Civil War #5 — Nick Peron

Oct 17

Oct 17 Civil War #5

Civil War, Part 5

Civil War continues from New Avengers #24….

Following the passage of the Super Human Registration Act (SHRA), a new law that requires superhumans to register with the government, the superhero community has been torn in half. One side, the so-called Secret Avengers led by Captain America (Steve Rogers), are fighting against registration while the other, led by Iron Man (Tony Stark) are in support. Following the death of Goliath (Bill Foster), heroes on both sides have flipped their alligances.[1] The two most recent defectors are the Invisible Woman (Sue Richards) and her brother the Human Torch (Johnny Storm). This leads to a clash with SHIELD Cape-Killers, but the pair manage to escape.

Meanwhile, Nighthawk (Kyle Richmond) and Stature (Cassie Lang) have defected from Cap’s team. They go to Stark Tower where they are greeted by Happy Hogan. Hap apologizes for Tony Stark not being present to greet them personally and wonders what is holding him up.

Upstairs, Iron Man has just discovered that Spider-Man (Peter Parker) is trying to defect from his side. Tony doesn’t understand why Peter is trying to leave, and Parker explains that he didn’t sign up for killer cyborgs or locking up heroes in the Negative Zone.[2] Stark says that captured heroes won’t be sent to Prison 42 as long as they register and promises that nobody else will die on his watch. He then chastises Peter for being naive and thinking things will go back to the old ways. Unmoved by these words, the web-slinger sternly tells Tony to get out his way. Iron Man tries one more appeal, he reminds Peter that he has revealed his identity to the public and if he leaves now, he will be hunted as an outlaw with nowhere to hide.[3] Peter assures Tony that he has already stashed his Aunt May and Mary Jane somewhere safe. He then tries to flee by jumping out a window but is stopped hard by the reinforced glass. Luckily for him, a unit of SHIELD Cape-Killers storm into the room with guns blazing. The bullets cause the glass to shatter, allowing Spider-Man to escape.

SHIELD Director Maria Hill decides to send the full force of SHIELD after Spider-Man to capture him. When Tony tries to get her to allow him to continue trying to reason with Parker, Hill denies the request. Instead, she deploys the new Thunderbolts army to capture the rogue wall-crawler.[4] Although, Spider-Man manages to flee into the sewers he is quickly found by Jack O’Lantern and the Jester. They stun him with a bomb and dose him with gas-bomb that leaves Parker dazed and muttering about his life.[5] The two villains want to kill the web-slinger, but their SHIELD handlers remind them that they want Parker alive and threaten to hit them with five thousand volts through the nanites in their body. Not wanting that to happen, the two relent. Seconds later, the two villains are fatally shot in the head by someone who Peter knows, but can’t recognize in his drugged state. All he can see is a massive demonic skull.[6][7]

Meanwhile, the Invisible Woman and the Human Torch have managed to slip the SHIELD Cape-Killers hunting them down. They have successfully switched to their new civilian identities, Mr. and Mrs. Ryan Landau. Johnny is not impressed that their new covers are husband and wife, because they are really brother and sister. But he decides to shoulder this because they are doing the right thing by joining up with Captain America’s side of the conflict. When they arrive at the Secret Avengers safehouse, there is a meeting already in session. Cloak and Dagger have been captured in Brooklyn, forcing them to revise their plans to raid the Baxter Building to gain access to Prison 42.[8] The meeting is then interrupted by the Punisher (Frank Castle) who has arrived with the battered body of Spider-Man and demands that they get him to a medic, stat.

Cap calls Jane Foster and Night Nurse (Linda Carter) to give Parker immediate medical attention. When Ultragirl (Suzy Sherman) asks why they are helping Spider-Man, since he was on Tony Stark’s side, the Punisher explains that Peter has defected. Frank also boldly proclaims that he is on their seide as well because Stark is now using criminals and murderers. The others a reluctant to accept the Punisher into their ranks, but Castle tells them that they will need him to break into the Baxter Building and gain access to Prison 42. Luke Cage asks Captain America that it will be his decision, and Steve admits that he will have to think on it. As they are discussing the issue of the Punisher, they are all unaware that Tigra (Greer Grant) is placing a call to Tony Stark on her cell phone.

Later, in Hell’s Kitchen a SHIELD Cape-Killer has captured Daredevil and are moving him to a prisoner transport. At the scene observing the transport are She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters) and Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards). Reed can’t understand why they are getting so much resistance. Still, he is starting to get his doubts after the Thor clone went haywire, their recent need to recruit the Thunderbolts to the cause. On top of this, Hank Pym has been doped to the gills on anti-depressants, and Reed’s wife has left him. It all has him wondering why they are doing all of this for. Jennifer reminds Reed that they are doing this because people are getting fed up with the collateral damage caused by superheroes and that this way they all get a future.

Later, Daredevil is taken to Ryker’s Island where Tony Stark is waiting for him at the portal to the Negative Zone. The whole way there, Stark is trying to convince Daredevil that the SHRA is a good thing and makes them accountable. However, Daredevil doesn’t say a word about any of this. Once they are on the other side and on Prison 42, one of the guards gives Tony a silver dollar they confiscated from Daredevil during his arrest. Tony doesn’t understand the significance, and Daredevil reminds him of the betrayal of Jesus Chris by Judas, who was paid 31 pieces of gold for the dirty deed. As he is being led away by the guards, Daredevil calls Tony Judas, and tells him to sleep well.

… Civil War continues in Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways #4.

