Civil War: Choosing Sides #1

Oct 17

Oct 17 Civil War: Choosing Sides #1

Civil War continues from Amazing Spider-Man #535…

Switching Sides

Mac Gargan (aka Venom) has been hiding out in Port Washington, New York.[1] Knowing that he is going to get busted soon, Gargan is on the phone arranging his life story rights for books and film.

That’s when a SHIELD unit blows the wall and surrounds him. They are here to arrest him for violations of the Super Human Registration Act and a long list of murders. Gargan isn’t scared and uses his symbiote to possess one of the SHIELD agents and forces him to shoot all his comrades. Mac then has the alien snap the agent’s neck.

That’s when the Thunderbolts’ Songbird (Melissa Gold) and Radioactive Man (Chen Lu) are called in to apprehend him.[2] However, Mac doesn’t want to fight, but capitalize on joining up with the pro-registration side of the superhero civil war. Transforming into Venom, he asks where he can sign up.

This story continues in Thunderbolts #110.

Recurring Characters

Thunderbolts (Venom, Radioactive Man, Songbird), SHIELD

Continuity Notes

Here, Mac states that Port Washington is like Stamford, Connecticut before it got blown up. He is referring to the events of Civil War #1, where Stamford was blown up by Nitro, the inciting incident for the Civil War event.
When Venom asks why Radioactive Man calls himself “The Atom” or “Firestorm”, Chen quips that it is for “legal reasons”. This is a friendly jab at competitor DC Comics who have similarly powered characters that go by those names.

Topical References

Mac Gargan gives a list of authors and TV and movie personalities he wants to adapt his life. Most of these references should be considered topical as these are real world people. The list includes:
- Greg Berlanti, a television producer who was best known (at the time) for his TV series Dawson’s Creek (which makes his reference a joke, I think).
- He wants to sell the book rights to writer Brad Meltzer. Meltzer was a writer who has done a number of thriller novels as well as biographies for young people. He has also written for both Marvel and DC Comics. Since Fantastic Four #10, Marvel Comics creators have been depicted as existing in the Prime Marvel Universe in the relative prime of their lives (even when they are dead IRL). As such, Meltzer would likely also exist in this reality.
- Screenwriter Steven Zaillian, best known for the films Schindler’s List, Gangs of New York, Moneyball, and The Irishman.
- David Koepp, another screen writer, whose most well known works include Jurassic Park, it’s sequel The Lost World, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (groan).
- “Guggenheim”, is not specifically identified, Mac then says “No the other one, the one who wrote that hockey movie”. I think his agent was referring documentary filmmaker David Guggenheim, known for the films An Inconvenient Truth, It Might Get Loud, and Waiting for “Superman”. However, I don’t know who this “other Guggenheim” is, as I can’t find anyone with that surname who was involved in a movie about hockey.

Conscientious Objector

In the midst of the super hero civil war, Ant-Man (Eric O’Grady) decides to sit it out, mostly because he is an outlaw on the run and he doesn’t have a TV.[1] Case in point, Captain America (Steve Rogers)’s Secret Avengers has ambushed a prison transport protected by Iron Man (Tony Stark)’s pro-registration side.[2][3] O’Grady watches from relative safety on a rooftop until he sees that a little girl has been caught in the middle of the fight.

Showing uncharacteristic heroism, Eric leaps down and helps lead the girl to safety and instructs her to hide under a car. Eventually, the battle comes to an end when Cap’s team flees the scene. When Iron Man finds the little girl he tells her that she is safe and she tells the heroes how she was saved by Ant-Man. Yellowjacket (Hank Pym) realizes who she is talking about, the mystery man who recently stole the new Ant-Man suit he designed for SHIELD. He quickly gets on the phone with Mitch Carson,[4] the SHIELD agent who has been hunting Ant-Man down. He tells Pym that he’s on his way to New York now and vows to catch Ant-Man once and for all.

Meanwhile, oblivious to this danger, Ant-Man decides to spend his afternoon spying on women at an aerobics studio.

