 The
issue hit yesterday, and made national news for the Spider-Man event
in it's pages. But what about the rest? As we do every month, we caught
up with Civil War editor Tom Brevoort to talk about the issue,
it's ins and outs, and the little things that readers may not have
picked up on.
That's right - it's time for the Civil War Room.
And of course - THERE BE SPOILERS AHEAD
Newsarama: Let's
hit the ground running with page one, Tom. At the start of the issue,
Cap's still on the run, but yet, still catching bad guys? Can you
take us inside his head a little? Is his devotion to the "job" so
great that he's still doing it, despite the risks, or are the 15
villains he and his team have taken down just collateral in their
larger mission? Is he trying to prove anything?
Tom Brevoort:
Cap and company are definitely still on the job. Which is the point
of their underground, really. Think of it as a support group for
those who don't believe in the Registration act, but who still want
to be out there on the streets doing good. At this stage, I don't
think Cap has a larger agenda than just continuing to do his job,
and aiding other heroes who are also opposed to registering themselves.
 NRAMA:
Judging from the screens in the Helicarrier, it appears that SHEILD
has pages of the Marvel Handbook for their reference material.
Can we take this to mean that Marvel has signed with the pro-Reg
side, and is cooperating with SHIELD?
TB: We're Marvel-we
play both sides in any conflict like this, so you can rest assured
that Cap has the same data. Those drop-ins were courtesy of color
artist Morry Hollowell, the secret weapon of the Civil War
team.
NRMA: A diplomatic
enough answer…as displayed by Reed in his scene with Sue, the geniuses
of the Marvel Universe all seem to be in a twitter about the changes
the Registration Act will allow for - these would be changes based
in the idea that super-heroes who are acting in public are legal
and "endorsed?"
TB: Yes. Tony
and his braintrust have been building a plan for the evolution of
super heroes in the Marvel Universe, and it's a plan you'll see
more of as we get further into the story.
NRAMA: That said
though - Reed Richards in all of this - is he so stricken by tunnel
vision, or is he just a jerk to Sue? Jeez - her brother is in a
coma, their world's in upheaval, and he can't be bothered…no wonder
Namor is appealing.
 TB:
Well, we'll have to see. I think Reed can be a bit tunnel-visioned
and obsessive at times. But I also told Mark I thought that sequence
read as just a bit too cold. You'll get more insight into Reed's
thinking in the upcoming Fantastic Four tie-in issues.
NRAMA: The scene
with Iron Man, Reed, Tigra, She-Hulk and the other heroes - they
fought a Doombot? Did Dr. Doom really attack New York?
TB: It was a
Doombot, not necessarily a "Doctor Doom"-bot. And the particulars
of where it came from and what it was doing are really pretty irrelevant
to the overall story. It was a big, rampaging menace, and this group
of heroes took it down. No hidden layers of meaning, no secretive
ties to a shadowy mastermind behind the scenes in Civil War
or anything. It's exactly what it appears to be-the sort of super
hero situation that the average reader can pick up on and understand
in an instant.
 NRAMA:
Let's hit the specific of the Act itself - Happy tells Tony that
SHIELD has 38 signatures so far. What kind of information does SHEILD
require? What kind of agreement do the heroes have to sign?
TB: Those heroes
who've registered have given their names and some accounting of
themselves, and have passed muster on a training course designed
to show facility and responsible command of their abilities. You'll
see more of the specifics of this process in the Ms. Marvel
tie-in issues.
NRAMA: We've
heard from Tony, obviously, but generally speaking, what's the motivation
for those heroes who've signed up? Do they all fit into a specific
mindset or type of hero?
TB: I don't think
there's a specific mindset necessarily, other than not wanting to
operate that far outside the law. Plus there are the benefits of
a steady paycheck and the support of SHIELD and other heroes like
themselves.
NRAMA: Paycheck
- so they do get paid and are employees of the Federal government?
TB: If they choose
to be, yes. You need to register if you possess superhuman abilities,
but this isn't a draft-one is not forced to operate as a federalized
super hero against one's wishes. But for those who choose to accept
the assignment, there are the perks of being a government employee.
