Acts of Treason
Civil
War: Front Line #1
Going In
(Opening Arguments)
JASON: What do I know about this book?
Jenkins. Urich. Continuing anthology stories, al
la Marvel Comics Presents. Aside from that, I haven't really heard much. I
like a lot of Paul Jenkin's work though, so on that
level alone I'm hoping I enjoy it.
MICHAEL: Yeah, I’m a big Jenkins fan, too,
though I’ll admit, most of the Marvel stuff from him has left me cold. Like,
the first Sentry thing was such a cool idea and then I read it and it’s
like, five pages in, ‘OK, he’s obviously the Void. I get that. What’ll the
twist be?’ Eight issues and/or crossovers later—he’s the Void! Doodly doo!
And the
new Sentry mini seemed to exist for no other reason than to refute Bendis’s Sentry storyline in NAvengers,
which seemed to exist only to repudiate Jenkins’s original Sentry
storyline … ugh.
But,
okay, I guess I can’t think of any other Jenkins Marvel work, so maybe I’m just
biased and confused based on the Sentry’s role in the world. Though I do love the Sentry. I’m not
complaining about the character, just the bizarre lack of stories he’s really
had so far.
But I dug
a good 50 percent of Jenkins’s Hellblazer run
and still think “Critical Mass” is one of the best Constantine stories ever
done. So I’m damn curious as to what’s going to happen in here.
JASON: Also Peter Parker Spider-Man,
Hulk just prior to Jones’ run, and also The Inhumans.
That’s all I can think of off the top of my head.
MICHAEL: Oh, yeah, duh! His Spidey run—how
could I forget that?? Though it was often a bit rushed feeling or just random,
he did have a lot of really good stories (the Chameleon one) & the best Spidey story of the last 10 years or so (the one about the
kid in the projects). So right on. Kudos to Paul.
Part One (Embedded)
Page 1
Panel 1
JASON: It was a dark and stormy night,
made even more stormy by the large amount of rain and darkness.
Page 1
Panel 3
JASON: Don't look now, but Ben Urich is looking. Right. At. Me.
Page One,
Panel 4.
MICHAEL: If he’d said ‘a Freemason’
instead of “newsman,” this could’ve been a very different book.
JASON: And if he had said “Male Model,”
then we would have had Zoolander II.
Page Two,
Panel 1.
MICHAEL: “Maybe a cut above, I don’t
know.” ‘Hell, I don’t even know who this guy is. I was paid to speak here. I
barely know what I’m doing anymore. Life is little but a morphine-enhanced haze
of faces.’
“All I
know is that the last time I saw Johnny was eight days ago.” ‘That’s it.
Nothing more. I don’t even remember my name, thanks to—I’m assuming—the drugs.
See, I don’t even know that for sure. All I know is when and where Johnny last
left a bar. Who are you people, again?’
Page 2,
Panel 2
JASON:
Johnny Fernandez was Irish?
MICHAEL: I’m not even sure where you’re
getting this. Just from his bizarre facial hair? If so, then I’m guessing Bachs here accidentally thought he was drawing O’Flanagan, not Hernandez. But ah well. Miscegenation is
wacky and widespread, like Pokemon.
JASON: The hat man, look at the hat.
Page Two,
Panel 3.
MICHAEL: “And he always figured he’d see
it coming.” ‘But when the New Warriors tried to take down a guy who could f#$!ing explode … no one—no one—could’ve been expected
to guess what happened next. I mean, no one could foresee such a thing. It was like
organized wrestling: no one was prepared.’
Page Two,
Panel 5.
MICHAEL: Unless you’re Tony Stark. He’s a
futurist, you know.
Page 3
Panel 1
JASON: It truly is a dead man's party.
MICHAEL: Boingo!
This reads like different people throughout the room are having bits of the
same conversation. It kind of creeps me out.
Page
Three, Panel 3.
MICHAEL: “Johnny Fernandez would’ve loved
… [wearing] funny hats.”
