Civil War #4 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

All along, it's been "Civil War" versus "Secret Invasion" and we didn't even know!  (In retrospect, we probably should've known, given that "Secret Invasion" was one of the few events that Marvel didn't pull into "Secret Wars."  But, until now, we didn't know!)

T'Challa is revealed to be the Skrull Queen, Veranke, in this issue.  Tony arrives to save Jennifer from "him," but "T'Challa's" defenses make short work of Tony.  "T'Challa" then goes full Bond villain by narrating the secret history of the Warzone.  "He" admits to destroying the Negative Zone prison.  Since "his" forces weren't yet strong enough to initiate an invasion, "he" let Steve and Tony weaken each other further with their civil war.  "He" alludes to "his" lost homeland as motivation for finding a new nation for "his" people, and we of course think that "he's" talking about Wakanda.  However, Tony realizes that he's not dealing with T'Challa, since T'Challa would be smart enough to have killed Tony immediately.  (Heh.)  Veranke is confident that she knows all Tony's tricks, but he informs her that he doesn't exactly advertise all his abilities:  he uses thunder that he created after cloning Thor to attack her (and reveal her identity).  He and Jennifer make quick work of the remaining Skrulls, and Jennifer tells Tony that she has to tell him about her mission in the Blue.  (I think that we're supposed to believe that she stumbled upon Project:  Bellcurve, but I don't see how she could've, since Bullseye almost immediately caught her.)  Meanwhile, Steve has led his forces across the Divide and rides into the middle of the Iron's heroes with the hope that they attack him so he can deploy the bomb.
  

I'm only giving this issue three stars, despite thoroughly enjoying it, because Vernake's monologue is just too expository and wasteful:  seriously, she should've just killed Tony so that she could impersonate him, as she planned.  But, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention how suitably epic Yu's art is:  I pretty much want him drawing all huge battle-scenes.  It also doesn't mean that I'm not excited to see how Soule brings the story to an end next issue.  It would be interesting to learn when Veranke replaced T'Challa.  But, the real question is whether Tony will get to Steve in time to stop him from detonating the bomb.  Even if Steve learns that he and Tony were manipulated into their war, I don't know if he's going to care.

*** (three of five stars)