Last summer, while staying in Clemson, S.C., I heard about this so-called “civil war” in comic books that had taken over the Marvel Universe and how it was the greatest thing since sliced bread.
I went to my friendly neighborhood Books-A-Million to satiate my hunger for knowledge on what this could be about.
Little did I know that this was indeed a major event and that it spanned across nearly 100 issues of Marvel’s current line-up of titles including Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man and many more.
Being the poor college kid that I am, I could in no way afford to buy all the titles, if I could even manage to locate them all, so I opted for the trade paperback of the main story line at only 15 bucks.
The main seven-issue story line reads as follows: after an accident where young superheroes inadvertently lead to a school getting blown up and some 600 children being killed, Congress passes a bill that requires all superheroes to register with the government and undergo training.
Some of the superheroes agree to it while others reject it completely and see it as an attack on their civil rights.
Needless to say a war ensues, pitting hero against hero and friend against friend.
I don’t want to spoil the ending, the ramifications are still playing out today, so I will just say that the writing was brilliant and the artwork was equally beautiful.
Even if you have never read a comic book I believe that it has something to appeal to everyone, and the issues are very relevant in the real world.
Since then, I have gotten hooked on comic books. I make my weekly trip to the nearest comic book store to pick the current week’s titles.
With many A-list writers from television and film, comics are not what they used to be.
They flow like a movie from issue to issue and the artwork is some of the best I have ever seen. Some critics have begun calling this the “New Golden Age of Comics” because of the acclaim of many story lines and the repeated second, third and fourth printings of some titles. Many comics sell over 100,000 copies per month.
Each year there is usually one big crossover event that encompasses several titles and alters the Marvel Universe. Two years ago it was Civil War, last year it was World War Hulk, and this coming March Secret Invasion begins. It is something that has been brewing for a few years but can be picked up on and understood from the main story line which hits shelves mid-March.
The basic concept is that an alien race with shape-shifting abilities has infiltrated many of Earth’s mightiest super groups. No one knows who they are and they are trying to find out.
With the slogan “Who do you trust?” being broadcast about the Internet this is sure to be a memorable event.

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