98 CIVIL WAR
and penciler Steve McNiven, but ultimately generated numerous tie-ins and spilled over
into many Marvel titles. One of the most ambitious comics projects of recent years, the
Civil War storyline involves battles among superheroes in reaction to disagreements
over how to respond to the offi cial attempt to regulate superhero activity via the Super-
hero Registration Act. It eventually involved almost every Marvel character and utilized
the talents of numerous writers and artists within the Marvel franchise.
In the opening story arc, lesser superheroes called the New Warriors attempt to
apprehend some known supervillains, largely in order to gain publicity (and better tele-
vision ratings). One of the villains, Nitro, causes a powerful explosion in Stamford,
Connecticut, in which over 600 people (including many students from a nearby school)
are killed. Th is galvanizes an already-existing movement to regulate the activities of
superheroes, leading to the passage of the Registration Act by Congress. According to
the terms of this act, all superheroes must register with the government; failure to do
so would be considered a criminal violation and the violator would be subject to deten-
tion in the “negative zone,” a specially created prison located within Rikers Island, New
York. As more and more superheroes refused to register because they felt the registra-
tion was a violation of their civil liberties, such prisons were eventually established in
all 50 states.
Th e superheroes are split between those who support the regulation (Iron Man,
Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four, Hank Pym), and those opposed to it, led by
Captain America. Th e latter’s opposition comes from his perception that the govern-
ment, in registering superheroes, is acting in a manner akin to a totalitarian government
like those he fought against in World War II. As the fi ghting over the merits of pro-and
anti-registration increases, the heroes fi nd themselves in awkward situations. People
attack superheroes in public, while others who are originally on one side of the equation
fi nd themselves switching sides.
Th e Civil War storyline engages real-world current events in obvious ways. In partic-
ular, the Superhero Registration Act parallels the Patriot Act of October 2001, in that
both acts give the government the right to curtail constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms,
yet both were passed (in response to a perceived emergency) with almost no opposition
and with virtually no debate. Civil War also contains a substantial amount of commen-
tary on the role of media as a facet of the news. Do the media simply report the events,
or do they have a hand in creating them? Th e Civil War storyline also mirrored the real
arguments of the Iraq War and the “war on terror.” While not Vietnam in its divisive-
ness, the war still causes strong opinion in both cases, and is a point of contention that
the creators of Civil War noted.
In a more general sense, the story addresses fundamental moral issues and comments
on the corrupting eff ects of power. Characters often examine their own motivations
in fi ghting for one side or the other. Th ey also ask why they should go on using their
powers to fi ght evil and protect society when society might seek to punish them for
those activities. Others (such as Spider-Man) were particularly worried that the public
registration of their identities might lead to threats against their family and friends.
