The event all shook out a couple weeks ago, so, the highlights!
In order to have the most impact, we must lead into Rhodey’s death with solid evidence that he is Too Good For This World(tm). By making fun of Tony, obviously. Everyone loves making fun of Tony.
Unfortunately, occasionally you have to admit that… Tony has a point.
Hands up who agrees with Spider-Man!
We really should agree with Spider-Man, because he clearly has his finger on the pulse. Look, Ulysses is over Tony already.
Mind you, Ulysses is pretty much just over it. Especially attention. Stop going to war and blaming him, guys, he didn’t ask for any of this.
This is actually interesting. Look in the first panel – Captain America, Spider-Man and Lady Thor are flying towards the trees while Old Man Logan and Quicksilver run. Quicksilver. You’d think he’d get there first, right? And yet when the fliers get there he’s nowhere to be found. (Though also notice that there are two arrows in that body, while only one was fired. Maybe we should just ignore the tiny details.)
Poor kids. Going so wrong, so young.
I’ve idly wondered in the past whether Rhodey’s death was coincidental to his being injured in Captain America: Civil War. Possible evidence in favour is this shot where Vision has his own synchronous moment, attempting to hit Star-Lady/Shadowcat/Kitty Pryde. She, of course, phases rather than dodges, and he accidentally hits the Guardians’ ship. (Possible evidence against is that later on Tony does the same thing, with Carol in Kitty’s place and Steve in the ship’s.)
All the way through this there are a lot of moments where people cast Steve as the group conscience. Tony doesn’t entirely want to start anything if Steve doesn’t agree with him. T’Challa changes sides because watching Steve’s actions makes him uncomfortable with his own. And here, after they’ve all experienced a vision in which Miles kills Steve, he’s comforting him. Remember that Miles is about, what, 15 or 16? Steve barely even knows this kid (though he does know that Sam Wilson approves of him). But he’s completely sure that the vision must be wrong. He doesn’t even think twice. He’s a good dude.
And not a Nazi.
You do kind of have to feel for Carol when half her allies abandon her, though. The Guardians are only sticking around because they want a replacement ship, T’Challa’s switched sides and declared that attacking him is attacking Wakanda (which is kind of a dick move, diplomatically speaking), and now the Inhumans – who started the whole thing, albeit not deliberately – are leaving with a very curt farewell.
By “the younger among us” he means Sam Alexander, Kamala Khan and Miles Morales, of course.
Tony and Dr Strange are facial hair bros! (But Stephen still hates him.) Also, depending on the artist, practically identical.
Good lord, Tony’s right again? This is getting ridiculous.
I mean, we’ve already ended one civil war by assassinating Steve Rogers on the steps of Capitol Hill on live tv, let’s not get repetitive.
And the final word goes, also, to Steve:
Quite.