Marvel Event Spotlight: Civil War

[justinsayne]

Civil War
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Quick Summery

Civil War is a 2006-2007 Marvel Comics crossover storyline built around a self-titled seven-issue limited series written by Mark Millar and penciled by Steve McNiven, which ran through various other titles published by Marvel at the time. The storyline builds upon the events that developed in previous Marvel crossovers, particularly Avengers Disassembled, House of M, Decimation, and Secret War. The tagline for the series is "Whose Side Are You On?"

The premise of Civil War involves the introduction of a Superhuman Registration Act in the United States. Similar acts have been used as literary devices in Watchmen, Uncanny X-Men, DC: The New Frontier, Powers, and Astro City, though never on a scale such as permanently altering an entire pantheon of established pop culture icons. Mark Millar, writer for the story, has said:

“I opted instead for making the superhero dilemma something a little different. People thought they were dangerous, but they did not want a ban. What they wanted was superheroes paid by the federal government like cops and open to the same kind of scrutiny. It was the perfect solution and nobody, as far as I'm aware, has done this before.”

The act requires any person in the United States with superhuman abilities to register with the federal government as a "human weapon of mass destruction," reveal their true identity to the authorities, and undergo proper training. Those who sign also have the option of working for S.H.I.E.L.D., earning a salary and benefits such as those earned by other American civil servants. Characters within the superhuman community in the Marvel Universe split into two groups: one advocating the registration as a responsible obligation, and the other opposing the law on the grounds that it violates civil liberties and the protection that secret identities provide. A number of villains have also chosen to take sides, some choosing to side with the registration, others against it. Luke Cage (previously the second Power Man), an African American, compared registration to slavery, and did so to Iron Man's face. Others compared the act to the norms under which the police and soldiers operate.

The genesis for this idea sprang from conversations between Mark Millar, Brian Michael Bendis, and Bryan Hitch. Within the story, the adoption of sides by characters builds into the titular "civil war." Although the series can be read as allegorical commentary in the wake of 9/11 and the Patriot Act, writer Mark Millar has noted, "The political allegory is only for those that are politically aware. Kids are going to read it and just see a big superhero fight."

Plot Summery

Spoiler

The Superhuman Registration Act had been a long time in the making. The extension of the often-proposed, never-passed Mutant Registration Act, the Superhuman Registration Act arose following the devastating attack on Manhattan in reprisal for Nick Fury's "Secret War" and the Hulk's destructive rampage in Las Vegas, which killed 26 adults, two children, and one dog. Unbeknownst to the general public, the Illuminati subsequently deceived the Hulk and jettisoned him into space following this incident. (See Planet Hulk.)

Following M-Day, 90% of the Earth's mutant population found itself spontaneously depowered. With the mutant population suddenly far less visible and extremist groups claiming the event marked a turn in the tide of growing mutantdom (if not divine punishment against all mutants), sympathy for the group was near an all-time low. The majority of the remaining mutants—estimated at 198—were gathered up and forced to relocate to the Xavier Institute for their own protection. These events put public support for the registration bill at around 50%.

Tony Stark (Iron Man) was among those working to prevent passage of the act. He even hired a new Titanium Man to attack him immediately after his testimony before the Commission on Superhuman Activities, hoping it would hammer home that the act would make the nation less capable of dealing with rogue or foreign superhuman threats. The anti-registration camp seemed to be making headway, and might have even defeated the bill by the narrowest of margins, if not for the events that took place in Stamford, Connecticut.

Villains Nitro, Cobalt Man, Speedfreek, and Coldheart had been holed up in a house in Stamford when the New Warriors members Night Thrasher, Speedball, Namorita, and Microbe located them. The New Warriors were, at the time, the focus of a reality TV show, and although a number of them felt the villains were out of their league, the network and others in the group thought it would be great for ratings. When Namorita attempted to capture Nitro, he used his explosive powers and destroyed several city blocks, including the elementary school at the epicenter. Three of the New Warriors, the three villains accompanying Nitro, and over 600 civilians, among them 60 children, were killed. Numerous members of the superhero community arrived on the scene to search for survivors.