Recurring Characters

Secret Avengers (Captain America, Black Mamba, “Daredevil”, Diamondback, Falcon, Firebird, Hercules, Human Torch, Invisible Woman, Living Lightning, Machine Man, Monica Rambeau, New Warriors (Justice, Silhouette, Ultragirl), Stingray, Tigra, Triathlon, Young Avengers (Patriot, Hulkling, Hawkeye, Vision, Speed)), Pro-Registration Forces (Iron Man, Mister Fantastic, Nighthawk, She-Hulk, Spider-Man, Stature Thunderbolts (Atlas, Bullseye, Jack O’Lantern, Jester, Joystick, Lady Deathstrike, Ox, Radioactive Man, Songbird, Taskmaster, U-Foes (Vector, X-Ray, Ironclad)), Punisher, Happy Hogan, Jane Foster, Night Nurse, SHIELD (Maria Hill)

Continuity Notes

The SHRA is in the process of being enacted after the so-called Stamford Disaster that happened Civil War #1. This law will pass later this issue and remain in force until Siege #4. Bill Foster was murdered by a rogue clone of Thor, as seen last issue. As of this writing (October, 2024), Foster remains among the deceased. The clone was first seen in Civil War #3. It was created because, at the time of this story, the real Thor had died following the events of Thor (vol. 2) #80-85. The real Thor will be resurrected in Thor (vol. 3) #1.
Spider-Man is referring to the death of Bill Foster as well as the opening of Prison 42, a facility in the Negative Zone that opened its doors in Civil War: Front Line #5. Peter learned about these things over the course of last issue as well as Amazing Spider-Man #534-536.
Peter was convinced to reveal his identity to the public as a way of convincing more heroes to register, as seen in Civil War #2 and Amazing Spider-Man #533. This will remain the status quo until Amazing Spider-Man #545, where Peter enters into a deal with Mephisto to alter reality. As explained in Amazing Spider-Man #610, in the altered timeline, Doctor Strange casts a spell to make virtually everyone forget that Peter Parker and Spider-Man are the same person. People will remember that Parker unmasked during the Civil War, but they will no longer remember who he really was.
As revealed last issue, the Thunderbolts have now become an army of nano-controlled captured supervillains to boost the ranks of the pro-registration side. All the criminals were gathered for SHIELD on behalf of Baron Zemo, as seen in Thunderbolts #103-105. On Maria Hill’s monitors are various profiles of the numerous criminals enlisted in the Thunderbolts. These images are all taken from Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Master Edition.
Peter asks Jack O’Lantern and the Jester if they know that his girlfriend died of a broken neck. He is referring to Gwen Stacy, who dated Peter years earlier. She was targeted by the Green Goblin who threw her of the George Washington Bridge. When trying to stop her fall with a line of webbing, Peter inadvertedly snapped her neck, killing her instantly. See Amazing Spider-Man #121.
Had Spider-Man not been stoned out of his mind, he would have instantly recognized the Punisher, whom he has met many times over the years starting in Amazing Spider-Man #129.
While Jack O’Lantern is killed here, his body is later re-animated by a fragment of Lucifer’s soul, as seen in Ghost Rider (vol. 8) #8-11. He has seemingly been resurrected by the Jackal’s New U technology using cloning in Clone Conspiracy #2. However, Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 5) #67 has shown that at least one of these “resurrected” individuals (Ned Leeds) was actually just a clone. As of this writing (October, 2024), it is unclear if this is the real Steven Levens in a cloned body, or a full clone with the memories of Levens. Also as of this writing, Jody Putt is still considered among the deceased.
So a few things are mentioned here in rapid succession, they are:
- Cloak and Dagger getting pinched. This happened thanks to a tip given to Tony Stark by the Kingpin in Civil War: War Crimes #1.
- Steve says he has a mission for Hulkling in Arizona and a pressing mission for the Invisible Woman. Hulkling will be sent to investigate a group being manufactured as part of the 50-State Initiative, as we’ll see next issue.
- The Invisible Woman’s mission is two fold. First she will infiltrate the Baxter Building and learn the totality of her husband’s plans for the SHRA, as will be seen in Fantastic Four #542. Next issue she is sent to Atlantis to get support from the Sub-Mariner.
- They all wonder why the Negative Zone prison is called 42, with Sue wondering if it has something to do with Tony Stark’s mother. It doesn’t. As explained in Amazing Spider-Man #535, it is called Prison 42 because it is the 42nd of the first 100 ideas that he, Tony Stark, and “Hank Pym” have come up with to implement the SHRA.
- This is also a good place to mention that the individual who appears to be Machine Man is actually an impostor, per Marvel Comics #1001. He replaced the real Machine Man between X-51 #12 and Nextwave #1. As of this writing, it has yet to be explained why he was posing as X-51.
- Additionally, 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.

Topical References

When the Punisher offers to join the fight, the Human Torch sarcastically quips that they should also call up Hannibal Lector to see if he is available. Lector was one of the main antagonists in a series of books written by author Thomas Harris, starting with 1981’s Red Dragon. Lector was an insanely brilliant cannibal. The character is best remembered by the the portrayal done by Anthony Hopkins, who played Lector starting with the 1991 film adaptation of 1988’s Silence of the Lambs. Hopkins would go on to play the character in two more adaptations, 2001’s Hannibal (based on the 1999 novel of the same name) and the 2002 adaptation of Red Dragon. That said, you could call this a topical reference as you could argue that you could replace the Lector reference with a more contemporary fictional character. On the other hand, Silence of the Lambs is considered an iconic classic.
Tigra is depicted using a “flip” style cell phone with physical buttons that were commonly used in 2006 when this comic was first published. Since then, they have fallen out of common use thanks to the advent of smart phones. Its depiction here should be considered topical.