Greg Gildersleeve

I'm always a bit behind in my comics reading, so I just read CIVIL WAR # 1 and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN # 532-533. I normally wouldn't have even bothered with "Civil War" (another mega-crossover event. Ugh!), but it's made such an impression on my comics-reading friends and at comics events I've attended that I was curious. [Warning: SPOILERS follow.]

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My initial evaluation: "Civil War" is a mundane story well told. "Mundane" in the sense that I feel I've read this story before: The idea of the government outlawing super-heroes, except for those who work for the government, was the backdrop of WATCHMEN. It also is eerily similar to the telepath situation in "Babylon 5" (a TV series created, not coincidentally, by Spidey writer J. Michael Straczynski). And there are also similarities between events of this series and the Mutant Registration Act in other Marvel titles.

Knowing that there are no truly original ideas, however, I wanted to give "Civil War" the benefit of a doubt, and this is where the "well told" part comes in. Insofar as "CW" serves as a metaphor for these post 9/11 times and fears about the government encroaching on the individual's rights, the story works. It vividly captures the uncertainty and paranoia of the times.

Particularly vivid is Spider-Man's dilemma about whether or not to unmask in public. Spidey, at the heart of it, really is out his league, as he mentions in 532. He wants to do the right thing, but is, at this point, a follower, not a leader. He follows Tony Stark not because he believes in his cause (he clearly doesn't), but because he's loyal to the man. This leads Spidey to ignore his grave doubts and unmask anyway -- and face the terrible consequences (loss of privacy, a lawsuit from J. Jonah Jameson (excellent subplot!), and villains having a new advantage over him). Tony Stark is isolated from all this because of his wealth and singular devotion to his mission. But Spidey -- who longs for a normal life -- is dependent on Tony these days. Tony supplies him with room and board, money, and even his new costume; one might say that Tony has Spidey where he wants him. How do you bite the hand that feeds you -- particularly when that hand can cut off everything you have and throw you in jail?

Tony's portrayal in "CW" is credible -- to a point. I don't buy him channeling Senator Joseph McCarthy ("I have a list of 137 names ...") and threatening other heroes with being hunted down if they don't "voluntarily" register. That's a line not even Tony would cross. (Of course, if he doesn't cross it, the conflict between his side and Captain America's wouldn't be as sharp, and there would be no story. Which just goes to show how characters sometimes have to be "bent out of shape" in order to fit into these mega-crossover events.) Tony's support of the President's initiative is understandable -- and is set up in a believable way, via a 9/11-like catastrophe involving other heroes and villains -- but how come neither Tony nor anyone else offers to make registration truly voluntary at first? If heroes were offered the chance at a salary, government support, etc., many might view it as a wonderful opportunity. Only if that plan failed would the draconian methods presented in "CW" ring true.

Captain America's scene in CW # 1 is brief, but highly effective: It contrasts the certainty in his actions with Spider-Man's uncertainty. The acting head of S.H.I.E.L.D. is set up to be an antagonist we are all sure to hate -- and it works! Her line, "I thought super-villains were guys in masks who refused to obey the law" -- spoken while her armed S.H.I.E.L.D. agents surround Cap -- was chilling.

As for repercussions in the Marvel Universe, I'm not terribly worried. Very few mega-crossover events have long-lasting or interesting changes. (I still remember the colossal banality of SECRET WARS, 22 years ago!) I'm sure Spidey will go back to having a secret identity somehow, and if he doesn't, so much the better. From posts I've read on another message board, I seem to be one of the few who thinks that Spidey's marriage to MJ and revealing his secret identity to Aunt May were good things. At least these events moved the character forward.