New Avengers #22
New Avengers: Disassembled, Part 2
Civil War continues from X-Factor (vol. 3) #9…
Luke Cage and Jessica Jones are paid a visit by Iron Man (Tony Stark) and Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers). They have come to talk about the Super Human Registration Act (SHRA) which is to go into effect at midnight.[1] Tony has come to find out if Luke intends on signing or not and warns them that if they miss the deadline both he and his wife will be considered fugitives from the law.[2] He tries to sell the idea to Luke, telling him that he’ll be a sanctioned Avenger with pay and benefits and his checkered past won’t be used against him.
Luke remains silent through all of this. Jessica then asks what her situation would be. While she does have powers, she has no interest in being a superhero. Iron Man doesn’t have a straight answer for Jessica, but assures her that with a newborn to raise she wouldn’t be expected to go and fight Doctor Doom or anything like that.[3] When Carol tries to convince her friend, Jessica tells her to save it, as she thinks that signing up with the government is going against everything she stands for.
Luke admits that the world isn’t a very nice place, but says that what Tony is trying to do is not in human nature. When Iron Man asks again if Luke will sign up, Cage says that Tony will have to find out at midnight. When Stark warns that the authorities will come after him, Cage likens it to how African-Americans were treated in Mississippi in the 1950s. Iron Man finds the comparison absurd and says that this is about upholding the law. Luke retorts that slavery used to be allowed under the law as well. Luke says that signing up with the government means giving up everything they stand for. Tony then tries to appeal to Luke, saying that if he joins up he can make sure that doesn’t happen. All Luke will say in response is that he plans on raising his daughter right. When Tony asks what that means, Cage wonders why Stark even needs to ask. Seeing that they are getting nowhere, both Iron Man and Ms. Marvel leave.
Once they are gone, Jessica tells Luke that she needs to take their daughter somewhere safe. However, she’s not leaving him and asks him to flee to Canada with her, saying they can have a new life up north. However, Cage refuses to leave his home. He has to stay and fight because he has to be an good example to his daughter. Soon the couple are outside saying their goodbyes. Holding his daughter in his arms, Cage gets her to look at him. He tells the infant not to take no shit off of nobody and hands her back to Jess. It is hard to do it, but Luke hands her over. As Jessica is telling him how she is going to Toronto, Luke asks his wife to not watch the news for at least a week.[4]
After Jessica drives off, Luke heads back to his apartment. A young boy stops him and asks Luke if he plans on signing. Turning to face the crowd that has gathered to hear what he says next, Luke tells them that he plans on going in his home and not bothering anybody. It’s a free country and he should be allowed to do that. Nobody disagrees with him. Luke does just that until midnight on the dot. That’s when there is a knock on the door. It’s a team of SHIELD Cape-Killers and Gabe Jones. They asks Luke to come out and when he refuses they tell him that they can’t just let this go. Realizing he has no choice, Cage smashes through the door and begins fighting the SHIELD agents.
Luke plows through the Cape-Killers and gets out onto the street. There he is surrounded and once more ordered to stand down. That’s when the locals come out of their homes and begin throwing things and shooting at the SHIELD operatives. Moments later, Captain America arrives with Daredevil and the Falcon.[5] In order to escape, Cap and the others steal one of SHIELD’s tanks. As they flee the scene, they are contacted by SHIELD Director Maria Hill, who warns Cage that this will only make things worse for him and his family. Luke has a warning for Hill as well: The revolution is coming. With that, he smashes the communicator.
Meanwhile, Jessica has just made it safely across the border at Niagara Falls. She stops at a duty free shop to pick up supplies for her daughter. While paying at the cash, she can’t help but look at a TV showing a news report of the situation in New York City. At first she is horrified to discover that SHIELD tried to arrest her husband. However, she is immediately happy to hear that he managed to get away.
… Civil War continues in Wolverine (vol. 3) #44.
Recurring Characters
Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Dani Cage (unnamed), SHIELD (Maria Hill, Gabe Jones), Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, “Secret Avengers” (Captain America, “Daredevil”, Falcon)
Continuity Notes
The SHRA is a law that will require superhumans to register with the government. The law was rushed into passing after a superhuman conflict killed hundreds of innocent people in the town of Stamford, Connecticut in Civil War #1. It will go into force in issue #3 of that series. This law will remain on the books until after the events of Siege #1-4.
Tony adds that Luke will be a fugitive “again”, this is in reference to the fact that — just prior to getting his powers — Luke was framed for a crime he did not commit, as seen in Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #1. He was on the run from the law for a while until he was able to clear his name in Power Man and Iron Fist #50.
