Nick Peron

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Civil War: Front Line #6

Credits

Civil War continues from Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways #3….

Embedded, Part 6

Following the passage of the Super Human Registration Act (SHRA), the superhero community has been torn in half. Reporters Ben Urich and Sally Floyd have been covering the conflict for their respective newspapers.[1]

At the Daily Bugle, Ben Urich is packing up his desk after being fired by J. Jonah Jameson.[2] As he packs his things, photographer Jim Holms is watchin the police arrest an unregistered hero named Captain Rectitude just outside of the office. Jim is thinking about trying to exploit the SHRA by registering by posing as an obscure hero since the job probably pays better and has better benefits than being a sports photrographer. It’s only as Urich leaves with a box of belongings that Jim realizes that Ben has been fired.

That’s when Joe Robertson arrives and asks Ben where he is going. Ben reminds Joe that he was there when Jameson fired him. Robertson reminds Ben that Jonah has fired him many times in the past and that he doesn’t mean it this time just as the last time. He says Jonah respects Ben as a lawyer and that his abusive behavior is just part of his charm. While Ben would have capitulated in the past, this time it isn’t funny to him anymore. This time, Ben doesn’t want to stay at the Bugle because he has had enough. He has hit his limit because Jameson refuses to believe that he was threatened by the Green Goblin (Norman Osborn), or take that threat seriously enough to report on it. Joe decides to make a deal with Ben, stay on the job until he finds more evidence supporting his claim and he will push Jonah to publish it. Robertson even goes so far as to say that if Jonah refuses again, he will quit alongside Ben. This convinces Ben to go back to his desk and unpack.

Meanwhile, Sally Floyd has been arrested after she refused to divulge a source, putting her in violation of the SHRA as it is considered harboring an unregistered hero. She has been left in an interrogation room where a SHIELD agent tries to intimidate her into revealing the identity of the mystery man who spoke with her the other day was.[3] She refuses to be intimidated or to talk about her encounter. When she threatens them with the Alternative’s lawyer, she asks them if this arrest was politically motivated. That’s when SHIELD agent Eric Marshall barges into the room and tells her that of course it is politically motivated.

When he makes more legal threats against her, Sally maintains her cool. She then warns him that if this interrogation continues she will make it her mission to utterly ruin him in the media. She then reveals that she investigated him thoroughly after he hit on her during the annual Press Corps Christmas party the year before. That’s when Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards), who has been watching this interrogation from behind one way glass tells Agent Marshall that he wants to cut a deal with Ms. Floyd.

Later, Ben Urich and Jim Holmes are assigned to cover a battle between pro and anti-registration forces at the Geffen-Meyer Chemical Plant.[4] This was a trap set up by Iron Man (Tony Stark) to make one last appeal to talk sense into Captain America (Steve Rogers). Unfortunately, this backfired and the two sides find themselves fighting, forcing Urich and Holmes to run for cover. As he watches Yellowjacket (Hank Pym) and Goliath (Bill Foster) fight, Urich suddenly finds Joe Robertson’s reassurances of how easy his job going to be bitter.[5]

As the battle intensifies, the two men run to another spot for safety. As they go the two talk baseball as if there isn’t a war going on all around them. Ben notices that there is something up when Nighthawk (Kyle Richmond), one of Cap’s “Secret Avengers”, is struck by a bolt of lightning. He then turns Jim’s attention to the source, which — to their shock and amazement — is apparently Thor, the god of thunder.[6] They then watch in horror as Thor slays Goliath with no mercy.[7] While Holms is shocked by this development, Ben can only tell him to get used to it.

Soon the battle ends, with most of Captain America’s team fleeing the battle. As authorities begin dealing with Goliath’s body, Ben gets an opportunity to interview Iron Man. Tony Stark tells Urich to lay it on him because after what just happened he doesn’t think the reporter can ask him questions any harder than the ones he’s asking himself. He wants to know why Thor would use lethal force in the battle. Stark says that the details surrounding the thunder god are a matter of national security, but tells Ben that he will be exonerated for the killing. He also says that he will take full responsibility for Bill Foster’s death but insists that tough decisions like this are what is needed to enforce the new law. Ben then asks him if this also includes employing former criminals, and brings up his recent encounter with the Green Goblin. Tony Stark tries to play dumb, but Ben pushes on recounting that someone seemed to have control over the Goblin’s actions. He wants to know what would have convinced Stark to deal with a devil like Norman Osborn. Tony then flips down the faceplate of his helmet and walks off telling Ben they’ll have to talk about this another time because duty calls.

