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shirenomadA recent Shortpacked got me thinking about Marvel's Civil War crossover arc, and I realized something weird. Let me share it.
For those who missed out on the whole business, it starts with a second-string group of superheroes chasing down a batch of villains. Somewhere in the middle of the fight, there's a nasty superpower reaction: end result is the detonation of an entire city block, including a bunch of schoolkids. It turns out later that there was a lot more going on there -- the heroes were set up -- but in the meantime, it looks like neither side was giving a crap about who got caught in the crossfire.
In reaction, there's an immediate demand for accountability among heroes, led by Tony Stark (aka Iron Man), and a law gets pushed through. All heroes must now register with the government, providing your real name and a list of your powers, if they want to continue their heroism. The new law doesn't require them to reveal this information to the world, just whatever department of the government gets put in charge, but Tony deliberately unmasks on live TV to "set the example."
Captain America, meanwhile, resists the whole idea as a trampling of civil liberties. As it turns out, this is a valid concern, as those with powers who refuse to register are rounded up and arrested (whether they intended to continue hero-ing or not) and those who do register are conscripted to help with the roundup. Eventually the whole matter gets ugly, people get shot, heroes go into hiding, etc. etc. Civil War, like they said.
Okay, now let's talk about the weird part. Civil War quickly makes two statements: Cap's side is the side of justice and patriotism and all that is good (given the results, understandable, although they push it to strawman levels), and Tony's side is the side of the right wing (huh?)
Let's transplant the initial situation into real life. A bunch of bank robbers (drug cartel members, mafia, terrorists, whatever) are running around, guns blazing. SWAT team pursues, fire fight starts. Gas line gets hit in the chaos, BOOM. Lots of civilians die. Tragedy? Definitely. But which political party is going to be first to scream that:
1) We need more accountability in law enforcement!
2) We need tighter controls on the possession and use of lethal weapons!
Hint: it's not the Republicans.
For those who missed out on the whole business, it starts with a second-string group of superheroes chasing down a batch of villains. Somewhere in the middle of the fight, there's a nasty superpower reaction: end result is the detonation of an entire city block, including a bunch of schoolkids. It turns out later that there was a lot more going on there -- the heroes were set up -- but in the meantime, it looks like neither side was giving a crap about who got caught in the crossfire.
In reaction, there's an immediate demand for accountability among heroes, led by Tony Stark (aka Iron Man), and a law gets pushed through. All heroes must now register with the government, providing your real name and a list of your powers, if they want to continue their heroism. The new law doesn't require them to reveal this information to the world, just whatever department of the government gets put in charge, but Tony deliberately unmasks on live TV to "set the example."
Captain America, meanwhile, resists the whole idea as a trampling of civil liberties. As it turns out, this is a valid concern, as those with powers who refuse to register are rounded up and arrested (whether they intended to continue hero-ing or not) and those who do register are conscripted to help with the roundup. Eventually the whole matter gets ugly, people get shot, heroes go into hiding, etc. etc. Civil War, like they said.
Okay, now let's talk about the weird part. Civil War quickly makes two statements: Cap's side is the side of justice and patriotism and all that is good (given the results, understandable, although they push it to strawman levels), and Tony's side is the side of the right wing (huh?)
Let's transplant the initial situation into real life. A bunch of bank robbers (drug cartel members, mafia, terrorists, whatever) are running around, guns blazing. SWAT team pursues, fire fight starts. Gas line gets hit in the chaos, BOOM. Lots of civilians die. Tragedy? Definitely. But which political party is going to be first to scream that:
1) We need more accountability in law enforcement!
2) We need tighter controls on the possession and use of lethal weapons!
Hint: it's not the Republicans.
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no subject
Date: 2007-06-21 09:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-21 11:40 pm (UTC)*points* Marvel started it.
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Date: 2007-06-26 11:38 pm (UTC)There's still a couple of guys that stick right, but they're harder to find. I recommend Doug Tennapel, if you're interested. He did Earthworm Jim and his recent Trades have excellent stories about courage and sacrifice and wonder.