Marvel: Civil War

Zach over at NoSheep! recently brought me into the comic book fold with Marvel’s Civil War. For weeks his posts have been piquing my interest. It wasn’t until his post on Spider-Man’s identity being revealed that I broke down and read something.

I used Wikipedia as my source for the immediate chronological order of the comics leading up to and entering in to the Marvel Universe’s Civil War. If you haven’t been blessed by hearing what Marvel is doing this summer, then I’ll enlighten you with the overall plot (compliments of Wikipedia)

The series centers around a newly enacted Super-human Registration Act, which, when passed into law, would require all persons in the United States with superhuman abilities who wish to use those abilities to fight crime to register with the federal government and receive proper training as law enforcement officials. Such persons would not only be subject to U.S. law (including the prohibition of minors from participating in such activities), but would, according to the law, reap the full benefits of civil servants, including pensions, and so forth. Because the forced registration of persons would spark a civil liberties controversy, the Act splits notable superheroes within the Marvel Universe, resulting in two super-powered factions forming, one advocating registration as the responsible obligation of the super-powered living in society, and the other opposed to the law on the grounds that it violates civil rights. This conflict builds into the titular Civil War, into which themes from current events will be woven. 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.” Some see this as a reflection of real world views on such things as Gun Control or the Patriot Act.

I’m officially hooked. I now have a pull list at a local comic-book shop.

If you are looking for a reading order, I’ve posted one here