Jessica Jones tried to be a hero, and was once in the running to become an Avenger. However, after being enslaved for months by the villain known as Purple Man, she decided that she didn’t want to become a hero again. See Alias #22-23. Other items of note here are the fact that while she and Luke are married (as seen in New Avengers Annual #1) she has kept her maiden name. Their daughter, Dani, was just recently born in The Pulse #13. Dani is unnamed here because Jessica and Luke haven’t decided on a name for her yet. They will have their minds made up in New Avengers #34.
Jessica mentions how Matt Murdock (aka Daredevil) is in prison at the time of this story. How things got this bad is rather complicated. First, Daredevil’s true identity was leaked to the press in Daredevil (vol. 2) #32. Murdock was able to deny this until his old enemy the Kingpin used his knowledge of Matt’s double life to get the fed after him, as seen in Daredevil (vol. 2) #76-81. Matt will be incarcerated from issue #82-87.
The man who appears to be Daredevil is actually Iron Fist in disguise. As per Civil War: Choosing Sides #1, Murdock asked Iron Fist to pose as Daredevil while he was in prison because it would help trick the public into believing that he and DD are two different people.
Topical References
Luke Cage makes reference to Mississippi in the 1950s. The state was particularly brutal to the Black population when it came to upholding segregation laws that were in place at the time. This came to a head after the murder of Emmett Till in 1955, the inciting incident that sparked the modern Civil Rights movement. Cage also refers to America’s shameful history of slave ownership during the colonization of the continent. The push to end slavery started a civil war between the northern and southern American states between 1861 to 1865. The south lost and the slaves were set free. Since these are historical references being made, they would not be considered topical.
One of the bystanders watching Luke fight the Cape-Killers is recording it on a camcorder that was commonly used in 2006 when this comic was published. While you can still go out and buy a video camera today, they no longer look like this. They have also fallen out of common use because of the advent of smart phones that can record video just as well as any camera. As such, its depiction here should be considered topical.
At the duty free shop, Jessica is depicted as buying Nestlé brand soy milk. The TV in the grocery store is also depicted as a CRT model television. Both of these should be considered topical references as one is a real world brand and the other is an obsolete technology.
Civil War Reading Order
Road to Civil War: Amazing Spider-Man #529, 530, 531, Fantastic Four #536, 537, New Avengers: Illuminati #1
Main Event: Civil War #1, She-Hulk (vol. 2) #8, Wolverine (vol. 3) #42, Amazing Spider-Man #532, Civil War: Front Line #1
Civil War #2, Thunderbolts #103, Civil War: Front Line #2, X-Factor (vol. 3) #8, New Avengers #21, Wolverine (vol. 3) #43, Amazing Spider-Man #533, Fantastic Four #538, Civil War: Front Line #3, Thunderbolts #104, Civil War: X-Men #1
Civil War #3, Cable & Deadpool #30, Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways #1, Civil War: Front Line #4, X-Factor (vol. 3) #9, New Avengers #22, Wolverine (vol. 3) #44, Amazing Spider-Man #534, Fantastic Four #539, Civil War: Front Line #5, Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #6, Civil War: X-Men #2, Heroes for Hire (vol. 2) #1, New Avengers #23, Wolverine (vol. 3) #45, Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways #2, Cable & Deadpool #31, Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #7, Civil War: X-Men #3
Civil War #4, Wolverine (vol. 3) #46, Heroes for Hire (vol. 2) #2, Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways #3, Civil War: Front Line #6, Captain America (vol. 5) #22, Cable & Deadpool #32, Amazing Spider-Man #535, Civil War: Choosing Sides #1, Fantastic Four #540, Civil War: Front Line #7, Civil War: X-Men #4, Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #8, Wolverine (vol. 3) #47, Heroes for Hire (vol. 2) #3, Captain America (vol. 5) #23, New Avengers #24
Civil War #5, Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways #4, Iron Man (vol. 4) #13, New Avengers #25, Punisher: War Journal (vol. 2) #1, Civil War: Front Line #8, Amazing Spider-Man #536, Black Panther (vol. 4) #22, Captain America (vol. 5) #24, Civil War: War Crimes #1, Civil War: Front Line #9, Iron Man (vol. 4) #14, Fantastic Four #541, Black Panther (vol. 4) #23, Punisher: War Journal (vol. 2) #2
Civil War #6, Civil War: Front Line #10, Amazing Spider-Man #537, Fantastic Four #542, Civil War: The Return #1, Punisher: War Journal (vol. 2) #3, Black Panther (vol. 4) #24
Civil War #7, Amazing Spider-Man #538, Civil War: Front Line #11, Black Panther (vol. 4) #25, Civil War: The Initiative #1, Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #15, Mighty Avengers #1, Captain America (vol. 5) #25, Civil War: The Confession #1, Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Fantastic Four #543-544, Avengers: The Initiative #1
