Charles Soule and Leinil Yu’s Civil War #2 is loaded with intrigue and suspense after the death of Miriam Sharpe reignites the conflict between Captain America and Iron Man. These events and the effects the follow set the stage for what’s to come from future chapters in series, and promises some shocking and exciting twists on the plot of the original Civil War.

Last issue, the leaders of the warring factions of this Battleworld domain—Captain America’s “Blue” and Iron Man’s “Iron”— met at a peace summit. Unfortunately for the sake of peace, an unknown assassin killed the mediator—the aforementioned Miriam Sharpe. The tenuous relationship between the two parties devolved even further and reignited the conflict between Captain America and Iron Man. This issue focuses on the efforts of both parties in building up their defenses against the other, while focusing intermittently on the horrors of this long war.

Writer Charles Soule does a great job at portraying both leaders (and their followers) as people with rational points of view, albeit radically different ones. In my opinion, this approach works a lot better than the original Civil War miniseries, where Iron Man was presented as the villain. That said, I understand that this book is only able to tackle this story in this radical of a way because it is only just one region of Battleworld and not the entire Marvel universe. Soule makes sure to give effective characterization to Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man and more. His dedication to defining his characters and their motives is to be championed, and it’s something that I feel a lot of these “Secret Wars” tie-ins have been missing. At this point, I’d have to say that this is one of my favorites of the event, due to the consistency and effective use of the Battleworld scenario.

Spider-Man appears like he will be an even larger part of the next few comics. He has volunteered to infiltrate Iron Man’s side of the domain in order to steal a rare material for their “Project Bellcurve,” a weapon (developed by Beast) that will depower the other side’s powered combatants. His infiltration team consists of Elektra, a new Black Panther, and Venom (probably Flash Thompson?), all of whom have a serious score to settle with Iron Man and his side. Peter’s dedication to his family is presented as equal to his dedication to Captain America and I’m interested to see the interplay of his two great “responsibilities” in his mission, and whether it will prompt him to continue his mission or possibly defect in order to be with his family.

Penciller Leinil Yu delivers another beautiful, stylish, low-key issue. Light on action, Civil War #2 is well-paced through its panels and their relative size, which helps maintain a clear direction. Civil War, Superior, various issues of Avengers; he’s one of Marvel’s top artists and I’d love him on a big series in the fall. There weren’t any big action pieces in this issue, but that’s because it’s clearly a set-up issue that cools down from the initial excitement and introduces elements that will continue throughout the rest of the miniseries. It’s the kind of issue that would read excellently in trade. It’s fairly common for the second or third issue of a series to follow this track, and while not particularly exciting individually, they collect well and matter to the overall story. I’m really looking forward to the upcoming issues and Spidey’s team’s conflict with Iron Man and the resulting sparks that fly when the two clash.