After mulling over this encounter for a moment, Ben Urich realizes that he’s got Stark hook, line, and sinker.

Recurring Characters

Ben Urich, Sally Floyd, Joe Robertson, Eric Marshall, Pro-Registration Heroes (Iron Man, Mister Fantastic, Spider-Man, Thing, “Yellowjacket”), Secret Avengers (Captain America, Goliath, Nighthawk,) Thor clone, Captain Rectitude

Continuity Notes

  1. The SHRA is a new law that was passed into law in Civil War #2. It requires all superheroes to register with the government. This law will remain on the books until Siege #4.

  2. Jonah fired Ben last issue because he wouldn’t believe Urich’s story about how he was threatened by the Green Goblin, who has been in the loose since Civil War: Front Line #2. The Goblin wants revenge against Urich for putting him in jail circa The Pulse #1-5.

  3. This mystery man confronted Sally last issue as well. In Civil War: Front Line #8, we’ll learn that this was Nick Fury,

  4. This battle is covered in greater detail in Civil War #3-4.

  5. The man who appears to be Yellowjacket here is actually a Skrull spy named Criti Noll. As per Mighty Avengers #15, Noll took the place of the real Hank Pym just prior to House of M #1. This is ahead of a planned invasion of Earth that will primarily take place in Secret Invasion #1-8.

  6. This is not the real Thor, but a clone as we will learn in Civil War #4. At the time of this story, Thor was deceased after the last Ragnarok cycle circa Thor (vol. 2) #80-85. He will be resurrected later in Thor (vol. 3) #1.

  7. Again, see Civil War #4 for more details on Goliath’s death. As of this writing (October, 2024) Goliath is still considered among the deceased.

Topical References

  • Jim Holms complains about covering the Jets. He is referring to the New York Jets, an NFL team that was established in 1959. Its reference should be considered topical as this is a real world sports team.

  • Sally threatens to blast Eric Marhsall’s dirt on Meet the Press, which is a Sunday morning news talk show that has aired on NBC dating back to 1947. This should be considered topical as this is a real world news program.

  • Jim Holms is complaining about a baseball game in the middle of the battle at the chemical plant. He specifically mentions Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine who were both pitchers for the New York Mets at the time this story was published in 2006. The game he is mentioning, so far as my half assed search goes, never really happened based on the details he provided, but I digress. This should be considered a topical reference as both men retired from Major League Baseball in 2008 (Glavine) and 2009 (Martinez) respectively. You can easily replace their names with more contemporary references.

The Accused, Part 6

Robbie Baldwin, aka Speedball, has been made the scapegoat for the Stamford Disaster. Robbie found himself in one of the roughest prisons in the country after his powers seemingly burned out.[1] Transferred to Prison 42 in the Negative Zone, the prison for superhumans who refuse to register with the government. After some time there, Robbie pens a sarcastically cheerful letter to his mother explaining to her what life has been like in the prison.

It starts off by tell her about the guy in the cell next to him, an unregistered hero named Digitek. The day before, Digitek used his cybernetic systems to form a M-110 particle shotgun and committed suicide.[2] He also talks about Lemar Hoskins, aka Battlestar, who was recently busted by SHIELD.[3] The injuries he sustained in that raid injured him so badly that he can’t sleep on his back due to the pain. He ends the letter by talking about the “Cooler”, a solitary confinement cell that they sometimes find themselves in. He closes his letter by figuring his father is still mad at him because its probably hard being a District Attorney when your son has been labelled the most hated man in America.[4] He also figures that she’ll never read this letter either.

After penning this letter, Robbie is restrained and taken to an interrogation room where Mister Fantastic is waiting to meet with him. Richards has come to try and extend an olive branch to Robbie after what happened. However, Baldwin isn’t interested in anything that Reed has to say because, as far as he is concerned, he has betrayed every other hero by supporting the Super Human Registration Act, to say nothing about Robbie’s own treatment and incarceration. When Reed asks about Robbie’s recent power flare up and how it happened, he tells Richards to go to hell. This makes Reed realize that this ordeal has greatly change Robbie. Baldwin points out the obvious: That it’s hard to maintain a sunny disposition after the abhorrent treatment he has received since being arrested. Reed then tells Robbie that he can get him in front of a Congressional Hearing so he can tell his side of the story and testify. After a moment’s consideration, Robbie agrees.

