Civil War: Front Line #5

Oct 17

Oct 17 Civil War: Front Line #5

Civil War continues from Fantastic Four #539….

Embedded, Part 5

Following the passage of the Super Human Registration Act (SHRA), the superhero community has been torn in half. Reporters Ben Urich and Sally Floyd have been covering the conflict for their respective newspapers.[1]

After a run in with the Green Goblin (Norman Osborn), Ben Urich calls a meeting with his bosses, J. Jonah Jameson, and Joe Robertson, at the Daily Bugle.[2] Neither of them believe that it was really Norman Osborn, but Ben — who has been threatened by the Goblin before — knows the look in his eyes too well.[3] Ben managed to get away because Osborn had some kind of episode before he had the chance to finish him off. Urich then ran for his life, leaving the Goblin foaming at the mouth in the alley where he was cornered. However, as Ben fled the scene, Osborn vowed to get his revenge on Urich and Jameson.

Meanwhile, Sally Floyd is in Chinatown trying to make sense of the whole SHRA situation and who could be profiting off of it.[4] That’s when someone with a hood over their head comes up behind her and points something into her back.[5] He tells her to act natural. He tells her that the superhero underground that she’s been looking for doesn’t exist. When she says that she heard that it does, and that it is lead by Captain America, the mystery man says that person doesn’t exist anymore and nobody will find him, but there are people that think that she will.[6] As he tells that she has no clue what’s really going on, she pretends to freshen up her make-up. This gives her the opportunity to use her make-up mirror to see that someone is watching her from a nearby rooftop. She tells the mystery man that she doesn’t care who is in the resistance, she just wants to hear their side of the story. The man tells her that she is looking for conspiracy where there isn’t one and tells her to dig into the SHRA itself. When she asks him what he is so afraid of, she suddenly notices that there isn’t any pressure on her back anymore. When she turns to look at the man who confronted her, he is long gone, leaving behind the banana he was using to make her think he had a gun.

Back at the Daily Bugle, Ben is continuing to try and convince Jonah and Joe to run his story about the Green Goblin. When another reporter enters the room to say they followed up from Iron Man’s people who confirm that Norman Osborn is still in his cell, this puts the final nail in the coffin for Ben’s argument. Urich accuses Jonah into being scared away from running with a story and once he is finished his rant, Jameson tells him to pack up his desk because he’s fired.

By this time, Sally has returned to the Alternative news room and is telling her boss Neil Crawford about her encounter with the mystery man. Unlike Jameson, he tells her to run with the story. Suddenly, Agent Eric Marshall storms into the newsroom with a squad of SHIELD Cape-Killers and demands that Sally reveal the location of the man who she encountered earlier in the day. She refuses reminding Marshall of her civil liberties that allow the media to protect their sources. Neil also takes her side, saying that his newspaper has lawyers that will eat him for lunch. Marshall tells him that their refusal is a serious infraction of the Super Human Registration Act and puts them under arrest for harboring an unregistered combatant!

Recurring Characters

Ben Urich, Sally Floyd, Green Goblin, J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson, Nick Fury (unidentified), Neil Crawford, SHIELD (Eric Marshall)

Continuity Notes

The SHRA is a new law that was passed into law in Civil War #2. It requires all superheroes to register with the government. This law will remain on the books until Siege #4.
The message “Parker Get Lost!” is written on J. Jonah Jameson’s window. This message is for Spider-Man, who revealed his true identity to the world in Civil War #2, much to the humiliation of Jameson as we saw in Civil War: Front Line #2. Not long after this, Peter will arrange to have a magic spell cast to make everyone forget his true identity, see Amazing Spider-Man #545 and 610 for the details on how that all went down.
At the time of this story, Norman Osborn was exposed as the Green Goblin and arrested thanks to a report by Ben Urich, see The Pulse #1-5. Osborn was released by SHIELD in Civil War: Front Line #2 and Ben had his run in with him last issue.
We’ll learn in Civil War: Front Line #9 that Stark Industries is making bank on the civil war.
In Civil War: Front Line #8, we’ll learn that this mystery man is none other than Nick Fury.
This is not true of course, if you read Civil War #2-3, you’ll know that Cap is running an anti-registration group called the Secret Avengers.