‘Yeah.
All we need is some grease paint and some children to molest and he’d be in hog
heaven. Maybe a balloon animal or two.’
Page 4
Panel 1
JASON: “I don't think anyone in the
White House could have scripted this Nitro thing any better.” Come on, Sally!
You're so close. Just repeat after me: “Hate-Monger”
MICHAEL: It’s true, though, that they couldn’t’ve scripted it any better. I mean, as thin of a
premise as this is hung on, have you seen those Christmas cards they put
out? /Shudder/
JASON: Honestly, those things are just
creepy.
Page 4
Panel 3
JASON: “Civil War: Front Line- A
stark look deep inside the liberal media”
MICHAEL: Stark? Was that an IM joke?
JASON: It was a pun. Just making sure
you were paying attention.
Page
Four, Panel 5.
MICHAEL: Holy hell, is this an actual
conversation about the registration act by two normal people who don’t
necessarily hold to either side as Truth and Law? Dear Lord, I feel as if I’ve
fallen into some sort of parallel universe … why is everything so blue, Ma? Why
so blue?
Page 5
Panel 1
JASON: Yes! Bumblebee! “Reporters!
Transform and roll out!”
MICHAEL: “This was put into motion the day
some angry extremists decided to fly a couple of planes into some tall
buildings in Manhattan.” First off, wow, what a banal way to frame the
events of 9/11. Secondly, I still say the immigration law is far more timely
and relevant. I mean, look at how we’re handling Iran or North Korea right
now—“diplomacy takes time” is I believe what the president said about it. He’s
f#$!ing brilliant, that one. He should be writing a Civil
War title he’s so damned brilliant.
Page
Five, Panel 2
MICHAEL: “All of a sudden”?!? Where’ve you
been the past hundred years, Ben? I mean, especially in the MU, working for
Jonah ….
Page 5
Panel 3
JASON: So far, my only problem with this
is the same problem I have with every Civil War book so far: It's too
slanted to the Con- side.
MICHAEL: At least we did get Ben
admitting, ‘look, it’s going to happen. We need to deal with that.’ Rather than
being like, ‘let’s take up arms and kill everyone who disagrees!’
JASON: Maybe the Hate-Monger’s ray can’t
penetrate bars and/or taverns.
Page 5
Panel 4
JASON: Hey! Only Ben's wife, or maid, or
whatever she is, get's to call him a dirty little monkey!
MICHAEL: The hell? I want a chipper wifey-maid-y thing.
Page
Five, Panel 5.
MICHAEL: Or candy! Candy sells anything!
Page 6
Panel 1
JASON: It's great commentary on the
American public that they wouldn't be depressed reading about 600 people dead,
unless the article talks about the funerals.
MICHAEL: ‘Try to approach it in a
light-hearted fashion. Start off with a joke. You know, like, “what do you get
when you mix an unstable exploder with a school full of children? A
badly-thought-out comic crossover event.” Something like that. But punchier.
What rhymes with Nitro?’
JASON: That’s a tough one. Metro?
Castro? I’m not sure.
Page 6
Panel 3
JASON:
America's security just came under attack from costumed freaks? I wonder
why no body decided that any of the times Dr. Doom attacked. Or Kang. Or Red
Skull. Or the Masters of Evil. Or The Brotherhood. Or... you get the point.
MICHAEL: But Speedball couldn’t even tell
you who was the president. That makes it his fault.
Page 7
Panel 1
JASON: “Everything's about the explosion
but nothing's about the 'Why'.” Thank you Jenkins. Thank you thank you thankyou.
MICHAEL: ‘Look, Ben, we did a story last
year about the Y. Nobody cares about the Young Men’s Christian Association,
you’re just going to have to accept that. We’ve moved on. Join us.’
Page
Seven, Panel 5.
MICHAEL: No one will be admitted during
the gripping art-vs.-product scene. I feel the ghost of Andy Warhol peering
down on this scene and smiling. Maybe frolicking about and dropping some
daisies on it.
