Civil War #3 — Nick Peron

Oct 17

Oct 17 Civil War #3

Civil War, Part 3

Civil War continues from Civil War: X-Men #1….

With the passage of the Super Human Registration Act (SHRA), the superhero community is divided between those who support the new law, led by Iron Man (Tony Stark), and those who do not, led by Captain America (Steve Rogers).[1] To try and drum up more support for the new law, Tony Stark has Spider-Man appear on live television and reveal to the world that he is Pater Parker.[2] Meanwhile, Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) travels to Wakanda to see how the Black Panther (T’Challa) will weigh in on the issue. After hearing the plan to create government sanctioned superhero teams in each American state to hunt down those who do not register,[3] T’Challa refuses to get involved as this would be viewed as interfering with American politics, something he would be against if the roles were reversed. After asking how the Human Torch (Johnny Storm) is recovering from his recent injuries, T’Challa takes note that Reed is more interested in Wakanda’s technological jungle and how it works.[4][5] This prompts T’Challa to tell Reed to call his wife.

Back in the United States, Captain America’s Secret Avengers continue to fight crime, taking down the Sinister Six.[6] This prompts Iron Man to tell the press that he plans on cracking down on registered heroes who refuse to register. At the same time, Yellowjacket and the Wasp pay a visit to Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum to see if he will side with the pro-registration heroes.[7] Wong, Strange’s servant, tells them that Stephen has relocated to his Arctic lodge to fast and meditate for the next 40 nights. While in Westchester, Tony Stark pays a visit to Emma Frost to discuss the X-Men’s position on the new law.[8] Emma says that to go after anti-registration heroes would go in the face of everything the X-Men stand for, as mutants have faced similar persecution in the past.[9] When he brings up Stamford, Emma counters this by reminding him of the Genoshan genocide and how nobody came to the side of mutants during that incident.[10]

They end their chat with Emma promising that the X-Men will remain a neutral party in the conflict between him and Captain America.[11] When Tony leaves the X-Mansion, he tells Happy that this is beneficial as it guarantees their side has superior numbers over Cap’s group. That’s when they are approached by the mutant known as Bishop, who asks Stark if they can talk.[12]

Meanwhile, Captain America, Hercules, Daredevil, and Goliath are meeting in public in their new civilian identities. Steve Rogers is now under cover as Brett Hendrick a security supervisor at a mall in Queens, while Hercules is now Victor Tegler a consultant for a financing company. Daredevil is now known as Cooper Peyton an engineer from Long Island, and lastly Bill Foster is Rockwell Dodsworth a community outreach worker. Bill has issues with his new identity, but Steve tells him that this is the best that Nick Fury can provide them with for the time being. Talk soon turns to Spider-Man unmasking to the public and Daredevil admits that it is brilliant strategy. Steve, however, can’t stop thinking how he was supposed to visit a terminally ill child had the SHRA not been passed. He reminds them that it is little things like this, the little things now robbed from them, that make them who they are. Their discussion is interrupted when they get word of a chemical plant fire by the Hudson River. The four heroes then leave the diner they were eating in and suit up into their costumes.

At that same time, the Human Torch has left his hospital room. When the staff tells him to go back to bed to rest, he asks them where his sister has gone.

A short time later, Cap’s Secret Avengers are teleported to the scene at the Geffen-Meyer Chemical plant. Once they arrive, Cable (Nathan Summers) begins scanning the info-net to find out what the situation is but doesn’t detect any indication that there are people in danger. That’s when he looks down to a Geffen-Meyer sign on the ground and sees that the company is a subsidiary of Stark Industries. Cable suddenly realizes that they’ve walked into a trap. That’s when Cloak (Tyrone Johnson) and Wiccan (Billy Kaplan) are shot with tranquilizer darts, cutting off the outlaws means of quick escape. That’s when they are surrounded by Iron Man’s group, who have back-up from SHIELD. Aboard the helicarrier, Director Maria Hill orders her soldiers to wait and see how this plays out.

Iron Man then attempts to talk reason to Cap, telling him that registration is the right way to go. He even extends his hand in friendship. Steve takes Tony’s hand, but it is not in peace, but to slip a device that incapacitates Stark’s Iron Man armor. This causes a brawl to break out between both sides. Eventually, Iron Man’s armor boots back up and he begins beating Cap into submission. Seeing Steve in trouble, Hercules tries to come to his aid. This prompts Maria Hill to order “Operation: Lightning Storm” deployed. Suddenly, Herc is struck by a bolt of lightning. When everyone looks to see who this new attacker is, they are shocked to see that it is Thor![13]

… Civil War continues in Cable & Deadpool #30.

Recurring Characters

Pro-Registration Heroes (Iron Man, Bishop, Black Widow, Doc Samson. Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Thing), Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, Spider-Man, Thunderbolts (Atlas, Joystick, Mach-IV, Radioactive Man), Tigra, the Wasp, Wonder Man, “Yellowjacket”), “Secret Avengers” (Captain America, Cable, Luke Cage, Cloak, “Daredevil”, Falcon, Goliath, Hercules, Young Avengers (Patriot, Hulkling, Vision, Wiccan)), “Thor”, Sinister Six (Doctor Octopus, Lizard, Shocker), Black Panther, Emma Frost, Human Torch, Wong, Happy Hogan, SHIELD (Maria Hill), Sentinel Squad ONE

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.
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.
This will come into being as the 50-State Initiative as seen in Civil War: The Initiative #1/Avengers: The Initiative #1.
As for Wakanda, the Black Panther will remain neutral in the conflict until the United States tries to arrest his wife, Storm (Ororo Munroe of the X-Men), for refusing to register. See Black Panther (vol. 4) #22-25.
The Human Torch was hospitalized after he was beat up by an angry mob, retaliating for the Stamford incident, as seen in Civil War #1.
The man dressed as Daredevil in this story is not Matt Murdock. 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.
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.
It is mentioned here that Emma Frost is now in a relationship with Cyclops. This was, at the time of this story, a relatively new development. They officially got together in New X-Men #154.
Here, Emma refers to Xavier’s mansion as a “reservation”, this is because it has become a refuge for the world’s mutant population after their race was widely depowered and the mutant gene excised from human DNA by the Scarlet Witch, as seen in Decimation: House of M - The Day After #1. This will remain the status quo until Avengers vs X-Men #12.
Bishop asks to join Stark’s crusade, which will put him at odds with the X-Men, as we’ll see in Civil War: X-Men #1-4.
There was once a Mutant Registration Act was first floated in Uncanny X-Men #181.
Genosha was once a mutant nation state that was annihilated by Sentinels in New X-Men #115.
Everyone is shocked to see “Thor” because, at the time of this story, the thunder god was dead following the latest Ragnarok cycle, as seen in Thor (vol. 2) #80-85. This is not the real Thor, but a cyborg clone created by Iron Man and his allies, as we’ll learn next issue. The real Thor will be resurrected in Thor (vol. 3) #1.

Topical References

At the Spider-Man press conference there is media representation from CNN, the BBC, MSNBC, as well as the Fanboy Radio and Comic Geek Speak podcasts. These should all be considered topical references as these are all real world media sources.
Specifically, Steve says that he is visiting a child on behalf of the Make a Wish Foundation, a charitable organization that grants “wishes” to terminally ill children. This should be considered topical as this is a real world organization.