Public sentiment toward superheroes plummeted. The inactive New Warriors were widely regarded as "baby killers" by association. Hindsight Lad, desperate to distance himself from them, began releasing their secret identities until the surviving members of the New Warriors stopped him, with help from the She-Hulk. The Human Torch is beaten into a coma outside a Manhattan nightclub. Public opinion had been lukewarm for the Superhuman Registration Act before; now it passed the tipping point. Although nominally a U.N. agency, S.H.I.E.L.D. seemed to have assumed the brunt of enforcing the act under acting director Maria Hill, even though the act was not yet passed by the U.S. government.

Captain America balks at leading a force to apprehend rogue heroes. He escapes the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier when they attempt to arrest him. He begins an underground resistance movement the press dubs the "Secret Avengers." Most of his core group (himself, Hercules, Bill Foster, Luke Cage, Iron Fist (posing as Daredevil), Falcon, and Cable) had to take on a series of identities to avoid capture, literally becoming outlaws. The Secret Avengers apprehend a number of criminals while evading the opposing heroes and the new S.H.I.E.L.D. "capekiller" units. Other heroes joined them or were liberated after their arrests. The Young Avengers and Cloak and Dagger were some of these heroes to later join the group.

Iron Man feels that it is reasonable for heroes to have proper training and oversight, that the casual self-policing the superhero community had enjoyed until now was insufficient, and (most importantly) that it was now impossible to resist this change in the political landscape. He gathered his own pro-registration heroes to bring in Captain America's group and other non-registered combatants. Mister Fantastic, with the help of Yellowjacket and Tony Stark, began work on designing a prison named "42" to detain super-powered violators (designated 42 because it was their 42nd idea for improving the world).

Most of the pro-registration heroes, such as Mister Fantastic, Doc Samson, She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, and Wonder Man, already had highly public identities. Even Stark unmasked himself as Iron Man (for the second time in his career), and admitted to previous attempts to hide his identity. One supporter was not yet public: Spider-Man was reluctant to reveal his identity. He prepared to liquidate his assets and flee the country with his wife and aunt to avoid revealing his identity and putting them in jeopardy. They, on the other hand, were supportive and felt it was time for Peter to finally get some recognition for his good work. During a live, nationally televised broadcast, he pulled off his mask and announced, "My name is Peter Parker, and I've been Spider-Man since I was fifteen years old." J. Jonah Jameson watching the reveal fainted at the surprise.

The X-Men, on behalf of the mutant community, declared neutrality in the growing conflict. Acting leader Cyclops felt that the mutants had already been through too much during the Decimation to take a stand either way and survive. Individuals within the X-Men had their own opinions on the matter. Wolverine felt that the act was every bit as racist and oppressive as the Mutant Registration Act, while Bishop felt it was necessary to embrace the act and make sure that mutants could continue to self-police, lest the truly oppressive regime of his home timeline should come to pass. As the last known mutants, all members of the 198 and the X-Men were already in government databases and were registered by default when the act passed.

The 198 have since chafed at the constant O*N*E surveillance, as well as their inability to leave the school grounds without being tracked by monitoring chips. When it was discovered the chips could also deliver a powerful electric discharge to assure the 198 could be subdued, they rioted. Mister M used his powers to remove the chips and they left the mansion. Bishop, Sabra, and Micromax were given permission to apprehend them, threatening to shatter Cyclops' neutrality. During the incident, General Lazer's thinly veiled anti-mutant sentiments and his covert attempts to destroy them were uncovered. His neck was snapped by Johnny Dee (via his duplicate of the general) and the mutants and heroes rallied together to prevent disaster. The more sympathetic director of O*N*E, Valerie Cooper, now seems to have a free hand with regards to the mutant refugees.

The X-Men and the 198 were not the only voices of the mutant community. X-Factor Investigations, an independent group of private investigators made up in part by members of the old superteam X-Factor, have recently set up shop in Mutant Town. After several incidents, X-Factor has publicly and violently declared that Mutant Town is under their protection.

