Civil War coverd by CBC

[thebitterguy]

Did anyone catch The Current this morning? Since I was late getting into work I got to hear a part of their discussion of Civil War.

Interesting, although the radio play rendition of Cap VS Shield from CW 1 was a bit much. The voice actor for Cap was all wrong.

The discussion was interesting; Quesada made me not want to throw up at all. The whole liberty vs security issue is an interesting one, and I’m glad it never comes up in real life! The one problem is that superheroes, by definition, are lawbreakers; you have to do a lot of dancing to make it no seem so. They are, by definition, masked vigilantes. The only difference between Batman and a KKK member is worldview. Okay, and a whole bunch of other stuff.

The real problem seems to be the revolving door at the Vault, since supervillains can just bust out of the place whenever they feel like it. Didn’t Henry Pym start providing shrinkological services to them a while back? If Doc Ock would just stay behind bars and serve his time, Spidey wouldn’t have to worry about Aunt May being slain.

It was interesting when Dad Didio came on the line and discussed how they handle similar issues in the DCU by "having Superboy punch the universe until they go away".

Comments

[newnumber6.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's one of my problems with the event. Superheroes should technically be considered illegal vigilantes (unless of course they're officially sanctioned). It's the sort of things where if cops see Spider-Man they should be legally obligated to try and apprehend him if there's nothing more serious going on. Of course, if they see Spider-Man there's always something more serious going on, and even if not a lot of cops would simply look the other way because they know he's a hero. The same goes for most other heroes. Things like the New Warriors reality show would be handled in the same way as someone doing a reality show where someone, say, does environmental sabotage, tree-spiking and the like, breaking into labs where there's animal testing and freeing the animals, etc, etc. It's illegal, and if it made it to air at all it's after the police have used the tape to arrest the people involved (which would likely include some of the people filming). Even if you happen to agree with their goals. But at the same time, the government shouldn't waste its time assembling a crack squadron to hunt down heroes, illegal or not, when there's supervillains threatening the world every day. Hunt down them first and give the heroes nothing to do.

[thebitterguy]

The legality of superheroes is always something that I found fascinating in theory, but is death to an actual superhero universe. The whole 'gentleman's understanding' between law and costumed superheroes works well enough for me, even if it does violate, say, the US constitution and centuries of case law.

Let's hope I'm wrong.

[gamera-spinning.livejournal.com]

They are, by definition, masked vigilantes.

Yeah, I've always wondered how a villain's case goes to trial when they get brought in by someone who is not deuptized or legally recognized and who operates under an alias. You're allowed, by law, to known the identity of your accuser.

If all the superheroes did get registered then the question becomes who has access to all their secret identities and how do you classify and restrict that info so that it doesn't get out (thereby making Aunt May a stain on someone's carpet)? Also, who regulates the training requirements for such heroes and where does the funding come from? If Stark is a smart businessman then he's going to expect the government to pay for the lion's share of this.

[rickj.livejournal.com]

The main comic book universes will occasionally say there's some sort of statute that lets certain supers testify in court. The Avengers have retinal IDs on file with SHIELD (or at least they used to) that provide the team with the ability to testify in court. But it's generally a case of the defense lawyer demanding that Nightwing unmask or whatever, and the prosecution citing the Keene Act or something that lets them testify. And then the villain gets out on a technicality anyway that the hero gets to pound on them once more.

The legal status of supers is just one of those tropes of the genre like the Domino Mask/Eyeglasses Effect that is totally bogus, but it's become a part of the accepted suspension of disbelief.

Also, since I won't see it until the trade - if John Smith puts a burrito in a gamma-ray microwave and gets some sort of superpower out of the deal, BUT, he doesn't go out and fight crime - does he have to register? What about folks like Hawkeye, who have no powers but put on the long-johns? Does that mean that Genia Davis (who competed in the Olympics for archery, IIRC) might have to register if she stuck out a foot and tripped a mugger when she was on her way to the set?

[thebitterguy]

Yeah, Marvel seems to have decided to divest themselves of some genre tropes (ambiguous legal status of supers, "no one gets killed by the Hulk") in their primary universe.

I presume the legal niceties will be handled in the course of the event, such as in the pages of She Hulk, where it would be cool.

[kynn.livejournal.com]

Are you reading Shulkie?

I really liked the latest story which made it fucking clear beyond any doubt that Starfox is a creepy rapist.

[thebitterguy]

Well, I hadn't gotten that issue yet, but yeah, I'm reading it. I love Slott's work.

Yeah, the Pleasure thingy he had always gave me the creeps.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

Personal opinion time: the whole Secret ID trope is, I think, dead in the water in this Age of the Surveillance Society. David Brin saw it coming a decade or two ago with his novel Earth, we're living it out now with stories like the SonyBMG Rootkit Affair(among many other news items), and any comics writer and editor who's read it will have figured out which way the wind's going to blow from here on.

[redeem147.livejournal.com]

"The only difference between Batman and a KKK member is worldview. Okay, and a whole bunch of other stuff."

The number of points on their heads?

[creativedv8tion.livejournal.com]

Well, that and the fact that (for the majority of his career) he's a deputised member of the Gotham City Police Department.

Yep

[dewline.livejournal.com]

Caught it first thing.

Hadn't noticed that Didio was on the show, though...?

Re: Yep

[thebitterguy]

He was, but then Superboy punched the universe and he wasn't.