Civil War #1 — Nick Peron

Oct 17

Oct 17 Civil War #1

Civil War, Part 1

The New Warriors — Night Thrasher (Dwayne Taylor), Namorita, Speedball (Robbie Baldwin), and Microbe (Zach Smith) — are hunting down supervillains to fight for the next season of their reality TV show.[1] They have found the villains Nitro (Robert Hunter), Coldheard (Kateri Deseronto), Cobalt Man (Ralp Roberts), and Speedfreek (Joss Shappe), hiding out in the town of Stamford, Connecticut. All of these villains are on the FBI most wanted list after they were involved in the mass breakout at the Raft a few months earlier.[2] Speedball is excited for the coming fight because this bust will certainly be huge for their ratings. Microbe worries that they are out of their league, but Speedball presses on the issue.[3] That’s when the team is made by Coldheart as she is taking out the trash. Speedball leads the charge and the group quickly takes her down along with Speedfreek, and Cobalt Man. This leaves Nitro left, and Namorita chases him down in front of a school. As the two fight, Nitro boasts that his powers have increased to the point where he is no longer a low tier villain. To demonstrate this, he unleashes a powerful explosion that envelops the entire town.[4]

In the aftermath of the explosion, many of America’s heroes come to help with the rescue effort to find survivors. This includes the New Avengers — Captain America (Steve Rogers), Iron Man (Tony Stark), Luke Cage, and Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew)[5] — the X-Men — Cyclops (Scott Summers), Wolverine (Logan), Colossus (Piotr Rasputin), and Marvel Girl (Rachel Grey) — as well as the Falcon (Sam Wilson), Goliath (Bill Foster), the Human Torch (Johnny Storm), Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers), and She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters). The body count is high, and both Captain America and Iron Man grimly assess the situation. They both agree that the New Warriors were out of their league and acted rashly. Now they are concerned how the public will respond to this tragedy. While the X-Men are busy searching for survivors, Wolverine is annoyed to see that Sentinel Squad ONE is on the scene monitoring their every move.[6] Goliath worries that this, along with other recent negative press the superhero community has received recently, will spark public outcry and witch hunts against them.[7]

Sometime later, the She-Hulk appears on network television to speak about a proposed ban on superheroes. It is an idea she finds ridiculous, but she believes the idea of them becoming official parts of law enforcement a reasonable response in wake of the Stamford Disaster.

Not long after this, Tony Stark attends the church service for those who died in Stamford. After the service, Stark is confronted by a woman named Marian Sharpe, whose son died in the incident. She is insulted to see him attending the funeral and spits in his face. While Stark says he and the Avengers weren’t responsible, she points out that it was their example that inspired the New Warriors to become heroes. She tells him that law enforcement need to be trained and sanctioned by the government and since Stark and his ilk flout the law to fight crime they have just as much blood on their hands as the New Warriors. Among those witnessing this public display are Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson and photographer Peter Parker. Amused to see this display, Jameson hopes Parker is documenting the scene.

As the chorus for superhero registration goes, Johnny Storm goes out to Club Lazer in New York City to party it up. While most patrons are forced to wait in line to be let in, Johnny can cut it due to his status as a member of the Fantastic Four.[8] However, the patrons however, are riled up about the Stamford incident that they start getting in Johnny’s face about it even though he wasn’t involved. As the situation escalates, Johnny’s date suggests that they go someplace else. This distracts Storm long enough for one of the patrons to smash a bottle over his head, knocking him to the ground where he takes a severe beating.

With the pressure mounting, a meeting is called at the Baxter Building about the looming possibility that the government is going to start legislating superheroes. In attendance are the New Avengers, X-Men, the rest of the Fantastic Four — Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards), Invisible Woman (Sue Richards), and the Thing (Ben Grimm) — the Young Avengers — The Patriot (Eli Bradley), Hulkling (Teddy Altman), Stature (Cassie Lang), and Hawkeye (Kate Bishop) —, Doctor (Stephen) Strange, Falcon, Nighthawk (Kyle Richmond), She-Hulk, the Wasp (Janet Van Dyne), and Yellowjacket (Hank Pym).[9] Everyone is discussing the implications of a possible new law, with Spider-Man expressing his concerns about his secret identity being revealed to the public. When Nighthawk suggests that they’re all being paranoid, Daredevil says that this is going to happen as Stamford was the straw that broke the camel’s back.[10]

At that same moment, Captain America has been called to the SHIELD helicarrier to meet with Director Maria Hill.[11] She wants to know his opinion on what will happen if superhero legislation is passed into law. Steve believes that any law will divide the community in half and soon they will be fighting amongst themselves. When Hill suggests that Cap will side with SHIELD when it comes to apprehending any who act outside of the law, Steve flat out refuses to arrest his friends. When it becomes clear that Captain America won’t side with them, Hill orders him arrested. The heavily armored SHIELD agents in the room then try to shoot Steve with tranquilizer rounds, but he easily fights his way through them. He makes his way to the portside window and uses his shield to smash through the glass to get out of the helicarrier. Steve times his fall just as a fighter jet is leaving the SHIELD base and he hitches a ride on board.

Back at the Baxter Building, Spider-Woman notices that they are party to an unexpected guest: Uatu the Watcher. Doctor Strange notes that the Watcher doesn’t make personal appearances unless there is an event of great upheaval, something that doesn’t bode well for them.

