... but that is why Batman is the best "superhero" of all... because he wouldn't have to register... not having any superpowers... but would be crotchety enough not to register even if told to... and if detained would destroy the camp from the inside out.

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This statement is just one of several illustrating the illusions under which the supposed "Left" in America, labors. With great power comes great responsibility and almost the entire superhero line of characters have always been about neo-colonialist manifest destiny. Not that the comics were unique in this. They only need fit into the mainstream of American thought to fulfill this role.

In a world where only 17% of the population looks "white", all American heroes are white (there are no mainstream exceptions to this) men and women, mostly men, that gal avant around saving the world. This is the essence of neo-colonialist white supremacy.

Also, the author notes that the comics attack "Bush". As if the Democrats have been fighting tooth and nail against Bush administration policies.

Anyone remotely concerned with being honest (the author apparently is not) doesn't need to be reminded that the current direction of this country is not the result of a partisan jolt. It has largely been bi-partisan. From the Patriot Act to the war, to repeated funding of both of those.

I challenge anyone to deny this most obvious fact.

The author, and many others I encounter, seem stuck in a delusional loop attempt to maintain their sanity by not confronting reality.

It's not Bush. It's not the Republicans. It's our capitalist system. Stop making excuses, lying to yourselves and each other, face reality and begin doing something that actually matters.

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... for having the courage to say "f* you to this administration" and for putting the truth out there. I am sorry some here missed the big point which is that finally someone with creative control is finally stepping up and recording this damn history as it really is.

Its the only way to keep them from distorting it in the future. Now if they would make a movie of that episode, the historians would be FORCED into telling us the truth down the line and not dependant on whether Bush is held accountable.

I love it when courage raises its beautiful head. Cudos and ignore all the pontificating going on, its useless fodder for not taking real action as you have done. I salute the comic book creator of the story. Forgot his name already..... I will go back and memorize it cause heroes are hard to come by these days and I don't want to forget a single one of them.

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...when is the "left" going to recognize that the whole "super hero" genre promotes FACISM?

The salient point of Facism is that most human beings are weak, foolish, and incapable of managing their own lives. Instead, they need "great leaders" and "supermen" to rule over them and save them from themselves. The weak are meant to adulate and to serve the strong, who are their natural "masters."

The notion that we need a "super" anything (-man, -woman, -boy, mutant, alien, etc.) to solve our problems and "save" us is a slam against the alternate ideology that human beings are perfectly capable of governing themselves (it's called Democracy).

Facism is also oposed to the idea that we are perfectly capable of solving, or at least dealing with, the problems facing us, if we work together using our REASON (Aristotelian philosophy).

Facism discards the ideal that we are at our best when we exercise GOOD WILL toward one another (Kantian philosophy), along with the ideal that that action is best that produces the greatest good for the greatest number (Utilitarian philosophy).

Throwing away centuries of great ideas that have framed the important questions that give meaning to human existence, while replacing rational thought with magical thinking, ISN'T GOING TO HELP US! Rather, it encourages a further descent into mass psychosis --- whether we're falling into religious lunacies or dallying with comic book fantasies!

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What's with "Creator's," may I ask? I've seen others point out grammar and spelling errors before, and their point is important: if you want credibility, if you want to be a writer, basic language ability is a plus.

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as wish-fulfillment fantasies for adolescent boys, they've actually been pretty progressive lately. A central theme of the X-Men was always opposing prejudice. And Transmet was basically a fantasy about dethroning GWB toward the end.

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I thought the opening intro was pretty basic overview of the Civil War crossover.

Civil War is what brought me back to comics for the first time in 15 years. First, you have the explosion in CT that leads up to the Super Human Registration Act. This causes a split among super humans, led by Captain America against SHRA because it doesn't represent American values. This leads to arguments of law enforcement (respecting the law) vs bad laws.

You have Tony Stark, Iron Man, on the other side, he was from Defense Secretary and is a corporate billionaire (never into Avengers or Iron Man too much so this maybe off a little bit). Iron Man convinces Spidey to out his identity to the world in support of SHRA which doesn't require that super human's identity be made public, but that they are made known to the government. That gets into a side issue of how secure is the government's databases, which is pretty relevant these days.

