Civil War Frontline and other tie-in collections

[Absent-minded Prof]

The solicitations for April have several tie-ins, including a 2 volume Civil War: Frontline. How essential are these to the overall story?

Just for context, I pretty much confine my comics reading to graphic novels and collections these days. I have ordered the Road to CW and CW collections scheduled for (I think) Feb and March respectively - I'm mainly interested in getting the main story much as I did for House of M, without all the tie-ins - unless those are integral to the story going forward.

Thanks.

[The New Fate]

I don't know how essential they atr but I have enjoyed reading them.

[SKJAM!]

Well, just how "essential" Frontline is will depend a lot on the last issue. So far, there have been a number of interesting plot threads that were dropped or (imo) mishandled. There are strange missing bits that make some of the action hard to follow.

The Speedball story is kind of essential if you want to know how he turned into the Penance character about to appear in the Thunderbolts series. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but that's par for the course with much of the Civil War characterization.

The reporters' story will make or break the series--but it's going to take a major turnaround in the last issue. The plot's been promising startling revelations, but I'm not optimistic.

The Wonder Man story is pretty much a throwaway, as Thunderbolts and whatever series Namor next appears in will have to cover all the same ground again.

And the repurposed war poetry and stories? Gah. Eye-burningly awful.

But, if that last issue is really, really good, it might be worth it in trade.

[Absent-minded Prof]

Thanks guys - I think I'll pass on preordering them and go with something else right now, waiting to look them over in a bookstore when they come out to see if I want them.

I have gathered from reading other postings around here that in the overall story Spider-Man is central. I guess I'll see about getting those tie-in trades, maybe the Fantastic Four as well.