Freedom Loses in "Civil War" - the case against registration

Freedom Loses in "Civil War" - the case against registration

Should super-heros be anonymous or should they register with the US government? This is the central question of Marvel's Civil War.

Editorial Opinion
By TheCapelessCrusader - Jan 26, 2012 12:01 PM EST
Filed Under: Marvel Comics
Source: The Capeless Crusader

By Josh Epstein

Should super-heros be anonymous or should they register with the US government? This is the central question of Marvel's Civil War.

I was aware of this event when it began in 2007. It was, however, several years before I would read it through from beginning to end.

The story, in short, is that a bunch of reality show super heros wind up inadvertently causing the death of over 700 civilians leading the government to push for universal registration of masked vigilantes. The super hero community splits over the issue, with Iron Man favoring registration and Captain America opposing it.

In the end, after much drama, angst, combat, and death, Cap surrenders rather than cause any more damage, and is arrested as a traitor to the United States government.

This is an issue that had been skirted by both of the major comic for years. We had become used to seeing panel after panel of heros crashing through office buildings, cratering major thoroughfares as they fall, and shattering endless numbers of windows as they did battle with the forces of evil.

What was often ignored, though, was the human cost. It was only very rarely that writers would deal with the impact to the everyday person of having their entire apartment complex obliterated when Superman gives the world-conqueror-of-the-week the old what-for. It was just business as usual.

But this was in the comics of yesteryear, in the days before the 24-hour news cycle, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and every other apparatus that we have created to ensure that we are instantly notified of anything we consider to be of import.

In the flattened world we live in, we are much more aware of the disasters that occur around us every day.

The popular outrage that drove the passage of the Super Human Registration Act in this event mirrors our own political environment much more than the live-and-let-die attitude that prevailed in comics through the 1990's.

But what of the cost?

In the end, Cap surrenders. In reality, the publishers surrendered us, the readers, to a future where there is no separation between the "righteous" super hero and the government that regulates them. Heros, like soldiers today, are allowed to disagree with their government in private, but must toe the line in public.

The characters who, ostensibly, are there to protect the world from tyranny become agents of a different sort of tyranny, one that wraps itself in the flag and cries "treason" against any who question the status quo.

At a time when the most powerful in the world seem to be consolidating that power, we can no longer rely on our printed protectors to stand up for ourselves.

Perhaps that is the message in the end. If we want heroism in our modern world, we first have to find the hero in ourselves and refuse to bow down in the face of fear. Only when we do that will we be able to fly freely.

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HulkbusterNYC
HulkbusterNYC - 1/26/2012, 1:48 PM
Some interesting points.. Good read
JediRob
JediRob - 1/26/2012, 1:56 PM
How topical!

Editorial.
Paulley
Paulley - 1/27/2012, 9:01 AM
nice read, throughout the event (The event infact was my first exposure into main universe Marvel Comics) i was on Iron Man's side...

If Super-heroes existed i damn sure would have wanted them registered and trained, and held accountable for their action as you would expect any policing force should be.
TheCapelessCrusader
TheCapelessCrusader - 1/27/2012, 9:17 AM
@HulkbusterNYC, glad you enjoyed it.
TheCapelessCrusader
TheCapelessCrusader - 1/27/2012, 9:17 AM
@JediRob: Thanks for reading! Now that the fansite is active, things should be categorized properly when posted as I move forward. :)
TheCapelessCrusader
TheCapelessCrusader - 1/27/2012, 9:18 AM
@Paulley: I would have to argue that there is a real difference between police and a super hero, as many did argue during Civil War. If you'd like to write a counter-piece on pro-registration, I would be happy to post it on my site as a guest column :)
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 1/27/2012, 9:28 AM
Think of it like this.

You need to register just to drive a car down the road. Why? Because if just anyone was allowed to jump in a car and drive down the street, there would be far more accidents and deaths because too many inexperienced/underage people would be driving.

You can take that and apply it to the SHRA. Now imagine inexperienced/underaged people with far more power than a car, fighting in big, populated cities. Now do you see the reason for the SHRA?

Iron Man was right, up to the point where they REQUIRED all super heroes to join the government. They should have required proper training, registration, and guidance, and then let the heroes DECIDE whether they wanted to stick with the government or go private.
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 1/27/2012, 9:46 AM
Also, Captain America was wrong because the government didn't just thrust this upon everyone. The American people demanded and voted for the SHRA. Cap forgot that the number one thing this country was built on is that the American people vote for what happens. The second he went against the wants of the people is the second he stopped being Captain America.

This is why he surrendered at the end. He realized he was fighting for super heroes and NOT the American people.
TheCapelessCrusader
TheCapelessCrusader - 1/27/2012, 1:53 PM
@CorddogBurglar: You make some excellent points. However, one critical component that you are forgetting is that of personal choice. The inherent dangers of super powers are obvious, but the potential for government overreach is so tremendously dangerous as to be beyond imagining.

Many of the individuals covered under the SHRA did not become superhuman by choice. Peter Parker is a great example.

I will agree with you that a fair compromise (which neither side ever proposed) would have been to require universal training and certification. That still leaves the issue of identity, and that's a sticky one.
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 1/27/2012, 2:39 PM
@ CapelessCrusader

Identity is one of those things that I would have to say a hero needs to sacrifice (at least to the government) in order to continue doing what they do. Its certainly easier for me to say that though, considering we don't live in a world where someone like Norman Osborne is going to take over the CIA and gain everyone's identities to hunt them down at their homes. :)

The bottom line is, Cap forgot that the American people and their combined apinions is what this country was based on. The American people wanted the SHRA, so it was passed. He went against that American ideal. No matter how flawed the SHRA was, the people wanted it, so Cap should have backed them.

Believe me, Cap is one of my favorite characters of all time, so I'm not just burying him for the sake of it. But the truth is, he lost site of the "American Dream" for a little while there.

Iron Man on the other hand, was trying to do whats right, but got a little carried away by trying to force the heroes to do the bidding of the government.

So there really is no right or wrong, I can see why both characters did what they did, but there are also things that both characters did that I don't agree with. It was a fine line. But thats why Civil War will go down as one of the most talked about comic stories of all time, because when you get down to it, both sides were right AND wrong at the same time.
TheCapelessCrusader
TheCapelessCrusader - 1/27/2012, 2:58 PM
@ CorndogBurglar

I have to respect a well-thought out position.

I still think that a compromise solution could have been reached to allow super heros to retain their anonymity while still cooperating with civil authorities.

I don't necessarily agree that Cap lost sight of popular opinion. I think the series did an excellent job of showing us how media bias can influence public perception of an issue. As a child of a different era, Cap is more immune to that influence than the rest of us, and tends to hold to his own personal beliefs rather than conforming to the opinion of the majority.

In this case, he was trying to uphold the individual's right to self-determination. Now, this idea has become very politicized in recent years, but was once a central tenet of the American experience. Insofar as Cap sees it as his duty to protect that right, he was trying to do what was right.

So, as you say, was Iron Man, in seeking to ensure that the bulk of humanity was not left exposed to a completely unregulated group of walking WMDs. As he sees it, regardless of the cost to personal liberty, it is always more important to protect the people. That always struck me as funny coming from the Tony "the ultimate individualist" Stark, though.

One of the best things about this series is that some of the best questions it asks are the subtextual questions about the nature of fear in the American media culture.

ScottishAl
ScottishAl - 1/28/2012, 1:46 AM
I find the idea of capes hunting capes morally repugnant. Cap said you cant let the government tell you who the baddies are. I was always with cap on this one
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