Civil War is a seven-issue comic book limited series, announced as Marvel Comics' big Summer 2006 crossover event. Civil War will be written by Mark Millar and penciled by Steve McNiven. The work builds upon themes and events established in previous Marvel comic book series, most notably Avengers Disassembled and House of M. Some story elements are also indicated in the miniseries, Secret War. The tag line for the series is Whose Side Are You On?
Plot
The series will center upon a newly enacted Super-human Registration Act, an act which splits notable superheroes within the Marvel Universe. This will result in two super-powered factions forming, and will build to the titular Civil War, into which themes from current events will be woven, although writer Mark Millar has noted "The political allegory is only for those that are politically aware. Kids are going to read it and just see a big superhero fight."
Synopsis
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
The story opens with a reckless fight between the New Warriors, filming a reality television show, and a cadre of villains in Stamford, Connecticut. The battle goes awry for the heroes, resulting in villain Nitro creating an explosion that takes out a local school, the surrounding neighborhood, and all but one of the Warriors. This event catalyzes a government movement to register all super-powered beings as living weapons of mass destruction. The event has also turned the public opinion against the superheroes as many of them are blamed for the incident. Due to this, many superheroes -- most notably Johnny Storm the Human Torch -- have been attacked by the public. Meanwhile, S.H.I.E.L.D. tries to recruit Captain America to become part of the team that will force superheroes to register. Captain America refuses and after being attacked by S.H.I.E.L.D., goes underground. He will thus become the figurehead of the Anti-registration movement. Iron Man, on the other hand, supports the act and tells the government to leave Captain America to him and the other Pro-registration heroes.
The Civil War: Front Line solicitations indicate that all but one of the New Warriors team involved in the incident will perish and the surviving member will be held responsible. Only Speedball has been referred to as dead, but his powers could make him invulnerable to an explosion.
The Checklist: