Civil War II – #3

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Previously in Civil War II #2

Civil War II #3 | Writer: Brian Michael Bendis | Artist: David Marquez | Banner Conversation Artist: Olivier Coipel | Color Artist: Justin Ponsor | Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles | Cover Artist: Marko Djurdjevic

Civil War II has claimed the life of another hero. This time, it’s Bruce Banner (The Hulk) shot down while his friends watch in horror.

Ulysses’ visions have, once again, gone the direction that Tony Stark warned they would. How would they handle it if one of their own was seen possibly causing destruction? The fairness and legality of detaining people (villains or heroes) based on what they might do remains in question.

Still, damn near every hero in the Marvel universe arrives on Banner’s Utah doorstep to take him into custody. Ulysses’ vision predicts Banner’s work with Gamma radiation will cause him to Hulk out and kill countless people. Though Banner insists he hasn’t had an incident in forever, his friends aren’t put at ease when Hank McCoy hacks into Banner’s computer systems and reports he is, in fact, experimenting with Gamma again.

Understandably, Banner becomes upset at this breach of privacy and that’s when he’s struck down by a single arrow. This is all relayed to the reader in a series of flashbacks as Carol Danvers, Tony Stark, and others are testifying in court about the events of that day. It’s there that we learn Clint Barton (Hawkeye) was responsible for killing Banner, but for very good reason – or so he claims.

Carol continues to support their work with Ulysses’ visions despite the body count, and Tony takes every opportunity to tell her these deaths are on her hands. It appears the death of Bruce Banner has swayed some of Carol’s defenders to Tony’s side – most notably: Nova and Miles Morales.

The back and forth of this issue was very effective in peeling back the layers of the story, and shots of heroes watching from various locations and glued to their TV screens are eerily similar to footage of people watching real world horrors unfold. It helped to capture the gravity of the situation and give the impression that nothing will ever be the same in the Marvel universe.

This is later driven home when just as the verdict is about to be read, Friday shows Tony Stark just how Ulysses’ power works and the vision he sees of our future terrifies him.