Civil War by Mark Millar

Title: Civil War

Author: Mark Millar

ISBN: 9780785121787

Publisher: Marvel Worldwide

Copyright Date: 2010

Genre: Graphic Novel

About the Author:

Multi award-winning writer Mark Millar has revamped the X-Men, broke Spider-Man sales records, brought the Fantastic Four into the 21st Century and made Superman a communist. He is also the writer of the US industry's biggest-selling comic book of the past decade, Marvel's Civil War, published in 2007. His Wanted comic series was the industry's biggest-selling creator-owned book of the last ten years until he smashed his own record with Kick-Ass, each issue selling more than Spider-Man and X-Men from issue one with an unprecedented five printings every issue. Both properties were sold as movies before the first issue hit the stands and everything Millar has ever created is in various stages of theatrical development. Wanted starred Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy. Kick-Ass stars actor Nicolas Cage.

Outside comics, Millar has been praised by Marvel Studios and screenwriter Zak Penn for creating the template for their 2008-2012 line-up of movies, their 2011 and 2012 Captain America and The Avengers movies based on Millar's Ultimates monthly series. He cast Samuel L Jackson as the leader of this super-team and his influence extends into every Marvel movie on their upcoming slate. Although busy creating his own movies and comic-books now at Millarworld, Millar remains under contract at Marvel to write their most high-profile projects.

Unwin, L. Mini Biography of Mark Millar. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2092839/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

Curriculum Ties:

• Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
• Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. 

Plot Summary:

The Civil War Marvel comic event is kicked off by an incident where a team of relatively unknown superheroes, with their own reality tv show, attacks a team of super villains, leading to the death of hundreds of people. In response, Iron Man heads up a government initiative to stop super heroes from working as vigilantes, organizing those willing to work with the government and imprisoning those that refuse. Captain America heads a movement for the freedom of super powered individuals, emphasizing that they should be able to help people when they want, not when they are sent to do so. These differing attitudes lead to a confrontation between the two, as they both vie to make their world view acceptable. Unfortunately, this leads to serious conflicts resulting in the death of Giant Man, the brutal beating of Spider Man, and the imprisoning of Daredevil. In the end, only one side can truly succeed, and this story builds up to an epic climax.

Critical Evaluation:

This graphic novel is a tie in of many different comic book properties, including the Avengers and X Men. As a result, if a reader is not familiar with the characters or plots leading up to this story, it can be confusing. One example of this is how both sides go to recruit the X Men, but the X Men refuse to leave the reservation the government has set up for them. Other characters, such as Namor, Black Panther, and the Punisher also appear but are not really introduced, making the novel difficult to fit into a single book plot wise. The characters’ motivations are also unclear at times, making it hard to determine what their real desires and purposes are. Captain America wants to save people, but he chooses to do this by repeatedly staging conflicts in populated areas, which seems to be at odds with his overall purpose. These make the story one that would be difficult for someone to use this comic as an introduction to the Marvel universe, but entertaining and pivotal for someone already entrenched in the lore. 

Readers Annotation:

A disastrous mission has left the public and government hating superheroes, causing a changes of legislation that requires all superheroes to be controlled by the government. This leads to a conflict between Iron Man and Captain America that will have serious consequences. 

Book Talking Ideas:

• Talk about what is important to the main characters, Iron Man and Captain America. Look for how they support those values.
• Talk about what superheroes symbolize. How would fighting among themselves destroy that image? 

Reading Level/Interest Age:12-17

Challenge Issues:

• Violence throughout the story, including illustrated murder.

Defense Collection:

• MARVEL CIVIL WAR BY MARK MILLAR – COMICS REVIEW: 
• http://thefoundingfields.com/2012/07/marvel-civil-war-shadowhawk/
• Freedom to Read Statement
• ALA Library Bill of Rights
• Springville Public Library Collection Development Policy
• The Library Director and designated staff actively evaluate and select materials. The Springville Public Library Board, acting under the authority given to it by Title 4, Chapter 6 of the Springville Municipal Code and Title 09 of the Utah State Code, has the ultimate responsibility for the determination of the policies for selection and acquisition of materials.
• Library materials are selected based on the following (not necessarily in order of priority):
• Local public demand and usage potential
• Popularity
• Subject coverage
• Relevance
• Accuracy and currency
• Presentation, readability and format
• Point of view (all sides)
• Cost
• Local connection
• Social values
• Collection balance
• To assess the item based on the above criteria, staff utilize:
• Nationally recognized and relevant pre-publication reviews
• Staff expertise
• Bestseller lists
• Patron recommendations and requests
• Reliable social media reviews 

Purpose in Collection:

The superhero genre has been rapidly becoming more popular of late. As such, having materials in the collection is important. There is also a movie tie in to this story, which makes it that much more so.