Civil War II: Amazing Spider-Man

Description: Where does Spider-Man stand on predictive justice? Well, just think of what it would have done for Uncle Ben. Spider-Man goes one on one with the Profiler and you see the full impact of Civil War II on the Amazing Spider-Man's life.
Collects: Civil War: Amazing Spider-Man II 1-4, Amazing Spider-Man (2014) 7-8 (A stories)
Authors: Christos Gage
Artists: Travel Foreman
Published By: Marvel
Published When: Nov. 22 2016
Parental Rating: Teen

Review:

Hero vs Hero is pretty standard fare in the land of Marvel Comics. Thor and Hulk can't bump into each other at the supermarket like normal people, they have to trash the block whenever it happens. So the whole Civil War and Civil War II cross-over event is very much on-theme.

Yet there is something different in the Amazing Spider-Man story. The conflict is less Heroic and more Philosophical.

Sure, there are battles between people who, at the beginning of the story, were nominally on the same side. Spider-Man battles the villain – turned – ally – turned – tbd Clash. Despite working with Spider-Man and for Parker Industries, Clayton Cole is drawn back into his costume and gear, into the realm of villainy.

But is he drawn there, or pushed? This is where the philosophical battle emerges.

Since the whole basis of the Civil War II event is what to do with Ulysses, an Inhuman with the ability to predict the future, the question of how set or malleable is that future is a recurring theme. But few interpretations of that theme go as deep as the inner turmoil Spider-Man feels.

Did the prediction cause him to treat Cole differently? How much did those changes drive Cole toward the decision to take up the work of Clash again? Would things have been different if the prediction of Ulysses had not been revealed to Spider-Man ahead of time?

And few heroes are as introspective and filled with existential angst and guilt as Spider-Man, the perfect character to wrestle with the questions and implications.

The "B story" in this TPB comes from Amazing Spider-Man (2014) issues 7 and 8, a team-up between Spider-Man and the Kamala Khan Ms. Marvel. They (mostly) stop a super-powered robbery in progress. But the show-stealing highlight is the arrival of Silk, saving the day in her new costume. Caving into fashion peer-pressure, Silk decides that webbing up her mostly naked body was too embarrassing, too gauche. Time to make some life changes, including a shopping trip for some superhero spandex. There's less skin revealed in the new tights than in the tattered-cave-girl old look, but it's hard to fit in without some form-fitting, logo-enhanced super-threads.

For the mix of fun and philosophical guilt and angst, I give it 4 capes out of 5.

ISBN-10: 1302902504
ISBN-13: 978-1302902506
Language: English
Pages: 120 pages