Civil War #2 — Nick Peron

Oct 17

Oct 17 Civil War #2

Civil War, Part 2

Civil War continues from Civil War: Front Line #1…

With the Super Human Registration Act (SHRA) looming, Captain America (Steve Rogers) has gone AWOL and has started taking down criminals all over the city.[1] A SHIELD unit of “Cape-Killers” are deployed to gather up the Vulture (Adrian Toomes), Grim Reaper (Eric Williams), and the Trapster (Peter Petruski). When this is reported back to Director Maria Hill, she deduces that Captain America is no longer acting alone.

As Congress pushes to have the SHRA passed into law, Mirian Sharpe — a mother whose son died in the Stamford Disaster — is reached for comments. She, obviously, is in support of Iron Man (Tony Stark) working with the government to have superhero registration passed into law.

Meanwhile, Iron Man, Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards), Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) Doc (Leonard) Samson, She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters), Tigra (Greer Grant), and Yellowjacket (Hank Pym),[2] have taken down Ultimo in the streets.[3] Upon their victory, the crowds cheer. Iron Man uses this as an opportunity to tell the others that this is the benefit of registering with the government, that the new law will create greater accountability and get the public back on their side. When Tigra brings up the issue of Captain America being against the new law, Tony tells her that this time Steve is wrong.

That evening, at the Baxter Building, the Invisible Woman (Sue Richards) checks on her husband, Reed, in the lab to see how his latest project is going. He is working on solving the problem of where to put incarcerated superhumans where they have no chance of escaping. Sue is concerned about where this is all going considering that some of the people against the proposed law are friends. She then notices a massive equation written across the wall of Reed’s lab and asks what it is all about. He tells her that he has figured out a formula that determines that superhuman related conflicts will continue to increase and that unless measures are put in place to regulate heroes, they could be heading into an apocalypse. That’s when she notices data on something called “42” and she asks Reed what that’s all about.[4] Her husband surprises her by saying that the information about that idea is classified. This secrecy drives a wedge between husband and wife that Reed seems oblivious to. Sue then leaves, saying that she is going to check on her brother Johnny in the hospital to see how he is recovering.[5]

While at the Daily Bugle, Joe Robertson checks in with publisher J. Jonah Jameson about an upcoming Tony Stark press conference that is scheduled the following morning. They need to assign a photographer as Peter Parker is out of town. Joe then asks how Jonah feels about the registration act. Jameson says that this sort of accountability was what he has rallied against for years.[6] When asked if he thinks heroes will willingly sign up, Jameson — seeing Spider-Man swinging past his window) — muses that only the smart ones will.

At Tony Stark’s penthouse, Tony Stark is meeting with his assistant Happy Hogan about the situation. The SHRA is about to be passed into law, but there is no word on how Captain America will react when it comes into law. Tony admits to Hap that he really hopes that they are doing the right thing.

By midnight that night, the SHRA comes into law, making all those who do not register with the government outlaws. 24 hours later, SHIELD Cape-Killers are deployed in Manhattan to track down any heroes who have not yet registered. One team in a helicopter end up chasing the Patriot (Eli Bradley) after he foiled a a robbery. They try shooting him with tranquilizer darts only to discover that the young hero is now bullet proof.[7] Trying to seek cover in an office building, Eli is then taken out by two knock out gas bombs. On the ground, the rest of the Young Avengers — Hulking (Teddy Altman), Wiccan (Billy Kaplan), Stature (Cassie Lang), and Hawkeye (Kate Bishop) — have been arrested and are being loaded into a SHIELD prisoner transport. Their capture is picked up by Luke Cage and Daredevil,[8] who have sided with Captain America. They have Cap and the Falcon (Sam Wilson) in the field to rescue them.

As it turns out, Steve and Sam have infiltrated the SHIELD prisoner transport. Cap is at the wheel listening to a real SHIELD agent going on about how great the SHRA is and how they are going to lock up all the unregistered heroes in this new Prison 42 facility that is being built. When Steve has heard enough, he violently ejects his passenger while Sam breaks the power dampening shackles off of the Young Avengers. With a gag removed from Wiccan’s face, the young sorcerer is able to cast a spell to teleport the Young Avengers, Cap, and Falcon away from the scene before SHIELD can reassert control of the situation.

