![](\"https:\/\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/CivilWar.png\" "\\"Civil")
<\/div>\nThe trigger is a disaster where rash action by a second string set of heroes (the New Warriors) end up dead — as do several hundred children and adults, slain by a villain fleeing heroes being filmed for a reality show. While this has the felicitous result of killing Speedball (and company), the outrage solidifies a public demand (and government actions) to license and deputize and regulate and co-opt (and learn the identity) of all super-heroes.<\/p>\n
The lead-in for this as been bubbling and brewing in the Marvel U for several months, but what I’m particulraly interested in is the question itself. Or, more importantly, the series tag line, whose side are you on?<\/em><\/p>\n Looking at the first issue, just out, the arguments in favor of some sort of registration\/regulation of super-heroes fall out as follows:<\/p>\n “After Philly getting bombed, the Hulk trashing Vegas … Wolverine saying he was gonna kill the President? This is the start of the witch hunts, honey. They’ll be coming after us with torches and pitchforks.” — Goliath to Ms. Marvel<\/p>\n “A ban on super heroes? Well, in a world with thousands of super-villains that’s obviously impossible, Larry. But training them up and making them carry badges? Yes, I’d say that sounds like a reasonable response.” — She-Hulk on Larry King<\/em><\/p>\n “And who finances the Avengers? Who’s been telling kids for years that they can live outside the law as long as they’re wearing tights? Cops have t train and carry badges, but that’s too boring for Tony Stark. Nah, Joe Billionairehere says all you need are some powers and a badass attitude, and you can have a place in his private super-gang. […] You fund this sickness, Stark, with your dirty billions. The blood of my little Damien is on your hands right now.” — Mother of one of the victims to Tony Stark (Iron Man) when he disclaims resposibility for the New Warriors’ actions.<\/p>\n “Their powers can be as awesome as nuclear weapons, Bill. Shouldn’t they be tested before they’re allowed to work in our communities?” — Talking head on a TV show<\/p>\n “Why shouldn’t we be better-trained and publicly accountable? […] As far as I’m concerned, Stamford was our wake-up call. What alcoholics refer to as a moment of clarity. Becoming public employees makes perfect sense if it helps people sleep a little easier.” — Iron Man, to other supers.<\/p>\n “Why should we be allowed to hide behind these things [masks]?” — Yellow-Jacket to the Falcon<\/p>\n “The secret identity thing isn’t such a big deal. The Fantastic Four have been public since the very beginning, and it’s never really been a serious concern.” — Sue Richards, to Spider-Man [Not altogether true; the FF have, on occasion, sought normal\/private identities, for the protection of their kids.]<\/p>\n “How can anyone argue with super heroes being properly trained and paid for a living?” — SHIELD agent<\/p>\n “I thought super-villains were guys in masks who refused to obey the law. […] Nobody wants a war, Captain. The poeple are just sick and tired of living in the Wild West. [..] Now grow up and stop being an idiot, huh? Nobody’s saying you can’t do your job. It’s just time you went legitimate like the rest of us, soldier.” — SHIELD Director Hill, to Captain America<\/p>\n “So’s smallpox.” — SHIELD Director Hill, to Captain America, when told that masked heroes have been “a part of this country for as long as anyone can remember.”<\/p>\n “GUNS ARE LICENSED – WHY NOT POWERS?” — Protester’s sign at the White House.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Or, to summarize, super-powers are incredibly powerful and a proven risk\/threat to the public, while still being of great public utility. Their control is a societal necessity. And just as we frown upon ordinary civilians extra-legally assaulting others and seeking to solve crimes and punish criminals, because of their lack of training and the non-authorized use of power against others, how much moreso should metahumans be restricted and discouraged from acting outside of legal courses?<\/em><\/p>\n And, on the other side:<\/p>\n “Pension plans and annual vacation time? It’s ridiculous. What are they trying to do? Turn us into civil servants?” — The Wasp<\/p>\n “The masks are a tradition. We can’t just let them turn us into super-cops.” — The Falcon, to Yellow-Jacket<\/p>\n “[Public identity isn’t a problem] until that day I come home and find my wife impaled on an octopus arm and the woman who raised me begging for her life.” — Spider-Man to Sue Richards<\/p>\n “Don’t play politics with me, Hill. Super heroes need to stay above that stuff or Washington starts telling us who the super-villains are.” — Captain America to SHIELD Director Hill.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In other words, independent heroes are a long tradition, not to be made into petty civil servants. Public identities would endanger loved ones. Heroes need to stay above politics and political control<\/em>.<\/p>\n The case against comes off, perhaps intentionally, as far weaker than the case for. Kind of petty, in a lot of cases. Bottom line, though, is that were metahumans to appear in our world, the public would simply not tolerate their independent actions, especially given some of the “loose cannons” out there. <\/p>\n Now, how will it all end? I’ve read a couple of the details, but not the overall resolution. I presume that things will go back to — if not the status quo, then not the full regulation of heroes that’s being proposed. But how will they win the argument? Presuming (as seems likely) that the Party Line will be that, though it’s a tormenting question, how will the story teach the lesson that, in the face of all the arguments for<\/em>, the arguments against <\/em>are morally and practically superior?<\/p>\n (It’s possible I’m wrong — maybe there’s something radical about to come, or maybe the balance will be more artfully given, or something of that sort. But on the assumption that not …)<\/p>\n First, the story will spin as the Governent\/Control Sorts vs. Freedom. Goliath vs. David. The Sheriff vs. Robin Hood. The British vs. the Sons of Liberty. The Fascists vs. … well, you get the idea. It’s a theme that resonates with most people, certainly in the US. Heck, even a fun-loving Bonnie & Clyde get sympathy against those nasty cops. That already puts a strike in the sympathy game against the regulators. Heck, framing it as “regulation” already presiposed folks against it.