Recurring Characters

Ant-Man, Secret Avengers (Captain America, Luke Cage, Cloak, Dagger, “Daredevil”), Pro-Registration Heroes (Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, Spider-Man, Thing, Wasp, “Yellowjacket”), Mitch Carson

Continuity Notes

At the time of this story, Ant-Man has been on the run from SHIELD after stealing his Ant-Man suit. See Irredeemable Ant-Man #1-12.
This battle is explored in greater detail in Amazing Spider-Man #534 and Fantastic Four #539.
It should be noted that two of the characters in this fight are impostors:
- On Cap’s side we have Daredevil, who is actually Danny Rand (aka Iron Fist) in disguise. We’ll get into why he’s posing as Daredevil below.
- On Iron Man’s side is Yellowjacket, who has been replaced with a Skrull spy named Criti Noll as revealed in Mighty Avengers #15.
When Yellowjacket asks for a phone, Spider-Man jokingly says that Tony built one into the arm pit of his costume. At the time of this story, Peter Parker was wearing his “Iron Spider” suit, designed by Tony Stark in Amazing Spider-Man #529.

Choosing Sides

In Hell’s Kitchen, Daredevil stops a mugging in progress. After taking out most of the muggers with martial arts skills, he discovers that it is actually a SHIELD sting operation. The spy agency has been laying traps for unregistered superheroes to catch them in the act. He manages to escape capture thanks to his fast reflexes. He then returns to the penthouse apartment that he has been operating out of.

As it turns out, this is the home of Danny Rand, and there is a voice mail message from his lawyer, Jeryn Hogarth. Jeryn reminds Danny that his company is working on a business deal that will bring in billions of dollars. He asks Danny to get his head back in the game at least long enough to be there when the deal is finalized.

Daredevil ignores this and opens a secret passage way to a hidden dojo. Inside, a dummy wears the costume of Iron Fist. Daredevil takes off his mask, revealing that he is actually Rand in disguise. As it turned out, Rand had met with Daredevil some time ago and they made arrangements so that Danny could pose as Daredevil while the real hero was occupied.[1]

After recalling all of this, Danny strips off his Daredevil costume and tells himself that he will continue to pose as the Man Without Fear for as long as he needs to. However, this hasn’t made him forget who he really is, the chosen warrior of K’un-Lun, who defeated Shou-Lao the Undying and this era’s Iron Fist.[2]

This story continues in Immortal Iron Fist #1…

Recurring Characters

Daredevil, Iron Fist, Jeryn Hogarth (voice)

Continuity Notes

At the time of this story, Matt Murdock’s double life as Daredevil was leaked to the press in Daredevil (vol. 2) #32. At the time of Civil War, Murdock ends up in prison, as seen in Daredevil (vol. 2) #82-87. Iron Fist posing as Daredevil was a means of sowing doubt in the identity leak and make it appear that Daredevil was a different person. It also explains how Daredevil could regularly appear in Civil War #1-7 when he was supposed to be in jail.
This is a recap of Iron Fist’s origins from Marvel Premiere #15.

Choosing Sides

Note: This story takes place between two different periods of time. The top half of the page telling events in “real time”, while the bottom half is reserved for something that happened in the recent past. For the purposes of clarity, I have summarized this story in chronological order.

Then

US Agent (John Walker) breaks into Avengers Tower and manages to make it into Tony Stark’s office. While he thinks he succeeded in getting in, it turns out that Stark was aware of his presence and has two Iron Man drones waiting for him. Stark had called a meeting with John to talk about his future. Walker explains that he broke in to point out holes in his security. Stark moves along and commends US Agent for his assistance in enforcing the Super Human Registration Act. However, Tony has other plans for the Agent and wants him to serve his country in a different way.

John talks this as an insult, thinking that Tony is trying to get rid of him. Stark retorts by saying he isn’t doing anything of the kind. He may not like John Walker, but he respects him because he is the best at what he does and he wants to utilize those skills at their fullest. This butters up John a little bit until Tony explains what he wants US Agent for: To go to Canada and join the new Alpha Flight program as an American liaison. Walker demands to know why Stark is sending him to Canada, and Stark explains that the Canadian government needs assistance to deal with the sudden influx of supervillains and unregistered superhumans that are flooding into the country.[1] John absolutely refuses to go to Canada as he only fights for the USA and challenges Stark to have him court-martialed. Stark promises to do just that and US Agent storms out of the office.

Now

After his meeting with Tony Stark, US Agent finds himself in Philadelphia where he comes under attack by agents of SHIELD. As he flees the attack ship, John is forced to stop and rescue the crew of a news helicopter that takes damage from enemy fire and is about to crash.

After getting the reporters to safety, US Agent leaps onto the SHIELD hover ship and takes out the SHIELD agents, who are under the mind control of the Purple Man (Zebadiah Killgrave). Using his powers on John, Killgrave boasts that he is fleeing to Canada where nobody can get him. He decides to take US Agent’s shield as a souvenir for the road and tells him to fall.[2] With that US Agent jumps off the hover-ship and falls to the ground below.