Meanwhile, Wolverine had begun tracking down Nitro the moment rescue efforts ceased. With interference and assistance of Atlantean forces, Wolverine determines that the disaster relief company Damage Control was corrupt at the top. Nitro had been given a "mutant growth hormone" to make his explosions more powerful and thus more profitable for the company. Wolverine leaves Nitro to the Atlanteans and seemingly kills the corrupt director of Damage Control, Walter Declun.

The government sets up a new version of the Thunderbolts to parry various threats, such as the plans of rogue, uncontrollable villains. The captured villains willing to play along quickly swell the team into three large squads. Still more are being trained every day in a secret mountain camp. Numerous other villains have been released since then under more direct (or less legitimate) government supervision, including the Green Goblin, the Vulture, the Jester, and Jack O'Lantern. The villains are supposedly kept in check by nanites in their blood stream which can monitor and disable them at any time. Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin, learns the secret to deactivating them from a mysterious benefactor.

Most villains sought to bypass the act. Former Maggia member Hammerhead saw the act as an opportunity to usurp Wilson Fisk as the Kingpin of Crime by rallying criminals in opposition of the act. His reasoning was that it was only a matter of time before every super-being was treated as a walking WMD, and then the criminals among them were as good as dead. A number of super-criminals did in fact rally under him, but the Kingpin manages to orchestrate the capture and death of his rival from his jail cell.

Conflict among the heroes was constant, with the government-backed heroes tracking down unregistered superhumans (and subsequently arresting or registering them) and trying to find Captain America's Secret Avengers. The Secret Avengers operated out of a series of secret safehouses set up by Nick Fury, kept secret from everyone within S.H.I.E.L.D. Cap's team continued to apprehend supervillains (usually leaving them bound for the authorities), and launched a series of well-coordinated attacks on prison transports carrying unregistered superhumans. During one such raid, the convoy was diverted when Iron Man became aware of Cap's plan, and ended up going directly down Yancy Street. During the subsequent battle, a member of the Thing's beloved Yancy Street Gang dies. Ben leaves the country for a while.

In Los Angeles, the Runaways, unaware of the situation, stop the Flag-Smasher in public. S.H.I.E.L.D. attempts to chase them out while severely damaging Victor Mancha, although the Runaways make it back to their lair beneath the La Brea Tar Pits. In New York, the Young Avengers see the fight on TV and the Vision II suffers a seizure. Despite Captain America's veto of the plan, the Young Avengers steal a Quinjet and track down the Runaways. After a brief fight, the two teams are attacked by Noh-Varr, who was sent by S.H.I.E.L.D. to take them down. Noh-Varr breaks Xavin's neck and kidnaps Hulkling, Wiccan, and Karolina taking them back to his prison in the Cube. During the fight, Vision II phase-shifted his hand into Noh-Varr's chest, who broke it off to escape. The remaining members of both teams break into the Cube and saved their teammates, freeing Noh-Varr from the mind control of the Cube's warden. The Runaways refuse to pick a side in the war and maintain a neutral stance.

The Secret Avengers are lured by a false emergency call into an ambush by the pro-registration forces. A clone of Thor is sent in to help arrest the fugitives, instead it kills Bill Foster. The clone then turns on the team, but they are saved from certain death by the Invisible Woman. Captain America orders a hasty retreat. The event shook up both sides in the war, with Stature and Nighthawk finally surrendering and registering, while the Human Torch and Invisible Woman decide to oppose the act's enforcement with Captain America.

Spider-Man decides to quit after learning about the Negative Zone prison and about spying programs on his new technological suit. He battles Iron Man and escapes into the sewers. Already weak, he was found, drugged, and blasted half to death by Jack O'Lantern and the Jester. He was saved at the last minute by the Punisher, who kills the villains and brings Spider-Man to Captain America's hideout. The resistance movement is hesitant, but agree to take on the Punisher's support. Later, Spider-Man would interrupt a newscast to make a public statement about the horrors of the act's enforcement, and pledge to fight it.

