Nick Peron

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Civil War: The Return #1

Nick Peron

Credits

Civil War continues from Fantastic Four #542…

Captains Couragous - The Return of Captain Marvel

At Prison 42 (aka “Fantasy Island”) in the Negative Zone, there has been an outside breach of the outer envelope of the prison.[1] One of the guards comes to the warden’s office to inform him of the problem. The prisoners have gotten free and they are worried that they might get out.[2] The warden is none other than Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell), and he needs to think about the situation before he takes a personal hand in dealing with the prison break.[3] When the SHIELD agent insists that he do something, he tells the guard that he needs to think and asks to be alone.

Mar-Vell thinks it is too early to make his presence here public and, looking at a display case holding his Nega-Bands, thinks about how he ended up in this situation to begin with. Marv was sitting in negative space meditating when he was suddenly distracted by a portal. Reaching out to it, Captain Marvel was sucked through it an emerged on the other side of the Negative Zone portal to Prison 42. There he was found by the Sentry (Bob Reynolds) and CLOC, his artificial intelligence. Marv doesn’t understand how he got into the Sentry’s Watchtower and notices that Bob somehow looks a little older than the last time he saw him. CLOC scans Mar-Vell and confirms his identity. Realizing what this means, Reynolds goes and gets Iron Man (Tony Stark) and Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) to make sense of all of this.

The two genius confer with the Sentry and they deduce that Mar-Vell was pulled from some unspecified moment in the past. They are reluctant to talk about what’s going on and they decide the best thing to do is to put Mar-Vell in charge of Prison 42 as it will prevent him from learning too much about the future before they can send him back to his proper time. It doesn’t take Marv to figure out that he is dead in the future. He demands to know what happened and what became of his lover, Elysius. However, Bob says he cannot get into details because it may have negative consequences for the timestream.[4]

Accepting his situation, Mar-Vell took the job as warden, but soon learned the truth about his future. He had contracted cancer during a battle with the villain named Nitro. This cancer grew to the point where he eventually died from it, surrounded by all the heroes he befriended on Earth and beyond. He has also learned in this time that the situation on Earth has drastically changed, that heroes are being forced to register with the government leading to a conflict between divided camps. He is needed here and now, but he can’t help but think of Elysius and wonders where she is now, if she has moved on, and how he would explain his situation to her if they were to meet. He wonders what would happen if she took him back, knowing full well the cancer that previously took him away would do so again eventually.

He decides that despite his grim fate, Captain Marvel was always a hero and he will uphold that duty even now. Putting on his Nega-Bands, Mar-Vell enters the fray, deciding to accept that he is the first person to ever get a second chance to make a first impression.

Recurring Characters

“Captain Marvel”, Sentry, Iron Man, Mister Fantsatic, CLOC, SHIELD

Continuity Notes

  1. Following the passage of the Super Human Registration Act (SHRA) in Civil War #2, Prison 2 was built to house unregistered superhumans starting in Civil War: Front Line #5.

  2. This story takes place during the events of Civil War #6, when Captain America’s anti-registration Secret Avengers were staging a breakout at Prison 42.

  3. The man who appears to be Captain Marvel here is actually a Skrull infiltrator named Khn’nr as we’ll learn in Captain Marvel (vol. 6) #4-5. He has been sent ahead of a Skrull invasion of Earth that will primarily take place in Secret Invasion #1-8.

  4. We get some factoids about the past of the real Captain Marvel. They are:

    • How he contracted cancer fighting the villain known as Nitro. That happened in Captain Marvel #34.

    • Eventually, Mar-Vell got really sick and died, as seen in Marvel Graphic Novel #1.

    • “Mar-Vell” mentions Elysius, an Titanian Eternal whom the real Captain Marvel fell in love with. She first appeared in Captain Marvel #59.

    • It is stated that Mar-Vell’s death happened “years ago”. Per the Sliding Timescale, its been roughly six years between Marvel Graphic Novel #1 (April ,1982) and this story (published March, 2007).

The Decision

The Sentry (Bob Reynolds) finds himself at a crossroads the likes of which he has not experienced since he first decided to become a hero. With the passage of the Super Human Registration Act, which has divided the superhero community, he now has to decide what side to be on. Will he register or will he not?

Forced to fight the Absorbing Man (Carl “Crusher” Creel) who has absorbed and is now mimicking his own powers, Bob is going to be forced to make his decision. As the two fight, Creel revels in his newfound power and CLOC — who has been monitoring the situation and advising the Sentry — warns that further contact with the Absorbing Man will result in his gaining even more power. Crusher doesn’t understand how the Sentry doesn’t take extreme pleasure in this much power and thinks he’s nuts.

Realizing that he can’t beat Creel by fighting, Bob decides to let Creel absorb his full power, which has the strength of a million exploding suns. This proves to be too much power for the Absorbing Man to handle. This causes Creel’s physical form to dissolve into photons, neutrons, and solar winds, causing him to dissipate.[1] All that’s left is Creel’s wrecking ball, which falls harmlessly tothe ground.

Even though the Sentry saved the city, he sees the damage their battle has caused. Having a first hand idea of what someone with his power is capable of, Bob comes to the conclusion of his quandary. Heading to the nearest police station, the Sentry tells the desk sergeant that he would like to register himself with the proper authorities.

Recurring Characters

Sentry, Absorbing Man,

Continuity Notes

  1. The Sentry states here that this isn’t the end of the Absorbing Man, that he’ll return eventually. This is often the case when Creel takes on a form that makes him unstable, he will eventually reform. Case in point, he’ll turn up again in Marvel Holiday Special 2006 #1.

Topical References

  • The gas prices in this story are between $2.59 and $2.99 a gallon. This should be considered a topical reference as this represents the rough cost of gasoline in New York state at the time this comic was published in 2007. The price of gas has increased over the years due to market demand and inflation. For example, as I write this (November, 2024) gasoline in New York is hovering around $3.18 a gallon.

… Civil War continues in Punisher: War Journal (vol. 2) #3.

Civil War Reading Order:

Road to Civil War:

Chapter 1:

Chapter 2:

Chapter 3:

Chapter 4:

Chapter 5:

Chapter 6:

Chapter 7:

Epilogue