I kid,
but seriously. This is about 37x more interesting than nearly every page of CW
itself so far.
JASON: Amen to that.
Page
Eight, Panel 1.
MICHAEL: “A number of things to clear up
on your company medical form.” ‘Like it says here you’re surgically attached to
an Elmo doll. We find that hard to believe.’
Page
Eight, Panel 2.
MICHAEL: She seems damn near suicidal over
the missing Havok copy.
JASON: Hey, that could win her the Pulitzer!
Page 8
Panel 4
JASON: Yeah Sally, that's about how I
felt when I saw Spider-Man's new costume as well.
Page 8
Panel 5
JASON: She left the front door open? In
New York? Oh, she is suicidal.
Page
Eight, Panel 6.
MICHAEL: I like the fact that the lines
apparently tell us that Spidey’s spider sense
is going off at the doll being chucked at his head. Like the Totem Spider God
inside is thinking, ‘Dear God, not Elmo!’
Which is
understandable, I suppose.
Page
Nine, Panel 1.
MICHAEL: She calls Spidey
“you people.” What, is he black now and she’s Ross Perot? There’s an obscure
reference. Whew.
Page
Nine, Panel 2.
MICHAEL: “You’re not in the mood—“ Dude!
He was totally there for a booty call! Nice! The MJ-Peter breakdown begins here.
JASON: Joe Q wets himself in delight.
Page Ten,
Panel 1
JASON: Aw. It makes me kinda sad that Sally's drinking. Jenkin
has done such a good job with her in this book that I hate to see her fall off
the wagon.
Page Ten,
Panel 2.
MICHAEL: Wow, his buttocks are really …
molded … in that chair. I … can’t stop looking. I feel uncomfortable. I’m
getting warm.
And I
thought the worst thing you could do to a hyperactive spider was put roller
skates on him?
Page Ten,
Panel 5.
MICHAEL: Foreshadowing! Totally
foreshadowing. You get it?
Page
Eleven, Panel 2.
MICHAEL: Why in god’s name is Spidey sniffing her old cat cans? Does she even have a cat?
JASON: Maybe that’s why he’s smelling
them- he’s looking for the stench of an old lady. Trust me, he’ll know it when
he finds it.
Page
Eleven, Panel 5.
MICHAEL: “Didn’t it occur to anyone what
this would do to my family?” Yeah, but SHIELD probably blames them
somehow.
‘I blame
Spider-Man for the Green Goblin’s murders.’
‘Well, I
blame his overprotective aunt!’
Page
Twelve, Panel 1.
MICHAEL: ‘But if I tell them you have a family,
that’s going to narrow your identity down to like one out of 8 million! Maybe
if I don’t tell them you’re a man.’
‘I think
they know I’m a man.’
‘….
Sure.’
‘No,
seriously. Spider-Man. I mean, c’mon, how obvious can you get?’
‘…
Whatever you say.’
‘Is it
the costume? It’s a little tight in the buttocks, sure, but—‘
‘I’m not
arguing!’
Page
Twelve, Panel 3
JASON: "... but there's a
cost." Glad to know that someone's thinking about that.
Page
Thirteen, Panel 2
JASON: She swings...
Page
Thirteen, Panel 3
JASON: ...she misses!
Page
Thirteen, Panel 5.
MICHAEL: “Well … this is awkward.”
It’d
probably be even more awkward if you went ahead and went for it.
Or maybe
less. Not sure.
Page
Fourteen, Panel 3
JASON: On yeah. Sally is so hung
over right now. Poor girl.
MICHAEL: Spidey
was kind of a bad friend there. ‘Hi, I’m here to bitch about my problems and
shoot down your advances. Y’drinkin’ again? Too bad,
I’m not gonna bother with that. Hey, is this Purina?’
