Gummit Mandate: Superhero Registration
Constance Ash January 3rd, 2007
Spider-Man lassos White House in his web
The latest The Amazing Spider-Man comic (#536):
[ In Marvel Comics’ — ahem — “Civil War†story arc, the U.S. government passes the “Superhuman Registration Act†after hundreds of innocent American men, women and children become collateral damage in a superhero-related tragedy (the president of the United States even swings by the disaster site to assess the damage). The act mandates registration of all superheroes with the government. Spider-Man initially supports the act but then grows suspicious after discovering that unregistered captives are being held without civil rights at an off-shore prison called “the Negative Zone†(oh, and the prison was built with a no-bid contract). Detainees will remain there for life if they don’t register.
Now, to the present: In this latest Spider-Man comic, America’s favorite swinging web-slinger takes to New York City’s airwaves to publicly denounce the act.
“I’ve seen the very concept of justice destroyed,†Spidey begins (as written by J. Michael Straczynski). “I’ve seen heroes and bad guys alike — dangerous guys, no mistake, but still born in this country for the most part, denied due process, and imprisoned, potentially for the rest of their lives. … But there’s a point where the ends don’t justify the means, if the means require us to give up not just our identities, but who and what we are as a country.â€
David Cassel, a Spider-Man fan and editor of 10zenmonkeys.com, said in response, “In thirty years of reading Spider-Man, I’ve never seen an attack so direct.†]
Must pick this up.
Comics do this sort of thing from time to time. And they certainly are less ham-handed than they were when I was a kid…[paraphrasing] “Hey, Mr. Green Lantern, I hear as how you works for the blue skins, and you help out the green skins, so how come you don’t do nothin’ much to help the black skins?” At age I applauded the sentiment at the same time as I squirmed at the lack of subtlety.
Just wanted to say that the background information sounds a LOT like The Incredibiles storyline.
Not so much registering the superhero, but superheros being accountable for collateral damage.
Oh and did I mention X-Men…thats all over any version of X-Men you may see - The Mutant Registration Act.
And for any people who havent seen The Justice League cartoon - boy will that give you an education into politics intruding on cartoons.
*Goes off and hides wondering how he managed to stereotype himself directly into the Scifi-fantasy genre stereotype*