Later

John Walker awakens in an infirmary aboard the SHIELD helicarrier. Tony Stark is there to greet him and asks for an update on what happened to Killgrave. John explains how the villain said he was fleeing with Canada and wants to go after him to capture him and recover his stolen shield. As it turns out, Stark was well aware of this as the helicarrier is over Canadian airspace. With CSIS agents waiting for him on the ground, John snaps off his arm and leg casts, grabs a parachute and air drops into the country.

This story is continued in Omega Flight #1…

Recurring Characters

US Agent, Tony Stark, Purple Man

Continuity Notes

This is because, at the time of this story, most of Alpha Flight — Canada’s premiere superhero team) was killed off while defending their home land from the Collective. See New Avengers #16-20. Their deaths will later be undone in Chaos War: Alpha Flight #1.
Here we see that US Agent has a list of names scrawled on the back of his shield as well as a photograph of two people. An explanation:
- Although not clearly identified, the photograph is likely of John’s parents, Caleb and Emily Walker who were murdered by the homegrown terrorists known as the Watch Dogs back in Captain America #345.
- Since Avengers (vol. 3) #82, John Walker has been carrying a shield with the names of Americans who were killed in terrorist acts. At the time of publication, these would have been people who died in the September 11th terrorist attacks and soldiers who died in the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. However, this has since become a topical reference.

Non-Human Americans

In Cleveland, Ohio, Howard the Duck and Beverly Switzler are struggling to get by financially. Even though he is working as a cab driver, Howard is barely making ends meat and has had to give up smoking cigars because he can no longer afford the expense.[1] Reading the newspaper in the back seat, Beverly thinks she has found a solution to their money problem. She is reading up on the recently passed Super Human Registration Act, which requires all superhumans to register with the government. Doing so means getting paid and she suggests that Howard register since he can handle himself, being a master of Quack Fu and all.[2] While Howard has his reservations, she tells him that registering would take no time at all.

When they enter what they think is the government registry they discover that there is a huge line-up to get inside. In typical Cleveland fashion, the line is full of all manner of freaks and weirdos.[3] The person in front of them is a guy who calls himself the Mighty Bull, the self proclaimed “enemy of red”. Howard and Beverly wait in line for hours until the Mighty Bull sees a red lamp shade and goes on a rampage, clearing the que and allowing Howard to cut to the front of the line. There, he discovers that they have been waiting in line at the DMV, not at the SHIELD hero registration office.

They go back and check the map and discover that SHIELD’s recruitment office is actually down in the basement. When they arrive, they discover that the all would be registrants have been divided into different types: those transformed by accidents, those with technology based abilities, aliens, and other. This makes Bev wonder what line Howard should que up in and he decides that the only line he’d qualify for is other.[4] When they que up, Howard has Beverly dress up in a costume so she can claim to be his crime fighting sidekick. As they go through all the convoluted paperwork while waiting in line, a man who can grow his beard on command begins hitting on Beverly. To save her from this freak, Howard tells him that she has the power to turn men into ducks.

When they finally get called to register, the SHIELD agent assigned as his case worker is shocked to see that she is dealing with a talking duck. Not because Howard is a duck, but because he is the duck they keep hearing about. She calls her supervisor who arrives with Howard’s file. As it turns out, people have been complaining about Howard for years, producing a thick volume, much to the frustration of the local SHIELD branch. In fact, the file in his hand is only reports from the past month, they have thick files like this going back years. All of them are nuisance complaints because Howard is a rude piece of shit who causes nothing but trouble for the people of Cleveland.

The SHIELD agent in charge is so sick of hearing about Howard’s antics he has made it SHIELD’s official stance that Howard does not exist. This insults Howard, who refuses to be written off like that but his protests go unheard and he and Beverly are quickly booted out. Howard looks at the bright side, being a non-person in the eyes of the government means that he can get away with a whole lot more. He demonstrates this when he finds a parking ticket under the wiper blade of his taxi cab and crumples it up and tosses it away.

As they drive off, Howard spots Mighty Bull wandering around in a daze. Remembering how the SHIELD agents are all wearing red uniforms, he decides the best revenge is to tell the “enemy of red” where the superhero registration offices are.