Subsequently, an ambassador from the kingdom of Atlantis, on a mission of peace backed by the European Community (represented at the event by the Super Heroes of Europe), was the target of an unsuccessful assassination attempt. Norman Osborn, bearing an obviously fake press pass and handgun (and none of his Green Goblin paraphernalia), fires once at the statesman, hitting him in the shoulder. The ambassador was escorted back to the ocean by his people, and Osborn immediately collapses to the ground, claiming he was framed. Police later recognized that an accomplished menace like Osborn could have easily killed the ambassador, and that the events leading up to the shooting just didn't make sense. Osborn attempted to tell police that his actions were being controlled by a third party through the nanites, but was unable to reveal the third party's identity. He was turned over to the federal government before the NYPD could learn much. Following the attack, Atlantis has massed their troops and vessels along the U.S.' east coast, as if preparing to attack (though they have not yet done so).

Public interest peaked when Speedball was found alive, hurled a state away by the force of the Stamford blast. Robbie seemed to have lost his powers in the blast (the explanation being that his powers protected him from the sudden force, but burned out their biological mechanisms in the process). Despite the legal efforts of She-Hulk, who encourages him to register, he is sent to prison, where his powers return briefly. Robbie is later shot while traveling to testify at Congress. He survives the injury but his powers kill two paramedics and injure She-Hulk. At another prison, his fluctuating powers stop a prison riot.

Trying to navigate this entire affair are reporters Sally Floyd and Ben Urich. Sally interviews both sides, but ends up confused as ever. Ben Urich begins tying together events of the Civil War, from Robbie to Norman Osborn's shooting.

Meanwhile, Daredevil is arrested and sent to the Negative Zone prison by Stark. Stark mentions that the Fifty State Initiative is going to be the end result of the reform measures in the Superhero Registration Act, and offers Daredevil a chance to repent and become a leader. Daredevil does not respond, with a guard handing Stark a silver dollar that Daredevil wanted to give Stark. Stark confused as to why, Daredevil says that he now has his thirty-one silver pieces, and refers to him as Judas.

As the Punisher works his way through the Baxter Building to retrieve plans for File 42, Sue Richards goes to Atlantis to persuade Namor to join the Secret Avengers, but to no avail. The supervillains Goldbug and Plunderer arrive at the Secret Avengers' base to join Captain America's team, but the Punisher immediately kills them, calling them killers and thieves. Captain America attacks him and kicks him off the group, but the Punisher doesn't raise a finger against him. The Secret Avengers, joined by Storm and the Black Panther, reach the Riker's Island penitentiary and, rendered invisible by Sue, head through the portal to the 42 complex undeterred only to be confronted by the pro-registration supporters on the other side, revealing that each team had placed a spy on the other. Hulkling is able to release the incarcerated heroes from the cells of the 42 complex in the guise of Henry Pym, making the odds more even.

Cloak moves the battle to the center of New York City. Namor and an army of Atlanteans join the battle alongside the Secret Avengers, followed by the Thor clone and Captain Marvel on the pro-registration side. Vision II disrupts Iron Man's armor and Captain America is able to subdue him. On the battlefield, Mister Fantastic is shot while trying to save the Invisible Woman from the Taskmaster, who is in turn pulverized by one of Sue's invisible fields, and Hercules crushes the skull of the Thor clone after it had been weakened by the X-Men member Storm. As the battle rages on, the city is badly damaged. The Thing shows up in order to protect citizens from harm. Captain America's side seems victorious as Iron Man lies on the ground waiting for Captain America to deliver the finishing blow. Just before he can hit, several standard cops, EMTs, and firefighters hold him back, and he realizes how much damage the fighting has caused to the general population that they all want to protect. Wishing to avert any more unnecessary bloodshed, Cap surrenders and the team follows suit. Many of the Secret Avengers are given amnesty by the government, while Captain America is placed in jail; but weeks later was shot by Crossbones and Sharon Carter (brainwashed by Dr. Faustus) on the way to the courthouse, leading to the end of the Civil War.

Two weeks later, the Fifty State Initiative is launched and the Mighty Avengers assemble as a team. Tony Stark is appointed Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., while Maria Hill is demoted to deputy status. Some heroes move to Canada, while some stay underground, such as the New Avengers (Luke Cage as leader, Iron Fist, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Spider Woman, Doctor Strange, and Ronin). In front of his New Avengers teammates Luke Cage and Dr. Strange, Spider-Man sorrowfully dons his black costume after Aunt May is critically injured by a sniper, later revealed to have been hired by the Kingpin in response to the unveiling of his identity. At the end of the series, Tony Stark tells Miriam Sharpe "the best is yet to come sweetheart...That's a promise."