NRAMA: Let's
go inside Tony's head a little. Leading up to this point, we've
seen him in Amazing Spider-Man mostly, and he's appeared
to be 100% on the Registration Act, yet, in that scene with Hap,
he expressed doubts. Is he uncertain that he's made the right decision?
 TB:
As we saw in both the Illuminati Special and the issues of
Amazing Spider-Man leading up to Civil War, Tony clearly
knew that events were moving in this direction, and he hoped that
he'd be able to stave off this situation for some time-but life
got in the way. It's no small thing that he's doing here, and it
entails potentially going up against people who were once his closest
friends, so I think Tony surely must have his share of doubts. But
he's also got his commitment to what he thinks the right thing to
do is, and even if he has to pay a personal cost for his actions
down the line, that's the road he's going to travel.
NRAMA: As was
revealed, there've been 38 heroes who've signed up so far. Does
anyone at Marvel have the full list?
TB: Not a complete
list, no. I've been maintaining a free-flowing chart of all of the
main players in Civil War, and where they are at any given
moment. There are enough characters moving around the board, changing
their status depending on what titles have shipped, that it became
a necessity-especially where Front Line is concerned, since
so many characters pass through that series.
NRAMA: Yeah,
but still - we've all seen the boilerplate - Marvel has a library
of over 5,000 characters. Only 38 sign?
TB: Well, 5000
characters doesn't equal 5000 heroes. Neither are all of
those characters earthbound, nor American. So the field you're drawing
on is a lot more streamlined than that.
NRAMA: True,
and jokes aside, what was Tony expecting? Only 38? That's what…a
medium-sized Avengers team from back in the day with a handful of
reserves?
TB: Actually,
I would think that 38 is a pretty good start, especially given that
the Act hadn't become law yet.
 NRAMA:
Speaking of anti-Registration, we see some of Captain America's
allies in this issue. Any specific individuals you can point out
and say why they've sided with Cap? Cable, for instance? Cloak?
TB: We see a
handful of folks in the bay with Cap's crew at the end of the issue:
Daredevil, Cage, the Falcon, Cloak, Dagger, Goliath, Hercules, Cable
- who's there diplomatically, and isn't really affiliated with Cap's
side, as we'll see in the Cable & Deadpool tie-in issues.
Also present are Jane Foster and Night Nurse, and now most of the
Young Avengers.
I think each character's
affiliation is unique to his or her personal circumstances. Hercules,
for example, is allied with Cap not because he has any particular
stake in the Registration Act, but because Cap is Cap, an old comrade
and brother-in-arms who needs his assistance. Cloak & Dagger are
there because, with the increased pressure the Act brings to bear
on superhumans, it's nowhere near as easy for them to operate independently
as they have in the past. Cable's present for reasons that'll be
made clear in the Cable & Deadpool tie-in issues, and the
thinking of Cap, Falcon and Cage will be made clear in New Avengers
#21-#22.
NRAMA: What are
those who stand against the Registration Act risking? We've seen
that, as shown with the Young Avengers, they're taken into SHIELD
custody, but what then? Imprisonment? Attitude adjustment? Incarceration
followed by signing the act or promising to never use their powers
again?
That's a reasonable
question…and the answer will be revealed more fully in Civil
War #3 and #4…
NRAMA: Speaking
of a specific case - the Young Avengers' capture - under the Registration
Act, what would they have had to do? Obviously, they're young heroes,
and the argument could be made that they're quite inexperienced.
Would they have been allowed to sign, and that would be enough,
or is there some kind of mandatory training regimen everyone must
go through?
 TB:
In conforming to the Registration Act, the Young Avengers would
certainly have had to divulge their real identities, which some
of them would be reluctant to do, particularly Patriot. And yes,
they'd have to display proficiency with their abilities to be licensed
as superhuman defenders-and, especially due to their age and relative
inexperience-it's likely that they would be denied active status,
and banned from operating as super heroes until they met the qualifications.
NRAMA: The X-Men
were seen there in a panel - what exactly are they doing? Given
their Sentinel chaperones, are they by default already registered?
