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Civil War (comics)

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File:CivilWarCover03.jpg
Cover to Civil War #3, by Steve McNiven.

Civil War is a 2006 seven-issue comic book miniseries, announced as Marvel Comics' major summer 2006 crossover event. Written by Mark Millar and penciled by Steve McNiven, the work builds upon themes and events established in previous Marvel comic book series, most recently Avengers Disassembled and House of M. Some story elements are also indicated in the miniseries Secret War.[1] The tag line for the series is Whose Side Are You On?

Plot

The series centers around a newly enacted Super-human Registration Act, which, when passed into law, would require all persons in the United States with superhuman abilities who wish to use those abilities to fight crime to register with the federal government and receive proper training as law enforcement officials. Such persons would not only be subject to U.S. law (including the prohibition of minors from participating in such activities), but would, according to the law, reap the full benefits of civil servants, including pensions, and so forth. Because the forced registration of persons would spark a civil liberties controversy, the Act splits notable superheroes within the Marvel Universe, resulting in two super-powered factions forming, one advocating registration as the responsible obligation of the super-powered living in society, and the other opposed to the law on the grounds that it violates civil rights and that it would turn all superhumans into agents of the government. This conflict builds into the titular Civil War, into which themes from current events will be woven. 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." Some see this as a reflection of real world views on such things as Gun Control or the Patriot Act. This theme was previously, similarly explored in the graphic novel The Watchmen by Alan Moore.

File:Marvel Civil War 2 Cover - McNiven.jpg
Civil War #2 Cover Art by Steve McNiven

Synopsis

Template:Spoiler The story opens with a reckless fight between the New Warriors, filming a reality television show, and a cadre of villains in Stamford, Connecticut. The battle goes awry for the heroes, resulting in villain Nitro creating an explosion that destroys a local school and the surrounding neighborhood, and kills all but one of the Warriors. (A plot point that has drawn comparison to previous works, notably Alex Ross and Mark Waid's "Kingdom Come" DC mini-series, in which Captain Atom is accidentally 'split open' while pursuing the supervillain Parasite, destroying a large portion of Kansas and the American breadbasket, and leading to widespread chaos.) This event catalyzes a government movement to register all super-powered beings as living weapons of mass destruction. The event also turns public opinion against superheroes, as many of them are blamed for the incident. Due to this, many superheroes -- most notably Johnny Storm, the Human Torch -- are attacked in public by angry civilians. Meanwhile, S.H.I.E.L.D. tries to recruit Captain America to become part of the team that will force superheroes to register. Cap refuses, and after being attacked by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents for non-compliance, goes underground to become the figurehead of the anti-registration movement. Iron Man, on the other hand, supports the act and tells the government to leave Captain America to him and the other pro-registration heroes.

The act is soon passed, and a day later Captain America and the Falcon, of Captain America's underground resistance, rescue the Young Avengers from a S.H.I.E.L.D. prison convoy. They bring the teen superheroes to a secret facility that Nick Fury has allowed them to use. Meanwhile, Peter Parker, after deliberating with his wife, Mary Jane Watson, and Aunt May, unmasks himself to an audience of the world press, showing his full support for the registration act. This action causes J. Jonah Jameson to faint, as the thorn in his side for so many years was right under his nose. Norman Osborn, in prison, remarks that Peter broke a deal he believes they had. Meanwhile, Wolverine is hunting down Nitro and the Thunderbolts are recruiting villains to the cause of registered superheroes.

Taking Sides

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow (rumors indicate that Civil War #3 will have many heroes changing sides).

Proponents of registration

File:Civilwarpro.jpg

Confirmed
Enforcers
File:Tbolts.PNG
The Thunderbolts as Hero Hunters. Cover to Thunderbolts #104, by Tom Grummett.
Unconfirmed, but indicated


  

Opponents of registration

File:Civilwaranti.jpg

Confirmed
Retiring
Apprehended
Unconfirmed, but indicated

Confirmed deaths

She-Hulk V2 #8 shows that all four of the New Warriors are thought dead by the public. The three villains involved (all but Nitro, who caused the explosion) have not been confirmed to be dead or alive, although it is assumed they died in the explosion as well.

Civil War: Front Line #1 shows Speedball as the survivor of the Stamford incident. The explosion overloaded his kinetic powers, completely burning them out. He may no longer have his superpowers. Speedball was informed by the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent that arrested him that Night Thrasher, Namorita, and Microbe were killed in the explosion.

In an interview on the Comic Book Resources site, when a spectator asked about the fate of Nitro, an official said that "payback is coming."Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).

Comics

File:Civilwarfrontline.png
Promotional art for Civil War: Front Line.

The following are comics that will be included in Civil War, but should by no means be regarded as a complete list.

The Road to Civil War (7 issues)

Civil War (74 issues)

New titles

Trade Paperbacks

The Civil War, as is with most modern Marvel comic books, will be collected in Trade Paperback, or TPB, format.

  • Civil War Prelude:ISBN 0785119744, November 29, 2006: Reprints Amazing Spider-Man 529-531; New Avengers: Illuminati; and Fantastic Four #536-537.

See also

  1. ^ "Civil War" (Press release). Marvel Comics. December 28, 2005.
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