Aftermath

* Captain America is killed on the steps of a courthouse.
* The Avengers Initiative is set up.
* Iron Man becomes the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
* The New Avengers go underground.
* Iron Man sets up his own team of Avengers: The Mighty Avengers.
* Camp Hammond is built on the ruins of the Stamford Disaster.
* The Thunderbolts become a federal agency with Norman Osborn as its director.
* Iron Fist, Doctor Strange, Echo, and Ronin join the New Avengers.
* Spider-Man beats the Kingpin in prison, and then trades his marriage with Mary-Jane to Mephisto in exchange for saving Aunt May.

Bibliography

Road To Civil War

* The Amazing Spider-Man #529
* New Avengers: Illuminati Special #0
* Amazing Spider-Man #530
* Fantastic Four #536
* Amazing Spider-Man #531
* Fantastic Four #537

Civil War

* Civil War #1
* Amazing Spider-Man #532
* Wolverine #42
* She-Hulk (2nd series) #8
* Civil War: Front Line #1
* Civil War #2
* Thunderbolts #103
* New Avengers #20
* Amazing Spider-Man #533
* Civil War: Front Line #2
* New Avengers #21
* Wolverine #43
* Fantastic Four #538
* X-Factor #8
* Civil War: Front Line #3
* Thunderbolts #104
* Cable & Deadpool #30
* Civil War #3
* Civil War: X-Men #1
* Daily Bugle Special Edition: Civil War
* X-Factor #9
* Amazing Spider-Man #534
* Civil War: Front Line #4
* Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways #1
* New Avengers #22
* Wolverine #44
* Fantastic Four #539
* Civil War: Front Line #5
* Black Panther #18
* Ms. Marvel #6
* Thunderbolts #105
* Civil War: X-Men #2
* Heroes for Hire #1
* New Avengers #23
* Wolverine #45
* Cable & Deadpool #31
* Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways #2
* Civil War Files
* Ms. Marvel #7
* Civil War #4
* Civil War: X-Men #3
* Fantastic Four #540
* Wolverine #46
* Civil War: Front Line #6
* Amazing Spider-Man #535
* Cable & Deadpool #32
* Captain America (5th series) #22
* Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways #3
* Heroes for Hire #2
* New Avengers #24
* Civil War: Front Line #7
* Civil War: X-Men #4
* Iron Man #13
* Ms. Marvel #8
* Wolverine #47
* Captain America (5th series) #23
* Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways #4
* Heroes for Hire #3
* New Avengers #25
* Civil War: Choosing Sides
* Civil War #5
* Iron Man #14
* Civil War: Front Line #8
* Punisher: War Journal #1
* Fantastic Four #541
* Amazing Spider-Man #536
* Captain America (5th series) #24
* Moon Knight #7
* Wolverine #48
* Civil War #6
* Blade #5
* Civil War: Battle Damage Report
* Civil War Files
* Civil War: Opening Shot Sketchbook
* Civil War Poster Book
* Civil War: The Confession
* Civil War: The Initiative
* Civil War: The Return
* Civil War: War Crimes
* Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America
* Ghost Rider #8-11
* Iron Man / Captain America: Casualties of War
* Marvel Spotlight: Civil War Aftermath
* Marvel Spotlight: Captain America Remembered
* Winter Soldier: Winter Kills

Collected editions

*The Road To Civil War
*New Avengers Vol 5: Civil War
*Ms. Marvel Vol 2: Civil War
*Heroes for Hire Vol 1: Civil War
*Civil War TPB
*Civil War: Thunderbolts
*Civil War: Front Line
*Civil War: Amazing Spider-Man
*Civil War: X-Men
*Punisher War Journal Vol 1: Civil War
*Civil War: Fantastic Four
*Civil War: Young Avengers
*Civil War: Wolverine
*Civil War: Captain America
*Civil War: Peter Parker, Spider-Man
*Civil War: Front Line, Book 2
*Civil War: X-Men Universe
*Civil War: War Crimes
* Black Panther: Civil War
* Civil War Companion
* Civil War: Marvel Universe
* Civil War: Iron Man
* Civil War: The Underside