Page
Fourteen, Panel 4
JASON: “Maybe Iron Man got a new
costume” YES! Please let it be the red and silver, please let it be the red and
silver. *crosses fingers*
Page
Fourteen, Panel 5.
MICHAEL: “Spider-Man showed you his what?”
Man, it’d be really awkward if right at that moment there was one of those
weird pauses in everyone’s conversation and it fell silent just as Sally
yelled, ‘Not his penis!’
Page
Fifteen, Panel 1
JASON: “Amongst the items we
discussed...” What the hell else were they talking about? Baseball scores? Lost?
Oh, wait. I know. The Hate-Monger.
MICHAEL: ‘Though I was unable to speak to
the president about the encroaching Hate-Monger menace, I was able to convey my
concerns to his aide-de-camp, Ducky Wucky.’
Page
Fifteen, Panel 2
JASON: Roughly half? Why do I not
believe that nearly half of the super-heros in the
Marvel U have public ids.
MICHAEL: Well, let’s see. There’s Reed,
Ben, Johnny and Sue … that’s roughly half, right?
JASON: I’m sure Reed could work some
kind of math magic to prove you right.
Page Fifteen,
Panel 3.
MICHAEL: “I have always … been your
servant.” ‘At the merest flick of your stupid, cracker pinkie finger I’ve
foregone my important research and bent to lick the s#!t from your cracked bootheel.’
Page
Fifteen, Panel 4
JASON: Tony's
a salesman, alright. He's never wondered that, but he's working it like a pimp.
MICHAEL: ‘Maybe I’m hiding from gremlins.
Invisible aliens. I just don’t know’.
Page
Sixteen, Panel 1
JASON: “I have my own series of steps
I've taken. 12 of them.”
Page
Sixteen, Panel 3
JASON: I wonder if he has the corpse of
Jim Roades in there.
MICHAEL: Oh, dear, God, everybody run! I
think he’s going to do a USO show!
JASON: I’d pay money to hear IM break
out in a rendition of Thanks for the Memories.
Page
Sixteen, Panel 4
JASON: Holy crap, a multi-millionaire
CEO lying to people! Gasp. The shock. The horror.
MICHAEL: Dude, that Secret Service guy is
looking right at us. ‘You. Yeah, you, buddy. Back away. He’s not giving
out any free rides here, sweetheart.’
The one
in the background’s prepping to be a backup singer.
Page
Seventeen, Panel 1
JASON: I bet you five dollars the Tony
paid the reporter to ask that question. Ever since Titanium Man, Tony loves
paying people off.
MICHAEL: ‘Take it off!’
Page
Seventeen, Panel 2
JASON: The registration act only
requires people to reveal their identities to the government. Ok, first off,
that makes this book way more informative then CW1, and secondly, why
would that make the public feel better? How is this different then how the
Marvel U operates now? Pre Act, if Firestar went nuts
and melted a bus load of nuns, SHIELD would investigate her secret ID and then
hunt her down. Post Act, they could just do it faster.
MICHAEL: I don’t think anyone realized
this was how it worked. Now that they know, though … watch out! It’s angry mob
time! I hope those IM suits have tomato-resistant shielding!
Page
Seventeen, Panel 3.
MICHAEL: “Did he just say what I thought
he said?”
‘Well, I don’t know. What do you think he said?’
‘He eats
babies with soup.’
‘Then
no.’
Page
Eighteen
JASON: I never noticed that Tony's neck is that damn long. Hm.
MICHAEL: ‘We don’t believe you!’
‘Bring on
Jim Rhodes!’
Part Two (The Accused)
Page 1,
Panel 1
JASON: Crap. This is going to be the
Marvel equivalent of Ol'
Yeller, isn't it?
MICHAEL: Alby is
my ex’s cat’s name. Now I picture the cat leading them. ‘Mrowr!
Mwrowr!’
Page 1
Panel 2
JASON: That sound he heard was my hopes
for Civil War 1 falling and crashing.
