Civil War

Civil War must have been my favorite comic books that we read throughout the semester. I thought it was really cool how it took place in today’s age. Although it was always interesting to read comic books that appeared in the early twenty-first century, it was more difficult to relate to them since they reflected the lives of Americans at that particular time. Civil War, on the other hand incorporates important people of today’s society, such as Larry King on CNN and Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan in a night club.

I also thought it was interesting that the conflict in Civil War symbolizes a similar conflict that the United States deals with today. The issue of Civil War is the fight between the “good” and the “bad”. The superheroes are supposed to sign the registration act which requires them to reveal their secret identity and work for the government for compensation. As many superheroes refuse to join the other side, the main theme of Civil War becomes “whose side are you on?”. In today’s international arena, the United States faces a similar conflict. After 9/11, the United States began to combat global terrorism preemptively. During a well-known speech, President Bush declared his view that other countries are either “with us, or against us.” Thus, the conflict that emerges out of the Civil War story shows many similarities to Bush’s war on terror.

Another detail that piqued my interest in this story was the fact that many superheroes find excitement in their secret identities. Superheroes enjoy that no one knows who they are in real life and many of only feel confident when they are in their costumes. This is something that I had also noticed in Watchmen, but did not bother to pay attention to. Beforehand, it had seemed to me that superheroes perform their moral acts altruistically. Fundamentally, superheroes fight injustice and often risk their own lives to do so. It seemed that superheroes did this to help other people and did not gain any personal benefits through this. However, after I read Civil War, I began to think that maybe superheroes find satisfaction in what they do; that it makes them feel good about themselves when they help and protect other people. It may be a strange concept, but I find it interesting that superheroes in two different comics stated that they feel excitement when they are dressed up in their costumes; a feeling of superiority, perhaps?