Civil War: Spider-Man (2for1)

There's no question that Spider-Man was one of the major players in the Civil War storyline. He almost represents the reader's point of view in that he starts out in the beginning at one end of the spectrum and slowly drifts to the other side as the Civil War events unravel. Given such a spotlight it's easy to forget that the actual page count featuring Spidey in the main arc amount to very little. In fact, in the first couple of issues, Spidey doesn't even figure into the story until Iron Man's news conference where he shockingly reveals his secret identity to the world in support of hero-registration. Enter the tie-ins... And for once, Marvel did it much better than the tie-ins in previous event-years (I'm looking at you, Avengers: Disassembled).

Civil War Amazing Spider-Man
This volume collects issues 532 to 538 of the monthly title that ran concurrently with main arc. Like the Fantastic Four book I looked at previously, the individual book takes a small plot line from the main arc and expands on it. In this case, that would be the public unmasking of Spider-Man.

In the months leading up to Civil War, Peter Parker had taken a job as Tony Stark's assistant (Amazing Spider-Man 529-531 can be found in The Road to Civil War). Tony not only took in his wife MJ and Aunt May, but also gave Peter a new hi-tech "Iron-Spider" suit. For once in his life, Peter was riding high on success. Peter follows Tony around as an executive assistant and is thus drawn in when Tony reveals to the government that he is Iron Man ...giving Peter a chance to do the same. This collection explores the reasons behind Peter's decision to unmask, his interactions with wife MJ and Aunt May, and the reaction from the world around him in the aftermath of his appearance on television. And interesting editorial decision is to skip over all the events where Spider-Man appears within the main arc: the plot goes right up to his decision to break away from Iron Man's pro-registration faction (where he goes fist to fist with Tony) and escapes into the sewars, but then jumps right to his reunion with MJ and May after they've gone into hiding.

Review Bullets:

• Robbie Robertson undergoes the "editor doesn't care" treatment here. He's back to his trim middle-aged man look (whereas his appearance in Frontline resembles more his movie-counterpart played by Bill Nunn).
• Jameson is downright nasty in this account of the unmasking. He's not comically falling out of his chair, but played straight-arrow. Not only does he fire Peter (and considers suing him for fraud) but we also get a look at how he really feels about Peter Parker and we realize how he feels betrayed by Peter.
• Peter gets a phone call from the Fantastic Four's Reed and Sue Richards... what they talk about is important and ties in several places later on. MJ and Sue's friendship in particular is followed-up in the other monthly that was running at the time.
• I haven't followed the Kingpin of Crime much but I do know that Daredevil eventually took down Fisk and he's now in jail... after the unmasking, Fisk is featured in a plot where he hires a hit-man to go after the Parker family... it's again one of those things the main arc glossed over because we were busy following Cap and Iron Man go to blows against each other.

Civil War: Peter Parker The Sensational Spider-Man
A quick opening note: when I first leafed through this collection, I was afraid it was like Captain America Disassembled where they haphazardly threw together different stories. They havent; this collection covers consecutive issues 28 thru 34 of Sensational Spider-Man which pick up the plot just after Peter's unmasking and explores the lives of the people closest to Peter Parker.
Issue 28 was almost a one-shot story and features a Joe Jusko-like painted look by Clayton Crain. That alone makes the book worth the effort but the story is a particularly good one. The story follows a young aspiring scientist. Not many comics tackled a super-hero's civilian life. If they are a reporter, then they go to work and deal with co-workers or bosses. If they are an artist, then they sit at their desk and start drawing under a deadline. But Peter's student is a fully fleshed out character in the 32 pages it takes to tell this tale.
The rest of the book takes a sudden turn in both art and story. The artists in this collection go totally "Todd McFarlane" on Spidey and reintroduce the frenetic extreme pencil lines so reminiscent of the Image comics of the 90's. The story is all about the women in Peter Parker's life. Interestingly enough, all 3 characters (MJ, Auny May, the Black Cat) already knew Spider-Man's secret identity. MJ undergoes a crisis of faith while Spider-Man is facing a gauntlet of his old villains (and getting attacked by super-villains, of course). We get a look at how Aunt May sees Peter even after all these years. And finally Felicia Hardy, the Black Cat, comes to terms with her own past involvement with Spider-Man (which features a very unusual showdown with Rhino).

Review Bullets:

• MJ looks suspiciously like Kirstin Dunst in this book...
• Speaking of Mary-Jane, she has an interesting conversation with Sue Richards and we see just how out-of-her element she is being married to a super-powered man.
• Seems like only yesterday I read the "Return of Venom" story where Felicia shows up at Peter's apartment not realizing that he's married since the last time they met. This is a weird because it's only now that Black Cat confronts her feelings towards Peter.
• There sure were a LOT of second-stringers in this collection. The story really digs into the Spider-Man mythos and brings out several obscure allies and enemies.
• On the other hand, you don't really need to know who Madame Webb is. Just know that she's the mystic in the "Spider-Man family" because not only does Peter try to get advice from her, but even MJ has a psychic encounter with her. And it's fine!

Overall, both these volumes contribute a very in-depth look at Spider-Man's life as he and his family experience the Civil War event. I would have to consider both books "musts" in the scale of tie-in material to a major event.