MICHAEL: I think for me it was more along
the lines of a death rattle. My hopes were crushed out of me.
Page One,
Panel 4.
MICHAEL: It’s the Phoenix!
Page Two,
Panel 1
JASON: These two frighten me. Look at
how dark Albie's face is there. He's unnatural. I
think he may eat people.
MICHAEL: Yes. I’ve heard the darkies do
that ….
Page Two,
Panel 2.
MICHAEL: “If this is anything, I don’t
want you getting yourself hurt.”
That
implies that Albie will hurt himself in any
situation, anywhere, when anything is happening.
‘Ah! It’s
something!’
JASON: 'If there's anyone injured, I
want to eat them.'
Page Two,
Panel 5
JASON: 'DINNER!'
MICHAEL: They’d totally fight over who got
the hindquarters first.
JASON: Who wouldn’t?
Page
Three
JASON: YES! Speedball! I knew he'd live,
I just knew it! Thank you, Mr. Jenkins. Thank you.
MICHAEL: Yes, thank god. At least a slight
glimmer of hope as to things in the MU working like they should.
Hey, just
as a side-note, Speedball’s a mutant, right? Doesn’t that mean he should’ve
been guarded by a Sentinel at all times?
JASON: Nope, not a mutant. He’s a
science accident, ah la the FF or Spidey.
Page 4,
Panel 2
MICHAEL: Everyone pay attention—who has
hair here? That’s right, Speedball does. Now watch the magical hair.
JASON: What's that, Speedball? Perhaps
you could hum a few bars.
Page 4
Panel 3
JASON: Thank you.
MICHAEL: ‘He’s hummin’
like a piggy. Let’s eat ‘im like one.’
Page
Four, Panel 4.
MICHAEL: It’s like he’s giving birth to a
mosquito or something.
Page 5
Panel 1
JASON: Great. That's all we need, more
blood on Speedball's hands.
MICHAEL: What’s up with Albie’s hand there?
“Do you
know CPR?” ‘Tee hee, let’s eat him.’
Page 6
Panel 3
JASON: Powerless now, also? I have a
feeling that this story arc is going to end with poor Robbie eating a shotgun.
MICHAEL: Why? If he’s powerless, no
biggie, right? He’s now got nothing to do with the SRA. And I don’t think he
can be prosecuted for trying to take down a vicious murderer.
Also,
he’s still got hair.
Page
Seven, Panel 2.
MICHAEL: And now? No hair! But they
neither say here nor imply earlier that he has any sort of head injuries. So why
would they shave his head? Just feeling giggly?
JASON: Maybe the rogue members of Project:
Paper Clip were prepping to shave off pieces of his brain, but they just
got interrupted.
MICHAEL: They’re escaped Nazis. They’re already about as rogue as you can get,
aren’t they?
Page
Eight, Panel 2.
MICHAEL: Previously, in Civil War.
Page 8,
Panel 6
JASON: Damn. That looks fun. They should
put that ride in every major amusement park.
MICHAEL: Wheee!
I’m a stealth bomber!
Page 9
Panel 1
JASON: Ok, seriously. Does Marvel have a
yearly quota of the words “children” and “baby” that they're trying to fill?
MICHAEL: But what about the children?!?!
“They couldn’t
even work from dental records to get an accurate body count.” ?????
Seriously?
Man, Nitro must be way more powerful than ever previously
implied. I’d think if Ground Zero were that friggin’
powerful it would’ve taken out a little more than a few blocks.
Also, if
they couldn’t get an accurate body count, who knows, maybe just like two kids
died. Yay! We can all forget about it now!
Page
Nine, Panel 4.
MICHAEL: “Get someone in here! Now!”
‘I’m
paralyzed with fear, Doc! We’ve never ever had a patient wake up before!
This is my worst nightmare come true!’
Page Ten,
Panel 1
JASON: Attack of the Blurry Man!
MICHAEL: [X-Files Theme Music]
Page Ten,
Panel 2
JASON: 'How many fingers am I holding
up, Mr. Baldwin, you babykiller.”
