So, after a month-long delay, Marvel finally released the fourth issue of its Civil War mini-series to comics shops yesterday, and frontloaded it with all sorts of plot twists: The supposed return of a long-absent hero turns out to be something much different and much darker, leading to the death of a second-tier character, which prompts several characters on both sides of the conflict to switch their allegiances, all of which builds up to the "good government" superheroes recruiting a bunch of A-list bad guys to track down the "renegade" superheroes. Sound convoluted? It actually moves along at a pretty good clip. But just because it's zippy doesn't mean the fans approve; yesterday's online chatter was sharply divided. "This is the sort of crossover that we'll need to fix years from now with another crossover," grouses one poster on the Newsarama boards, while another calls the issue "a prime example of what happens when overrated writers get control of the hen house." But a few supportive voices chimed in, like the fan who said, "I've read the issue 3 times in the last hour and I'm still in awe."

Anyway, to promote the issue's arrival, Marvel commissioned a new trailer for its website. It's not only pretty darn spiffy, it's actually more impressive (at least to this viewer) than their recent full-length animated adaptation of the Ultimates comic...