Synopsis & Review by RachelGrey:
Synopsis: Reed, Sue, and Ben stand in the hospital room of Johnny Storm, now comatose after his attack (in Civil War #1). The doctor says familiar voices and sounds could rouse Johnny. Ben says he’ll stay first while Sue gets Johnny’s iPod and Reed goes back to his work now that sides are being taken. Reed and Sue then get in an argument. Sue doesn’t think its right that Reed will now be rounding up heroes who have fought with the Fantastic four and are their friends because of their principles. Ben tells them to stop fighting. Reed then asks Ben if he’d like to help him round up some of the heroes. Sue says he’s not interested, but Reed says Ben can speak for himself and has nothing to lose since his identity is already public. Ben corrects Reed, saying he’s an America and has a lot to lose if the country tears itself apart. Ben then tells Reed and Sue to go off on their own ways for a while to cool off. The two leave while Ben talks to the comatose Johnny for a while. Ben mentions that lots of people have gone down to Oklahoma now that they know Thor’s hammer is there. So far no one has been able to pick it up.

Sue eventually returns with Johnny’s iPod. She tells Ben he can go, but brings back up the subject f the Civil War. She says Reed is wrong to round up any hero/heroine who doesn’t sign up. Ben asks if she means they should fight the government. Sue says, “Disagreement isn’t disloyalty, Ben,” and has a lot to think about. Ben agrees, but tells her she needs to put that on hold and worry about Johnny right now. On his way out, Ben overhears a news broadcast about super heroes battling each other over the registration and violent protesters…on Yancy street!

On his way to Yancy Street, The Thing comes across a battle between Ms. Marvel and Silverclaw! Ms. Marvel sees Ben and calls for help, but Ben ignores her and keeps going. He then checks in on the situation on Yancy Street. Protesters are throwing whatever they can whenever the police send anyone to pick up unregistered heroes. Ben says maybe they should try listening to the protesters, but the men decline, saying they’re going to arrest them so Ben better go say what he has to. Ben walks in and yells for them to come out. The protesters come out and say they though Ben would be happy they were standing up to the fascists. They argue with Ben and Ben admits he doesn’t know if the law is right or wrong. Ben says he thinks its wrong as a concept, but there are lots of laws he doesn’t like. He doesn’t want to fight his government, but that doesn’t means he supports it. The Protesters tell him he can’t be neutral. He has to take a stand. Ben realizes they won’t stop no matter what he says and the protesters ask him to join them. Ben says he’ll think about it and leaves as the protesters ask if Mouse is getting the information they need…

Meanwhile, Mouse is told that a security van carrying super hero prisoners will be coming through Yancy Street territory tomorrow. Mouse then leaves as his informer, The Puppet Master, joins the Mad Thinker. The two are using this as a chance to eliminate some of the competition and the Yancy Street protesters will make excellent fall guys.

Elsewhere, in Oklahoma, many more have tried to pick up Thor’s Hammer…and failed. They then notice an odd man walking up towards the Hammer, and cutting in front of everyone else. Some of the men try to stop him, but he easily stops them and touches the Hammer. Suddenly, the area is illuminated as the Hammer and the D. B. man soar off into the sky…

Review: Hmm…I accidentally picked this up…I wanted Amazing Spider-Man…oh well.

OK, this issue was a little better, but still somewhat boring. The multiple views on the Civil War were interesting. You can see Sue is against it and Reed is for it and Ben just can’t decide. He holds that indecisive middle ground that I’ve seen many other readers take. That whole “Well, I understand Iron Man’s side, but I can see why Cap is against it…” that many people have said and expressed. It brings up an important point to remember about Civil War. Each side has valid points. Neither side is necessarily wrong. Not a lot actually happened this issue. We see the see some different views, the Mad Thinker and Puppet Master have something planned, and the Hammer has finally been lifted. I still think the Thor plot is dumb. The Mad Thinker and Puppet Master thing doesn’t seem too interesting as well. The Yancy Street protesters were kind of annoying, but not as annoying as the background text bubbles. They did show Ben that he also has a lot to think about. The earlier part with Johnny was boring. The whole page dedicated to joking as a waste. I haven’t found one successful joke in this book so far. The big thing about this issue are the stances each Fantastic Four member are taking. I’m getting kind of annoyed with Ms. Marvel appearing everywhere. I like her, but tone it down. It’s like Wolverine syndrome. Plus, Ms. Marvel is a stupid name. I liked Binary or Warbird better. I have no clue who Silverclaw is except that she was an Avenger and is anti-registration. I also can’t really find the energy to care about her.

The art still seems bland to me, but it remains on par with the last two issues. The best part of this issue is probably the cover though. It’s very cool. Honestly, I was expecting better from this book. Straczynski is a much more capable writer. He’s been doing very well on Amazing, but it hasn’t really worked out here. I like the Fantastic Four; I just don’t like their book. I think the one big problem, which I hope Civil War will fix, is that it all seems old to me. The art and the adventures all seem old. That’s why I’d take Ultimate Fantastic Four over this any day, and it hasn’t been particularly great either. They seem fresher and more vibrant and maybe some time with the Fantastic Four broken up, as the solicits and hints lead too, could do some good. Either way, I’m sure of one thing: This book needs something to just jolt it up. Spider-Man is pretty solid with Amazing, the costume, and two good books in Friendly Neighborhood and Sensational. New Avengers sells well and has decent quality. X-Men has its new creative teams. This last corner of the Marvel world hasn’t really had anything happen to it to bring it up to the other corners’ standards. Here’s to hoping Civil War will rectify this.