Page Ten,
Panel 3
MICHAEL: ‘”Attached” to it? No. No, I
wouldn’t say that. It’s my bunny!’
JASON: 'Wait, I'm lost. Am I going to
hate the number 4, 612, 2, or 60?'
MICHAEL: That’s a hell of a title for that
dude. There are like 18 agencies involved in that one sentence. Damn.
Page
Eleven, Panel 3
JASON: Yep, he's differently going to
eat a shotgun.
MICHAEL:
‘Oh, and five: we shaved your head. No reason, just figured it’d be fun.
It was, believe me.’
Why is he under arrest, exactly? Being
nearby when somebody exploded? I’m pretty sure that’s not illegal.
JASON: Criminal neglect, is that what
it’s called? He and his team essentially provoked Nitro into blowing up a bunch
of people. I don’t know if he could be jailed for it, but at the very least
he’d be open to a civil suit by the victim’s families. I think. Maybe. I don’t
know. Law makes my head hurt.
MICHAEL: It’s possible, but a) sketchy and
b) you’re told what you’re under arrest for when you’re arrested. Granted, very
possibly the line right after we hit ‘to be continued’ is ‘…for criminal
neglect,’ but still. I’d like to see what it is, exactly.
Closing
Arguments
JASON: Paul Jenkins once again does the
voodoo he do so so well. I have never read a
crossover where every tie-in issue (excluding Wolverine) has been better
than the core book. Regardless though, there were a few blemishes on this
issue. The big one, of course, is when our two point-of-view characters are
against the Act, it makes the proReg side seem kinda like bad guys. I'm very happy that Speedball's alive,
though on the other hand I'm not really sure he's making it out of Frontline
still sucking breath. Overall though, I dug this issue and I'm looking forward
to its continuation.
MICHAEL: Yeah, I think the main problem
with this book is the same as with all the other books so far: the ProReg side seems pretty f#$!ing
evil, and they really shouldn’t. But here we have people resigning themselves
to the Act in “Embedded” (which was handled well, don’t get me wrong—and I
disagree with you that they were “antiReg,” I just
think they were not looking forward to the division the Act would cause),
Speedy getting f#$!ed over (and arrested!) in “The
Accused” for no apparent reason, and then the odd little epilogue bit about
internment camps during WWII (in which, oddly, a member of a camp seems fairly
“proReg,” if we carry the metaphor over).
Still,
though, perhaps this beginning kind of necessitated an “anti-Reg” feel & it will smooth over by issue three or so.
And yes, by far, this was a hell of a better look at the effects on the world
than Civil War itself.
Michael T Bradley has been reading
comics for about 14 years. His Marvel background in particular involves many a
late night in college reading through their “comic library,” which included a full run of Spider-Man. Every title.
Back to Amazing 19, baby. Spidey is by far his favorite Marvel character (and
important to this series, or so it seems). He pretty much dropped out of Spidey when Todd
McFarlane came along, with brief periods of interest drawing him back (i.e.,
the Clone Saga, some Paul Jenkins stuff, a love-hate relationship with Straczynski, and Spider Man Loves Mary Jane). Beyond that, Michael’s main interaction
with the Marvel universe is David’s Hulk
run and “anything Mark Gruenwald wrote.” So if Quasar
shows up, we’re covered. Also, Michael used to work in a comic store, so he’s
been at least partially in touch with a lot of things that have happened in the
Marvel universe.
Jason Freston,
on the other hand, reads lots and lots and lots of comics. Jason’s obsession started
over 20 years ago and seems to have taken on a life of its own. Spider-Man is
also Jason’s favorite Marvel character (he even stuck through during the
McFarlane years). Currently you can find Jason reading comics, and occasionally
working, at Dragon’s Keep in Provo, Utah. (You can also generally find Michael
there, as well, working on the next installment of this damned monster of a
project.)