Broken Frontier

Whose side are you on? Attendants to Marvel’s Civil War panel at Wizard World Chicago had to choose quickly, as the panel began with the room being divided into the “Iron Man” and “Captain America” sides. Joe Quesada then asked if everyone was liking the series. There was an enthusiastic response from the audience.

The floor was then turned over for Paul Jenkins to receive an award for Civil War: Frontline selling beyond expectations. This was followed by a slideshow of the various Civil War covers. One depicting some of the pro-registration characters being led by Thor and smashing through Captain America’s shield won the most applause.

On the Young Avengers/Runaways series, editor Tom Brevoort said that Marvel Boy, from the Grant Morrison series of the same name, would be appearing in one of the issues.

The panel confirmed that the Punisher would be playing a significant role as the Civil War series progresses. He was described as “the fly in the ointment” and “the spoiler.”

New Avengers #26, the first issue after Civil War, will feature the Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye. The issue will answer the questions of where these characters have been and what they have been doing.

A new miniseries will also be spinning out of the event: New Avengers: Illuminati. Co-written by Brian Michael Bendis and Brian Reed, with art by Jim Cheung, the series will detail the secret history of the Illuminati through Marvel continuity.

Artist Leinil Yu will be the new permanent artist on New Avengers as of issue #27.

The floor then opened for questions. In response to whether any characters will die and not come back, Tom Brevoort promised that someone would die in Civil War #4.

During the panel, Quesada also mentioned how writing Civil War had pushed many Marvel writers into having to cover viewpoints which are opposite to those that they personally hold. This has been really challenging the writers.

Quesada and Brevoort both expressed a feeling that, in recent years, the Marvel Universe had become too “cozy.” All the heroes know one another and trust each other. This is opposed to how things used to be when the Avengers, for example, really were not sure about the X-Men. In the aftermath of Civil War, fans can expect to see some mistrust, friction, or at the very least discomfort among the heroes.

The Thunderbolts will also be affected by the Civil War in a big way, in particular around issue #42 of their series.

All the panelists affirmed that they can honestly see both the good and the bad on both sides. Quesada used a story from his own experience of living in New York during and after 9/11 to illustrate this. He talked of the fear in seeing armed soldiers in the streets despite knowing the soldiers were there to help. If people could be afraid of soldiers, then they could also be afraid of masked heroes.

Tom Brevoort also said that before the series is through, many characters will have to reevaluate their positions. Some will change sides over the course of the conflict because of that reevaluation.

As the panel closed, a suggestion came from the audience on how to end the Civil War—have Alpha Flight come in and defeat the U.S., resulting in Canada taking over the country. Well, if it happens, remember, you read it here first…