.H.I.E.L.D. and Maria Hill knows all about it. Nick Fury is able to easily destroy the Life Model and the issue comes to a close.

You know when we needed this story? LAST ISSUE! As much as I’ve hated the Nick Fury story during this crossover, this part was fantastic! This is the kind of writing that we’ve needed this entire miniseries. It’s a shame that it has taken so long to get to this point but at least we are getting it at all. For the first time since this series began, I am looking forward to the next part of Nick Fury’s story.

2.5/3.3

Bits and Pieces

Don’t waste your cash on this miniseries. It has been a complete shit show for a long time and this issue isn’t going to fix it at all, but it is nice that the Nick Fury story is finally going somewhere. I guess we will have to see if the final issue can save this series. My bet? It won’t be.

5.0/10