What If? Civil War #1 (Marvel – Brubaker / Grevioux / Gustavo) – When a stranger appears in front of Iron Man, visiting Captain America’s symbolic grave at Arlington, he is told of two diverse ways CIVIL WAR could’ve concluded. The first: What If CAPTAIN AMERICA led all the heroes against the Registration Act? The second: What if IRON MAN lost the Civil War? I picked this up with the attitude of… “Oh My… how far is Marvel reaching with this throw-away?” But what I found, is that my immediate perceptions were quickly throw off as Tony Stark meets the Stranger (perhaps an updated or V 2.0 of the Watcher) and the traditional Uatu is no where to be found except in a fuzzy earth image on the intro page. The art and story were both above what would be expected from this book, not because of the reputation of the creators involved, but more of what fanboys expect from one-shots that are tie-ins to huge events (everyone remembers some of the very sad World War Hulk tie-ins). This book has two stories, one of the type of the dark future ending and one of the type of happy utopian ending. Both were surprisingly good and thoughtful. As someone who was sucked into, and admittedly enjoyed, the elongated event that was the Marvel Universe Civil War, this a welcomed one-shot into my long boxes.
Grade: B+
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