<\/p>\n This is made even worse in the present circumstances. The idea of governmental control of super-powers is kinda scary, in the right light. The idea of George W. Bush having control of super-powers is outright terrifying for a lot of people, I suspect.<\/p>\n This will be, I predict, enhanced by the tactics used by the “for” camp in the story. If this is truly a civil war, the betrayal, already hinted at, will come from the folks taking the thirty pieces of silver from the Feds. We’ve already seen that, with attempts being made to arrest and detain Captain America (always a silly thing to try, as well as a guaranteed sympathy-gatherer for one rhetorical side, as well as an anticipated betrayal by Iron Man (and others) cropping up at the end of the first volume.<\/p>\n Indeed, it seems that play will be to the emotions, with Captain America representing (very literally) the side of freedom and liberty and emotional power, and the other side being represented by the side of logic and intellect, as embodied (on the last page) by Iron Man, Mister Fantastic, and Yellowjacket. <\/p>\n So the argument comes down to patriotism, on the power of the individual, individual responsibility and freedom, arrayed against the dangerously pragmatic, practical, logical, functional. <\/p>\n In the polemical opera which is comic books, there’s no question where the sympathy, and the result, are supposed to lie.<\/p>\n The problem is, I’m not altogether certain that’s the right answer. Like I said, while there are dangers in co-opting super-force to governmental ends, there are much more obvious dangers to the reckless use of such powers. We believe fiercely in the right to bear arms in this country — but we also, rightly, restrict people from going around and gunning down criminals. <\/p>\n What’s the right answer? Not in the story, but what’s the right <\/em>answer? <\/p>\n I hate to be against Captain America, but …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “Civil War” is this summer’s big Marvel event, spanning seven issues by title (written by Mark Millar), and running across the majority of Marvel titles. It looks to be a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media-comics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":37479,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/06\/05\/marvel-marvel-marvel-marvel-heroes-heroes-heroes-heroes.html","url_meta":{"origin":9708,"position":0},"title":"Marvel Marvel Marvel Marvel Heroes Heroes Heroes Heroes","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 5-Jun-13 8:15am","format":false,"excerpt":"We betaed this on multiple occasions. \u00a0I found the crafting process goofy, but, more importantly, it suffered from just this problem.If it were a fabulous game, it could have overcome that. \u00a0It is not, and the money-making possibilities of costume alternatives makes the problem even worse.Reshared post from +Doyce TestermanAs\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41121,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/02\/14\/cant-tell-your-super-heroes-without-a-program.html","url_meta":{"origin":9708,"position":1},"title":"Can't Tell Your Super-Heroes Without a Program!","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 14-Feb-14 3:00pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Who owns the rights to which Marvel super-characters? \u00a0Here you go.Note that auxiliary characters and villains generally go with the heroes, too. So you won't see the Avengers fighting Doctor Doom any time soon, or Wolverine squaring off against the Green Goblin.Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are interesting cases -- and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10249,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/03\/07\/marvels_civil_war.html","url_meta":{"origin":9708,"position":2},"title":"Marvel’s Civil War","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 7-Mar-07 8:10pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The Civil War is over. Sorta. Marvel's \"Civil War\" series started almost a year ago -- originally a 7-part \"summer\" series, it turned into a 7-part \"all year\" series,...","rel":"","context":"In "Comics & Comic Books"","block_context":{"text":"Comics & Comic Books","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-comics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/mcniven_civilwar7.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8903,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/03\/27\/super.html","url_meta":{"origin":9708,"position":3},"title":"Super!","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 27-Mar-06 1:30pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The LA Times is (rightly) annoyed by continuing efforts by Marvel and DC to lock down the term \"super hero\" with a trademark. Tickets to the California Science Center's latest...","rel":"","context":"In "Comics & Comic Books"","block_context":{"text":"Comics & Comic Books","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-comics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10937,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/05\/12\/heroic.html","url_meta":{"origin":9708,"position":4},"title":"Heroic","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 12-May-07 8:28pm","format":false,"excerpt":"So I'm reading this week's Comics Buyer's Guide, an article on the post-\"Civil War\" world in the Marvel Universe, and it mentions in passing: Pym is working with various talented...","rel":"","context":"In "Comics & Comic Books"","block_context":{"text":"Comics & Comic Books","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-comics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51058,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/13\/female-super-heroes-invisible-and-replaceable.html","url_meta":{"origin":9708,"position":5},"title":"Female super-heroes: invisible AND replaceable","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 13-May-15 7:36am","format":false,"excerpt":"Crikey.It's one thing (a bad thing, but one thing) to simply not pay any attention to the participation of, oh, say, Black Widow in the recent Avengers movie.It's another thing to take something Black Widow did -- something so cool and prominent and promotion-worthy that it was a key part\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9708\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}