Recurring Characters

Howard the Duck, Beverly Switzler, Kidney Lady, Turnip Man

Continuity Notes

Howard the Duck has been depicted as a cigar aficionado since his first appearance in Fear #19. His giving up cigars is a nod to an editorial mandate at the time. Then editor Joe Quesada had decided that none of Marvel’s heroes should be depicted smoking (cigarettes, cigars, etc). This was a very personal position after losing his grandfather to cancer. He thought it would influence kids to take up smoking if they saw characters like Wolverine lighting up. Villains were fine because they weren’t role models. Apparently this moratorium also included Howard the Duck.
Howard’s skills in Quack Fu is a call back to Howard the Duck #3.
Among those in the line-up are the infamous “Kidney Lady”, aka Selma Blotte, a health obsessed old woman whom Howard has had the annoying habit of running into since Howard the Duck #2; Also present is Turnip Man (Arthur Winslow) who was given superpowers from an space turnip (I’m not joking), he also first appeared in Howard the Duck #2. There is also someone in line dressed up as the indie comic book character Judge Dredd.
Beverly asks Howard if his home, aka Duckworld, is from another dimension or if he’s an alien from outer space. The truth about Howard’s place of origin is confused, to say the least. He is definitely from an alternate reality, it’s just unclear what reality. All reality numbers for this footnote have been assigned by the Unofficial Appendix to the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe and have yet to be officially assigned and could be subject to change at a later date:
- In his first appearance in Fear #19, Howard is stated to have lived in on an alternate Earth where anthropomorphic animals are the dominant species of the planet. This reality was been designed Reality-47920.
- For some explained reason, starting in Howard the Duck Magazine #3, Howard has been depicted as coming from a world that was exclusively populated by anthropomorphic ducks. Referred to as “Duckworld”, this is Reality-791021.
- Unofficial sources suggest that Howard’s home reality was warped somehow, but this has not been confirmed in any official capacity (time of this writing, November, 2024). I’ll chime in on this when I start indexing Howard the Duck, but you’re going to have to wait a while for that!

Topical References

The Mighty Bull is depicted wearing a Chicago Bulls t-shirt. This is a topical reference as this is a real world basketball team and the Mighty Bull’s whole schtick wouldn’t change if you replaced it with something else.
When claiming Bev can turn men into ducks, Howard claims to be basketball player Shaquille O’Neal. At the time, Shaq was a NBA basketball player who is known for his stature, standing at 7’1”. Shaq wasn’t even the tallest basketball player at the time, he was just the most famous. He has been crowded out by Gheorghe Mureșan and Manute Bol, who played in the NBA around the same time and both measure in at 7’7”. That said, this should be considered a topical reference as you could replace Shaq with a contemporary example of a tall celebrity.

A New Light

Harley Davidson-Cooper gains super powers after getting soda spilled on her hand while unplugging an arcade machine. As stupid as that sounds, she gets electricity powers and puts on a lame costume and starts calling herself Guiding Light. She has a silly adventure where she helps the New Avengers defeat the Sinister Six. In the end, Harley is given an Avengers Priority Card. Meanwhile, the story ends in a cliffhanger as the owner of Spaulding Enterprises gets a sample of the Sandman. However, this story is never resolved, so who cares? See below for more on that.

Is it Continuity?

This story was part of a collaborative effort between Marvel Comics and The Guiding Light a CBS soap opera that ran from 1952 to 2009. The six page story was a companion to a 2008 episode of that series titled "Inside the Light", wherein one of the main cast members gained superhuman powers. This was an attempt to boost ratings while the soap opera was struggling with ratings. Given how Guiding Light was cancelled the following year, I think you can figure out how well that went.

As for this story being in continuity, I’d say that it does not take place in the Prime Marvel Universe (Earth-616) for a few reasons. #1, this is a licensed story to promote a soap-opera and usually promotional comics are not considered part of continuity. Second, the story doesn’t entirely match continuity in that the New Avengers are depicted fighting the Sinister Six. What does that have to do with anything? Well, among their members is Venom who is briefly shown having his symbiote being bombarded with a sonic blast and we get a good look at who is wearing the symbiote. Although he is not mentioned by name, he looks a hell of a lot like Eddie Brock. This is an issue since the the New Avengers weren’t formed until after Brock gave up the symbiote in Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #5-8.

More over Iron Man ends this encounter by giving Guiding Light an Avengers Priority Card to call for help if she ever needs it. These are only given out to members of the Avengers and no resource published mentions her of having any affiliation with the Earth-616 version of the Avengers.

At best, this story occurs in an alternate reality, which (as of this writing in November, 2024) has not been assigned a reality number. Do your research kids.

I guess it should also be noted that A New Light was only featured in the print edition of Civil War: Choosing Sides #1. It has not been reproduced in any reprints that have come out since, likely due to the licenses surrounding the use of Guiding Light characters.

… Civil War continues in Fantastic Four #540.