Civil War II Choosing Sides #4 Cover B Variant Gurihiru Cover

Marvel

The battle is heating up, but nothing's hotter than the limelight! When the media starts muckraking, how far will heroes go to stay out of the public eye?
Featuring Nick Fury, Power Pack and jolly J. Jonah Jameson himself!

Civil War 2 Choosing Sides #4 was my most anticipated issue from the series because it was bringing back one of my favorite superhero teams, the Power Pack.

"Why does it have to be just one thing or another? It's stupid to take sides. I change my mind about things all the time! All the time. Things are very complicated. Very very very very complicated."
—Katie Power

“The Punisher”

Writer: Chuck Brown
Penciler: Chris Visions
Colorist: Megan Wilson

Punisher does what he does best in the mix of Civil War 2.
The first story in this issue was about the Punisher. It was a generic story of the Punisher killing off bad people. It wasn’t very connected to Civil War 2, and I didn’t feel that this short story was needed for Choosing Sides. Choosing Sides should have short stories from characters who don’t have their own series. If Punisher needed a story connected to Civil War 2 it should have been a tie-in to his current ongoing series.
The muddiness of the coloring really worked for this supposedly chaotic Punisher story. I especially enjoyed the use of reds where it made it look like blood was smudging over the panels. It definitely made the short story feel like the Punisher from the Daredevil Netflix television show. This was really highlighted for me in the last page where the Punisher looks a lot like Jon Bernthal who plays the Punisher on Netflix’s Daredevil.

“Power Pack”

Writer: John Allison
Penciler: Rosi Kampe
Colorist: Megan Wilson

Julie is taking a break from the superhero game, and spends a day with her siblings at her new college, but the controversy of Civil War 2 comes up in their conversation.  At one point in the comic the kids are talking about growing up, and then Jack brings up the events of Civil War 2.  If this book wanted to be a Civil War 2 tie-in it should have focused on the loss of their brother, Alex.  A better story that I think would have fit this issue more would have been Julie talking about her bi-sexulaity with her siblings. This was the last major story to happen to Julie when we saw her in Avengers Academy.
I was impressed with the artwork for the Power Pack short story because it felt like a call back to the original Power Pack ongoing series. This was especially highlighted when the kids were using their powers. For example, the small detail of when Julie uses her light speed power the artist doesn’t show her legs, but if you look at more modern Power Pack books Julie’s legs are usually shown.

"Nick Fury - Post Prologue: Part Four"

Writer/Penciler: Declan Shalvey
Color Artist: Jordie Bellaire

A silent issue pitting Nick Fury and Black Widow against each other.
I do like the art style for this story. It makes the silent moments seemed prolonged, in a good way. It shows that every move counts, which is very relevant for a silent story.

All comics ship in sturdy cardboard with a bag and backing board!