Later, the President of the United States calls an emergency meeting to discuss the growing situation. Attending this meeting are Iron Man, Mister Fantastic, and Yellowjacket. After hearing about Captain America’s clash with SHIELD the day before, Stark tells the President to let them worry about Steve Rogers!

… Civil War continues in She-Hulk (vol. 2) #8.

Recurring Characters

New Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Luke Cage, Spider-Man, “Spider-Woman”), New Warriors (Night Thrasher, Namorita, Speedball, Microbe), Nitro, Cobalt Man, Coldheart, Speedfreak, Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), X-Men (Cyclops, Wolverine, Marvel Girl, Colossus, Iceman, Cannonball), Black Cat, “Daredevil”, Doctor Strange, Falcon, Goliath, Hercules, Ms. Marvel, Nighthawk, She-Hulk, the Wasp, “Yellowjacket”, Young Avengers (Patriot, Hulkling, Stature, Hawkeye), SHIELD (Maria Hill, Clyde Dobronski (unidentified)), the Watcher, Miriam Sharpe, Sentinel Squad ONE (Lex Lexington), J. Jonah Jameson

Continuity Notes

At the time of this story, the New Warriors reinvented themselves as reality TV stars starting in New Warriors (vol. 3) #1.
We get a few factoids about the villains the New Warriors have tracked down. The facts as they are:
- That the villains were all recent breakouts at the Raft. This happened in New Avengers #1-2. However, Nitro was the only one of the escapees in this group that has been previously identified.
- Here. the New Warrior’s producer states that Coldheart fought Spider-Man “a couple of times”. There has only been one recorded conflict between the web-slinger and Coldheart that was seen in Spider-Man #49. So either he is mistaken or there are other encounters that are as yet unrecorded, as of this writing in October, 2024.
- He also states that Speedfreek fought the Hulk and lived to tell the tale. Speedfreek had fought the Hulk twice times at this point, as seen in Incredible Hulk #388, and 429-430.
Here, Speedball says that this rating boost will make people stop bitching about Nova going into space. Nova (Richard Rider) was a founding member of the New Warriors, as seen in New Warriors #1. While he was initially around for the New Warriors foray into reality TV, he was called into space to deal with the Annihilation Wave on behalf of the Nova Corps, as seen in Annihilation: Prologue #1.
Microbe refers to Nitro as an old Captain Marvel villain. This is because Nitro’s first recorded appearance was in Captain Marvel #34.
The woman who appears to be Spider-Woman is actually a Skrull infiltrator named Vernake, as will be revealed in Secret Invasion #3. As per New Avengers #42, she took the place of the real Spider-Woman in Giant-Size Spider-Woman #1.
At the time of this story, the mutant race has become an endangered species thanks to the Scarlet Witch depowering most of its population, as seen in Decimation: House of M - The Day After #1. The Sentinel Squad was formed to monitor the remaining mutants that still retained their powers. The mutant situation will endure until Avengers vs X-Men #12.
Bill Foster mentions three specific incidents that happened around the time of this series that has turned public sentiment against superheroes:
- The bombing of Philadelphia, which was the work of terrorist Alexander Lukin and the Winter Soldier in Captain America (vol. 5) #6.
- The Hulk trashed Las Vegas in Fantastic Four #533-535.
- Wolverine attempted to assassinate the President of the United States after being brainwashed by Hydra. See Wolverine (vol. 3) #20-25.
Johnny boasts that he gets to cut in line because he saved the world from Galactus. The Fantastic Four have saved the planet from Galactus on multiple occasions, the first time being in Fantastic Four #48-50.
The man who appears to be Yellowjacket is another Skrull spy, this one named Criti Noll. As per Mighty Avengers #15, he took the place of the real Hank Pym prior to House of M #1.
Speaking of impostors, this isn’t really Matt Murdock as Daredevil. In fact, it’s Danny Rand (aka Iron Fist) disguised as Daredevil, as will be explained in Civil War: Choosing Sides #1. Previously, Matt Murdock was dealing with the fall out of having his true identity revealed in Daredevil (vol. 2) #32. In fact, Murdock was jailed at the time of the Civil War event, as seen in Daredevil (vol. 2) #81-87.
This scene is later told from the perspective of Clyde Dobronski, one of the SHIELD agents who tried to arrest Captain America. See Marvels Snapshot: Civil War #1.

Topical References

She-Hulk is depicted discussing the idea of a superhero ban on CNN with Larry King. King was a long time host of Larry King Life which ran on CNN from 1985 to 2010. This should be considered a topical reference as CNN is a real world network, Larry King Live ended its run a few years after this comic was published, and Larry King himself passed away in 2021.
Chico, the Club Lazer bouncer, tells Johnny that “Paris and Lindsay” are waiting for him upstairs. This is likely a reference to celebrities Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. Around the time this comic was published (2006), the pair were known just as much for their personal lives and constant partying which made for a lot of paparazzi fodder at the time. That said, as I write this Hilton is in her 40s and Lohan is getting there as well and their wild years are long behind them. This is a topical reference as you could replace their names with more contemporary celebrities.
The President of the United States is depicted as George W. Bush, and among his staff we see Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. This should be considered a topical reference for a number of reasons:
- George W. Bush served as President of the United States from 2001 and 2009, stepping down from the position after serving two terms.
- Donald Rumsfeld only served as Secretary of Defense until 2006, when he resigned amid prisoner torture scandal. This piece of shit died of blood cancer in 2021, which is a just end for the motherfucker.
- Condoleezza Rice was Secretary of State until 2005, until she was shifted to National Security Advisor.