Civil War Files

    (Marvel, 2006)

Inarguably, the biggest comic book event of 2006 was Marvel’s Civil War limited series. When poor judgment on the part of the New Warriors results in the accidental death of over sixty elementary school children, Congress passes the Superhuman Registration Act, which mandates that all super-powered individuals register with and reveal their identities to the U.S. government. This law causes a major rift among the super-hero community with Iron Man (Tony Stark), Reed Richards, and initially Spider-Man (who reveals his secret identity to the world), in the pro-registration camp and Captain America, Daredevil and Luke Cage becoming outlaws for their oppposti0n. The story spreads across most of the main Marvel titles and those issues feature a common Civil War trade dress logo. A seven-issue Civil War miniseries and a ten-issue Civil War Frontline miniseries carried the majority of the plot, but important events were revealed in issues of the Fantastic Four and the Amazing Spider-Man. What began as a legitimate disagreement between two serious viewpoints quickly devolved into a good-guy versus bad-guy story when the pro-registration side was portrayed as McCarthy-esque and the narrative became an allegory for real-world politics. Civil War Files is Tony Stark’s notes on all of the major and minor characters. Each entry contains his admittedly pro-registration views regarding the individual and displays either a Superhuman Registration Act ID card or a wanted poster. This title is a handy, albeit slanted, reference tool.

— George Haberberger
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  • 1
    #1
    Jan 2007
    Cover: $3.99
    W: Anthony Flamini, Stuart Vandal, Ronald Byrd, Madison Carter, Michael Hoskin, Chris Biggs, Mark O’English, Mike Fichera  ·  A: Steve McNiven, Dexter Vines, Morry Hollowell
    Arachne through Young Avengers; Arachne thru Young Avengers; Civil War Files Appendix
    6 copies from $2.35