Topical References

Jameson tells Ben if he wants to publish conspiracy theories he should go work for the Weekly World News. The WWN was a tabloid newspaper that was published from 1979 to 2007. It often published outlandish stories based on the supernatural or paranormal. After its print run, it turned into an online publication in 2009. Its reference here should be considered topical as it is a real world publication.
When accusing Jameson of cowardice, he asks if they’ll refuse to publish an editorial cartoon in case they don’t offend a terrorist. This is a in reference to the controversy surrounding political cartoons that depicted the Prophet Mohammad in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September of 2005. In the Muslim religion it is forbidden to depict a picture of Mohammad as it is considered sacrilege. The publication was met with outrage in the Muslim world and led to a number of threats from terrorist groups. This had a chilling effect on other companies who put a moratorium on sparking more outrage. Since Ben is referring to a historical event, it would not be considered topical.

The Accused, Part 5

Robbie Baldwin, aka Speedball, has been made the scapegoat for the Stamford Disaster. Robbie found himself in one of the roughest prisons in the country after his powers seemingly burned out.[1] However, after a sudden flare up, Baldwin is finding himself being transferred to a prison for superhumans instead. As he is being escorted out, Toomey — one of the inmates who had been giving Robbie a hard time — wishes him well. Robbie puts on a cocky attuited and blows him a kiss. However, once he is loaded into the transport bus he drops the façade, revealing how utterly exhausted and defeated he is from the this whole experience.

Riding along with him is his lawyer, She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters), who tells him that she is still working through all the legal red tape to get him a trial date. That’s when they arrive at the location where he is to be transferred to the new superhuman prison they have built. He is shocked to see a bunch of protestors outside calling for his execution. Jen tells him that this is the sentiment because the news media has been having a field day about how Robbie refuses to register or show remorse for the Stamford Disaster.

He is wondering how it can get any worse when they drive into the military base and he sees a massive inter-dimensional portal. She-Hulk explains that she was waiting for the right time to tell him about this, and explains that the prison he is going to is located inside the Negative Zone. She tells him that she will be fighting to get him out of there, but she reiterates that if he just registers it will make her job a lot easier. Robbie refuses, not trusting the government to keep his secret identity safe and that he is willing to take his chances. She-Hulk tries to point out that taking his chances is what landed him in this situation, but he is too stubborn to listen.

Soon, Robbie is put in a prisoner line-up along with other captives such as Typeface (Gordon Thomas),[2] Coldblood (Eric Savin) and the Living Mummy (N’Kantu). They are screened in by CLOC, the Sentry’s artificial intelligence before they are herded into the portal. Robbie tries to keep a brave face by cracking jokes, but the seriousness of his situation is punctuated when Coldblood has a breakdown after they pass through the portal. When they try to help him, CLOC tells them that prisoners are not permitted to touch one another. When Robbie tries to argue this by saying that they need to help living people, the Living Mummy interjects by saying he is not truly alive. The argument abruptly ends when they all get a look at their new home, Prison 42, a massive prison complex that is nicknamed “Fantasy Island”.

Recurring Characters

Speedball, Toomey, She-Hulk, Typeface, Coldblood, Living Mummy, SHIELD, CLOC

Continuity Notes

Speedball was among the New Warriors who were involved in the Stamford Disaster in Civil War #1. As we learned in Civil War: Front Line #1, his powers were seemingly burned out from absorbing the kinetic energy from the blast. Last issue, we saw that this might not be the case after his powers flared up after having his leg broken.
We saw Typeface get busted for his part in a SHRA resistance movement last issue. We’ll see him again along with other prisoners who are broken out by Captain America’s Secret Avengers in Civil War #6.

Topical References

Robbie gives another reason why he won’t register: Saying that the military had lost a laptop containing the personal information on 28 million veterans. This is in reference to a real life event that happened on May 3, 2006, when said laptop was stolen from the home from the VA employee who had it. The laptop was later recovered about two months later. As this was something that happened recently in the news at the time this comic was originally published its specific reference should be considered topical.

Sleeper Cell, Part 3

A criminal named the Rat is fleeing down an alleyway after robbing a bank. As the police put a spotlight on him, he tries to tell the cops he isn’t afraid of them. Seconds later, Wonder Man (Simon Williams) bursts through the wall and tackles him. With the criminal subdued, the NYPD orders Simon to put his hands in the air and and show his hero registration card so they can verify that he is legally allowed to fight crime. Simon hands the card over and they scan it with a special light to confirm that it is valid. The officer then changes his tone and salutes Wonder Man for his service. That’s when someone yells cut, as this wasn’t a real bust at all, but part of a Public Service Announcement that is being made to encourage heroes to register with the government.

