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Nerd Alert! May 4, 2006
Civil War What we've got here is... failure to communicate I've been monitoring Marvel's plans for Civil War , their big crossover event of 2006, which pits superhero against superhero (please don't sue me for using the term) in a battle of ideology and survival, just as I've been surveying DC 's just-ended Infinite Crisis crossover. Overall, Civil War interested me more and I decided, what the hell, I'll pick up issue one. It's only four bucks. Four bucks?! This is why I don't buy comics anymore. They're fucking expensive, man. I could get two bottles of Coke BlaK for that and be juiced for hours. Civil War #1 kicks off with The New Warriors shooting a stupid reality show and creating an incident that, as much through negligence as foolhardy overconfidence, ends up killing themselves, the super villains they were fighting, and six hundred innocent people. This tragedy triggers a Superhuman Registration Act, which really doesn't sound as bad as the Anti-Mutant Laws, where if you grow a mutant tail, turn blue, or you suddenly start wearing your skeleton on the outside of your skin, a giant purple robot will step on you and burn your mom's house down for good measure. The government wants superheroes registered, properly trained, and accountable. They'll even be paid. It seems like a pretty fair deal, but there are grey areas: What happens to superheroes if they don't register? What protection is allotted to their loved ones, if any? As federal employees, will the government dictate who their enemies are and aren't? A lot of issues regarding the role of what a superhero is in the Marvel Universe are brought front and center: How accountable is a superhero for the property damage he causes? What makes a teenager fit to do the job and responsible enough to be a superhero just because they happen to have powers? What about the time-honored tradition of being a superhero in the Marvel Universe? The “tradition” argument against registration is pretty weak considering, even if the masked adventurer has been a staple in Marvel history. But it stands to reason that many men and women who don masks are disenfranchised, rebellious personality types who don't want to be dictated to by the government. There are multitudes of fascinating factors at play here. Half the heroes, lead by Iron Man, think registration and living publicly is fine. The Fantastic Four, for instance, have never worn masks – but their position is immediately rocked when The Human Torch is publicly beaten and hospitalized by normal people incensed at the tragedy caused by the New Warriors. Then there is the point of view of someone like Spider-Man, whose mask and secret identity is the only thing that keeps his psychotic, monstrous enemies from raping and killing his hot supermodel wife and hot super-old Aunt May. (I bet Elongated Man wishes he kept a fucking secret identity.) Regardless of this debate, registration becomes a reality and SHIELD is going to enforce it no matter what, which brings us to the government's point man: Captain America . Do you have a favorite Captain America moment? I've never really been a fan of Cap but I've always held dear the moment in The Infinity Gauntlet when Thanos killed all of the superheroes and Captain America was the only one left. Despite the hopeless situation of standing alone on a rock on the other side of the universe against an omnipotent being, Cap confronted Thanos anyway. Cap stood his ground, looked him right in the eye, and fought to his death, earning Thanos' and my admiration. To me, that was an iconic moment, right up there with Optimus Prime killing all the Decepticons and fighting Megatron to his death in Transformers: The Movie . While not at that level, in Civil War #1, Captain America is ordered to lead the SHIELD campaign to bring in the heroes resisting registration. He chooses not to comply with this order. SHIELD chooses to shoot him with a few hundred bullets. What Cap does, his reactions, and his incredible escape from the SHIELD heli-carrier is fucking bad ass. Captain America, of all people, the flag-clad symbol of this country, is defying his government's wishes and leading the heroes resisting registration. Issue one ends with Iron Man promising the administration that he'll deal with Captain America himself. Right after he polishes off his last six beers. The Civil War series itself seems pretty self-contained. I don't get the impression I need every single tie-in to understand the story, not that I would or could buy every tie-in. It's only been one issue, but I already like Civil War a lot. Strong writing, the art by Steven McNiven is beautiful, and there are genuine issues at play here that will test the characters and will seem to profoundly impact the Marvel Universe. I haven't read much over the last decade, but this is probably the best Marvel Universe story I've read since The Infinity Gauntlet (and I suppose Marvels , though that's a different kind of story.) I like this series enough that I'm seriously considering buying it every month to see how it plays out. Waiting a year for the collection might be a smarter move, but what the fuck, I want to read what happens next. She wore a black armband when they shot the man who said |
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