Spidey does have the issue of the lack of rights for detainees in the negative zone, that was probably his tipping point for switching against SHRA.

Another side isssue is the original blast was by a super charged mutant, apparently there is some drug that will enhance the powers (steroids reference??) of either mutants or super humans (can't remember exactly) and I recall the source of that drug led back to company that has contracts to clean up damage caused by battles involving super humans.

There is also the issue of using bad guys like the Green Goblin to help out the enforcement of SHRA.

Finally the JMS reference, I don't know what he thinks of GWB, but I do remember quite clearly his message from Babylon 5, especially the Nightwatch and President Clark (formerly VP) who ursurped President Santiago via assissination. B5 also touched on the xenophobia, and the concern that aliens were negatively influencing humanity. In season 3 B5 brought us a Civil War between B5 and others against President Clark's administration and in season 4 after the end of the Shadow Wars, the battle to retake Earth.

So many of these issues attributed to JMS pre-dated any feelings he has towards GWB and his administration.

Also last I checked there are non-white super heroes. Luke Cage for instance! X-men have Storm, Thunderbird, Sunfire, and Bishop. New Mutants started wtih 3 of 5 founding members as non-white, Danielle Moonstar (Psyche), Karma, and Sunspot. If I read more comics and didn't have that 15 yearr gap, I am sure I would have far more examples to share.

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Good to see the architect of my favorite sci-fi series ever is still up to some good works.

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Having been a die-hard Marvel fan for seventeen years now (primarily X-Men, all titles) I have just a couple things to add to this vibrant discussion.
MarcGarvey, I won't be harsh with you I promise, though you've shown yourself to be a naughty little boy. Really, if you are too "grown-up" - that is, lacking the necessary neoteny to appreciate the grand art of this truly incomparable story arc - then you may be reading the wrong comics, mate. Try DC Comics. Those may be sober enough for even your geriatric mentality.
Chaoslegs, glad you are back in the Marvel community! I commend your enthusiasm! I would also recommend the two-part "Holy War" series for some light reading if you enjoy the Civil War story arc. Holy War takes place only in Uncanny X-Men (issues 423 and 424) and are pretty easy to find at your local comic shop. They are written by Chuck Austen, penciled by Ron Garney and the first story opens with this:
"More people have died in the name of religion than have ever died of cancer. And we try to cure cancer. What is it about our specific belief in God and His wishes that makes us so angry at the specific beliefs of another? What is it about the teachings of our respective deities that makes us more right than the next person? Or more wrong? What makes us take up arms against those who pray to the same God with different words and make Holy War against them?"
It is a wonderful story - can't stress that enough, apparently. Sorry.
And you are right on with the list of black characters given. (Check out Black Panther -- amazing!) But I think that Marvel is the absolute least racist of all comic producers. Especially given that the entire X-men series began as something of a parallel to the civil rights issues of America. Mutants themselves represent all those (female, black, Japanese, Mexican, gay, schizophrenic, whatever) who are different and thus ostracized. They represent all those who have struggled with fitting into this bland, restrictive society we were all born into - all those who would rather hide or die than to admit what they are for fear of endless persecution. I hope who ever wrote the comparison between comics and fascism read that and decided to give comics another shot. I doubt it, but there is always hope.
Back to Civil War: It is actually a fairly balanced perspective on our current political drama. The pro-registration side makes many valid, encouraging points. So does the anti-registration side. At this point they could still go either way with it, without revealing an explicit stance for or against the current government or even conservatism in general. I think the main dilemmas they are trying to highlight (true to Marvel nature) are those based around human rights (not conservative or liberal). For instance, the clear parallel between the Negative Zone and Guantanamo Bay. Or the references to an excessively militaristic government at the expense of the civil rights of the citizens. This arc is ripe with clear-cut examples of how each of us are getting trampled on daily by the very government that is supposed to be in place to serve us. Perhaps we could focus on that?
...Though you have to admit, the Judas line was pretty good.

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