Flying back to his agent’s office, Wonder Man calls him to complain about this job. He is annoyed by all the script re-writes and how ridiculous the commercial is. When he arrives at the agency, Simon’s personal secretary tells him that his schedule has been cancelled. When he asks why, he is taken to a boardroom where two SHIELD agents are waiting for him. They need his assistance to help track down a man only known as Joe who is at the center of a mysterious bombing of his business and the death of his wife. Simon is flattered that they came to him with this, but tells them that there are others that are more qualified.[1]

The SHIELD agents explain that everyone else is busy, and when they don’t take no for an answer, they subtly threaten to dredge up irregularities in his tax filings.[2] They also want him to wear a monitoring bracelet so they can track his progress. When Simon complains that this wasn’t what he signed up for when he registered with the government, they tell him that this is exactly what he signed up for. As they exit the room, they say that if he has any problems he is free to write to his congressman. They also assure him that this assignment will take no time at all and then he can go back to his normal life. After they gone, Simon resigns to the situation he has found himself in.

Recurring Characters

Wonder Man, SHIELD

Continuity Notes

As we discovered in Civil War: Front Line #3, “Joe” is an Atlantean sleeper agent who was recently activated for a secret mission on the surface world.
One of the SHIELD agent comments about how Simon dyes his hair. This is in reference to how his hair turned grey after he died and was resurrected relatively recently (See Force Works #1 and Avengers (vol. 3) #11). This is to explain how his hair went from grey in Avengers (vol. 3) #41 to being black again when he appeared in issue #49 of that series and onwards.

Topical References

Wonder Man is depicted as having a “flip” style cell phone with a visible antenna to pick up signals. These styles of phones were quite popular when this comic was originally published in 2006. However, they have since fallen out of common use following the invention of the smart phone. As such, its depiction here should be considered topical.
Simon complains that the Rat looks like something out of the Keystone Kops. This was a series of comedic silent films about bumbling police officers that were produced from 1912 to 1917. This wouldn’t necessarily be considered a topical reference since Wonder Man is an film buff by way of his acting career.
Williams says that he has a meeting with someone named Angelina for some PETA function. He is likely referring to Angelina Jolie, a real life actress who was at the height of her career at the time this story was published, she is also well known for her humanitarian work. That said, there is no record of her being involved with PETA, aka People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Founded in 1980, PETA advocates for animal welfare, although they are known to some controversy for some of their more extreme ideals. That said, references to both should be considered topical.

The Battle of Secessionville*

Preface: A detailed account of the Battle of Secessionville, fought in Charleston, South Carolina on June 16, 1862. Taking particular note of how brothers James and Alexander Campbell were fighting on opposing sides of the Civil War. James fought for the Confederate army, while Alex fought for the Union. It was only during that battle that they discovered that they were fighting on opposite sides of the war. What follows is a letter that Alexander Campbell wrote to his wife between June and August 1862. It details his feelings about fighting against his brother.

This letter is framed between the battle between the two brothers juxtaposed with a scene of Iron Man (Tony Stark) and Spider-Man (Peter Parker) clashing with anti-registration heroes Lectronn, Lightbright, Phone Ranger, and Wildstreak.[1] This vignette ends by juxtaposing Alexander’s wife and mother waiting for Alexander to return home with Mary Jane Watson and Aunt May waiting for Peter to return.

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Spider-Man, Lectronn, Lightbright, Phone Ranger, Wildstreak, Mary Jane Watson, Aunt May

* This story was not given a title, I have added one to differentiate it from the other stories in this issue

Continuity Notes

Lectronn and Lightbright are next seen as prisoners freed from Prison 42 in Civil War #6, while Wildstreak is depicted being transported to the prison in Fantastic Four #540, her subsequent fate is unknown time of this writing (October, 2024). It’s a safe bet that she was eventually released. Phone Ranger eventually gets released at some point as we’ll see him again a few years later in Ziggy Pigg-Silly Seal Comics (vol. 2) #1.

… Civil War continues in Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #6.