They end up in a SHIELD safe-house somewhere in the city whose location is only known to Nick Fury. It is from here that Captain America has gathered his “Secret Avengers” to fight crime and fight back against the SHRA. The Young Avengers are told that they will be given new fake identities so they can operate outside as civilians and operate from this base to take back their freedom. Steve tells them that they will be remaining here for the duration and warns that they have to be ready when Iron Man makes his next move.

As if on cue, Dagger (Tandy Bowen) tells everyone that there is a report on the TV that they all need to see. Tony Stark has called a press conference with Miriam Sharp to show his support of the Super Human Registration Act. This news report is watched with eager attention by the X-Men, the Invisible Woman, those in favor of registration, the staff at the Daily Bugle, as well as Peter Parker’s Aunt May and partner, Mary Jane Watson. The reason is because Stark has arranged something that he hopes will help convince others to register. This comes in the form of Spider-Man who unmasks before the gathered media and tells them that he is really Peter Parker and that he has been Spider-Man since he was 15 years old.[9][10] Once he makes this startling revelation, he asks the audience if they have any questions.

… Civil War continues in Thunderbolts #103.

Recurring Characters

“Secret Avengers” (Captain America, Cable, Luke Cage, Cloak, Dagger, “Daredevil”, Falcon, Hercules, Young Avengers (Patriot, Hulkling, Wiccan, Stature, Hawkeye, Vision), SHIELD (Maria Hill), Iron Man, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Doc Samson, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, Tigra, the Wasp, “Yellowjacket”, X-Men (Wolverine, Cyclops, Colossus, Emma Frost, Beast), Sentinel Squad ONE, Vulture, Grim Reaper, Trapster, Ultimo, Jane Foster, Night Nurse, Miriam Sharpe, Franklin Richards, Valeria Richards, Happy Hogan, J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson, Glory Grant, May Parker, Mary Jane Watson

Continuity Notes

The SHRA is in the process of being enacted after the so-called Stamford Disaster that happened last issue. This law will pass later this issue and remain in force until Siege #4.
The man appearing to be Yellowjacket is actually a Skrull spy named Criti Noll, who has taken the place of the real Hank Pym ahead of a Skrull invasion of Earth. This will be revealed in Mighty Avengers #15. Noll took the place of Pym prior to House of M #1.
The caption in this scene states that the battle with Ultimo took place in New York City. However, this same scene is seem in a flashback in Avengers: The Initiative #8 as the inciting incident that leads Arsenal to join up with the Initiative. In that flashback, as well as one in Avengers: The Initiative Annual #1, show that this battle actually took place in San Francisco. As Aresena’s origins are rooted in San Francisco, the caption stating that the fight happened in New York here could be considered an error.
42 is a prison that is being constructed in the Negative Zone. This facility will be opened in Civil War: Front Line #5.
The Human Torch was hospitalized after he was beat up by an angry mob, retaliating for the Stamford incident, as seen last issue.
J. Jonah Jameson has been against superheroes, and Spider-Man in particular, since Amazing Spider-Man #1.
SHIELDs files apparently do not have a record that Eli recently got superhuman abilities after getting a blood transfusion from his relative, Isiah Bradley, aka the Black Captain America of World War II. See Young Avengers #7-8.
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.
For more on Tony Stark convincing Peter Parker to publicly unmask, see Amazing Spider-Man #533. While this makes Peter’s secret identity public, he will later walk this back via magic after making a deal with the literal devil in Amazing Spider-Man #545. This alters reality so that knowledge of Peter’s identity is erased from common knowledge by Doctor Strange, as seen in Amazing Spider-Man #641. This spell clouds this knowledge so while people will remember that Peter unmasked during the Civil War, they no longer remember who he really is unless he re-reveals his identity to them.
Peter first became Spider-Man back in Amazing Fantasy #15. Based on the Sliding Timescale, this would make him about 26 years old at the time of this story.

Topical References

The electronic billboard in Times Square that announces the SHRA coming into law is depicted as being made by Sony. This should be considered a topical reference as this is a real world electronics company.