Justin's Thoughts

I fucking loved Civil War, it may be one of the best arcs I have ever read in comics. I liked the tough questions they asked, I like how they were able to make it political and entertaining at the same time, I liked how they're was tons of action, I loved pretty much everything about the story. this was one of those tpb's I just couldn't get enough of, & there is no shortage of story as this spread across the ENTIRE marvel universe, I have only read Civil War tpb, and Captain America: Civil War, both great though I thought the Civil War tbp was far superior as Capt. America mainly focused more on Winter Soldier and Sharon Carter. This is one of those arcs that is an absolute MUST READ!!

A Few Questions For Discussion

-Is there anything you would change, if so what?

I can't say that I have found anything yet they would have changed in this arc I think everyone that worked on it did an amazing job and put together a fucking fantastic event

-Who's side did you find yourself gravitating to more?

I tend to find myself leaning more towards Caps side when reading this especially when I saw the prison in the negative zone, the death of Bill Foster at the hands of the Thor clone, and the public release of several super villains to help capture the "Secret Avengers"

-Civil War was plagued with delays, which lead to just about every book in the Marvel universe being delayed as well, do you think these delays hurt the story in any way?, if this same problem were to occur with Marvels current big summer arc, Fear Itself, would it deter you from reading the rest of the arc (assuming you're reading it now)?

I defiently think delays caused some people to give up on the arc, at least until the trades came out, however if these same delay issues were to resurface with the current Fear Itself arc, I don't think that would stop me from still following the arc, though it would annoy me greatly, I do think that Marvel has sinced learned how to deal with these types of problems and that this time around we shouldn't have to deal with many delays, if any at all

 

[JGlass]

I also loved this series, it kind of drew me into actually buying comics as opposed to just reading shit on the internet. It's like the Secret War storyline, but it was all happening in the real Marvel world.

I definitely sided with Cap during the Civil War, though I feel like it's mostly because the writers wanted us to. I mean, if there were really super powered individuals in the world, wouldn't you want to make sure that we at least keep track of them? Especially the ones with the power to harm people?

The delays wouldn't deter me from reading the Fear Itself arc. It would annoy me, but it's not like I am desperately waiting for the next issue after I buy the current one. I just buy it when it comes.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

Civil War has a very interesting and solid idea behind it. The Marvel Universe is split by an issue that isn't as clear cut as most situations in the past have been, and it comes at a time when relationships are somewhat shakey anyway. In fact, the series began very well with this issue. Both sides of the argument were balanced and we weren't sure who to root for or even if there was a right way to go about this. Then the delays began. That's not really the main problem, as that's to be expected when both Mark Millar and Steve McNiven are involved (both have a track record for this).

No, what the delays mean is basically around the time they started, the story began to turn downwards. The balancing was no longer there, we were directed towards Cap being the right way and Tony Stark began being written as if he were a nutty right wing politician, only he had a conscious, which really only made him more annoying. Stark began being portrayed as the bad guy, yet I actually wanted to side with him...strange no? The focus of the series also only really stayed on Cap, Tony and a handful of other characters (Spidey, Wolverine etc...) while the more interesting things were happening elsewhere as the Punisher series and Thunderbolts along with the Cap book began to become the best written out there.

The finale was well done, but the damage had already been done for me. I wanted Tony to win, and I knew he would simply based on the fact that there was no other way for this to end other than Cap's realisation of what he had done. Obvious, but fair ending. This leads to an odd place for the Marvel U as this is the arc that begins the destruction of the Spider-Man books, the rebooting of Thor, the change (for better or worse) of the FF titles and the shift of power across the board. Some of this arc is well written (Tony Stark vs. Cap does feel like the epic battle it's supposed to be) but some of the characters are written really badly (Tony Stark, Reed Richards, even Spidey to a degree). I'd give it a decent rating.