Later, Robbie is on a prison transport to the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. With him is his lawyer, She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters). She is horrified to see that Robbie is wearing his Speedball costume. Jen warns him that this will only anger people, but that’s exactly what Robbie intends to do. His whole reason for agreeing to giving testimony is to look his government square in the eye and tells them to shove it. When they arrive, there are more protestors calling for Robbie’s death. This, to Baldwin is good attention because it means a lot of people will listen to what he has to say.

When the bus stops and opens its doors, She-Hulk complains about how close they are to the protestors and again when Secret Service begins escorting Robbie through the crowd as this is a change from the original route. As they go, reporters asks Robbie if he takes responsibility for the deaths in the Stamford Disaster. He once again denies responsibility. As they weave their way through the crowd a man rushes up to Robbie with a gun and shoots him.[5]

Recurring Characters

Speedball, Mister Fantastic, She-Hulk, Battlestar, Digitek (remains), James Stricker (unidentified)

Continuity Notes

  1. Speedball was among the New Warriors who were involved in the Stamford Disaster in Civil War #1. Robbie’s powers were seemingly burned out for good as per a physical analysis in Civil War: Front Line #1. However, the suddenly came back when he suffered a broken leg in issue #4.

  2. Before seemingly committing suicide, Digitek mentions his wife. Per Digitek #1-4, Jonathan Bryant was married to Samantha Russell. While working at the Nakasoni Corporation where he was transformed into Digitek. This transformation made him unrecognizable to his wife and during his brief career he was unable to convince her who he really was because she believed that he had died in the explosion that made him Digitek. Although he seemingly died here, Civil War: Battle Damage Report #1 notes that this was likely some kind of escape attempt because the only way he could truly die was if his CPU was extensively damaged. This turns out to be the case as we’ll see him as a member of the SAS in Captain Britain and MI13 #15.

  3. Battlestar was a member of the Anti-Registration Underground and was busted by SHIELD in Civil War: Front Line #4.

  4. Robbie’s parents have basically abandoned him as we saw in Civil War: Front Line #4. Justin Baldwin is the District Attorney in the Baldwin’s hometown of Springdale, Connecticut, as per Speedball #1.

  5. This man is later identified as James Stricker in Civil War: Front Line #10. He is another surviving relative of someone who was killed at Stamford. It’s interesting to note that the panel in which he shoots Speedball draws inspiration from the iconic photo of Jack Ruby shooting JFK assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald.

Sleeper Cell, Part 4

Wonder Man (Simon Williams) has been assigned by SHIELD to track down an Atlantean sleeper agent who has recently been activated. He has found the spy floating in the harbor waters communicating with jellyfish before returning to shore. He reports back to his handlers who remind him that he is merely on a scouting mission. When Simon balks at this, they remind him that they are the only ones who can get him out of his current problems with the IRS.[1]

Williams relents and follows the sleeper agent as he enters a nearby warehouse. Landing on the roof, Simon peers into the skylight and is horrified to discover that there are more Atlantean sleeper agents and they are gearing up with weapons of war!

Recurring Characters

Wonder Man, Atlanteans, SHIELD

Continuity Notes

  1. As we discovered in Civil War: Front Line #3, “Joe” is an Atlantean sleeper agent who was recently activated for a secret mission on the surface world. Wonder Man was coerced into running this mission last issue.

Where Never Lark Nor Ever Eagle Flew*

Preface: The opening narrative talks about how in the summer of 1940, Adolf Hitler implemented bombing campaigns against the British. While the Nazi Luftwaffe outnumbered the Royal Air Force, they lost the Battle of Britain. This was due in part to the British invention of a new fighter plane dubbed the Spitfire.

What follows is a poem written b y Royal Canadian Air Force pilot John G. Magee that was written September 3rd, 1941. It was mailed to his parents and was shortly killed in action on December 11th of that year. The narration notes that President Ronald Reagen quoted parts of this poen after the Challenger space shuttle explosion in 1986.

The poem is accompanied by scenes of a British dogfight with the Luftwaffe during World War II. This is juxtaposed with Nighthawk’s part in the clash between pro and anti-registration forces during the battle at the chemical plant.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Nighthawk, SHIELD

* This story was not given a title, I have added one to differentiate it from the other stories in this issue

… Civil War continues in Captain America (vol. 5) #22.

Civil War Reading Order:

Road to Civil War:

Chapter 1:

Chapter 2:

Chapter 3:

Chapter 4:

Chapter 5:

Chapter 6:

Chapter 7:

Epilogue