Will that affect how the pro and anti-Reg sides see them?
TB: The X-Men
are de facto registered, given that the government has an accounting
of the 198, and they're mostly confined to the grounds of the Xavier
Institute. But you'll get a much clearer idea of the X-Men's position
in Civil War #3, and then later in the Civil War: X-Men
series.
NRAMA: Along
those lines - Wolverine was at the mansion. Why? Just visiting,
or is he staying there until this blows over?
TB: Passing through-he
lives there, after all. He's mostly been devoting his efforts to
hunting down Nitro, as seen in his own series.
NRAMA: For the
final "takes us inside the head" let's obviously hit Peter - can
you walk us through how he's come to this decision? Is his decision
to unmask an expansion of the responsibility side of "great power,
great responsibility?"
TB: I think JMS
did a great job in Amazing Spider-Man #532 of giving us a
window into Peter's head, and what he's facing. He's torn by conflicting
loyalties. But his long-established reasons for keeping his identity
a secret, most typically represented by Aunt May, have kind of fallen
by the wayside. She's clearly not going to have a heart attack and
die if she finds out he's Spider-Man, as she's known for some time
now. And she and MJ are living in Avengers Tower, which means they're
either as protected as can be or as much on the bullseye as can
be depending on your point of view-and that's without Spidey being
unmasked. So really, most of the self-imposed fetters that Peter
has been carrying around with him all his life, that have prevented
him from revealing himself and seeking acceptance, aren't really
there anymore.
 NRAMA:
Speaking in terms of the stories that are being spun off of the
main miniseries, how were those handled? Obviously, the change in
Spider-Man's status quo will have a major impact - did Mark Millar
have any say in the changes it would cause in Spider-Man's life
that will be shown in the monthly titles, or were the writers just
given the core - "Spider-Man unmasks" - and let run from there?
TB: Both Mark
and JMS were at the big Civil War retreat where we hashed
this out-and there was plenty of discussion back and forth as to
whether this event should take place in Civil War or in Amazing
Spider-Man. Clearly, crass commercialism won the day. But Joe
is very much in-the-loop as to the overall Civil War plan,
and has built his storylines accordingly. Similarly, Roberto and
Peter were made aware of what was happening, so that they could
craft their own stories and stake out their own territory in dealing
with the fall-out. You'll see those storylines in Sensational
Spider-Man and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man cover
blurbed with a Spider-Man Unmasked tie-in banner, as they're
not really Civil War tie-ins per se, but rather tie-ins to
this event in Spidey's life.
NRAMA: Did Spider-Man
have to unmask publicly, per the Act? Tony suggested it, but still…he
didn't have to, did he?
TB: No, the Registration
Act didn't require Spidey to unmask publicly. However, as Tony said
over in Amazing, as he's going to be the face of the Registration
Act before the public, he and his need to be above reproach. This
is why Tony himself came clean again in Front Line #1, and
why Pete felt the need to do so in Civil War #2. If he hadn't,
he couldn't have functioned effectively as Tony's right-hand man,
which is what he promised he'd do.
NRAMA: Back over
to the resistance - with the Pro-Registration having the full momentum
and public opinion going for them, what's the opposition's endgame?
Clear evidence that the registration act doesn't change anything?
A repeal of the law?
TB: In the short
term, Cap and his guys aren't really trying to achieve much more
than continuing to do their jobs, despite increased difficulties
from the authorities. On a longer term basis, Cap would like to
see the act repealed, but I'm not sure that he's quite reasoned
out how to achieve this goal just yet.
NRAMA: Likewise
- Tony's side - what's their endgame? Round up everyone and punish
them for not following a law?
TB: I think Tony's
hoping that, as the Act becomes the status quo, and he can demonstrate
the benefits of the new set-up he envisions, that more and more
people will come on board. He doesn't really want to be spending
his time hunting down unlicensed heroes-if they'd all just listen
to him and trust that he knows what he's doing, everything would
be fine, in his opinion.
But Tony's
real endgame is "The Initiative". As for what that is…stay tuned!
Civil
War Room #1
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