Comics POLL CW Which Side You On?

[MaxCarnage]

I'm kind of split on the issue, but will have to say that for the purposes of Civil War, I am on Captain America's side. On one hand, I believe that anonymity breeds chaos. These people can do whatever they want, and while that works in the comic world where these super-powered beings rarely abuse their powers, in the real world people are not that black-and-white. I would love to have superpowers, but ultimately realize that I do not because I could never be 100% responsible with them. No one could. So the idea of superpowered humans running around unchecked is just not feasible to me.

On the other hand, government beauracracy solves nothing. While registering superheroes and holding them accountable for their actions might at first lead to some kind of...I don't know, sanity; ultimately the shackles of politics would fall on the superhero gig and beauracracy would overcome the sanity. A situation necessitating quick action might come up, but instead of leaping into action, the superheroes would have to have a meeting to plan a meeting discussing how to handle the situation. After an arrest, superheroes would have to escort the criminals to the jail so they could fill out reports and arrest paperwork. Did Spider-Man read you your Miranda Rights? No? Then you're free to go, sir.

In the comic book world, there is a balance that would be thrown off by this act. So I guess as far as the Marvel universe goes, I am on Cap's side. In the real world, I would not be as confident. If Mr. Phelps can go bad, anyone can.

 

[Hobgoblin]

Iron Man's side. Registering with the government doesnt change the heroes situation much at all. They still get to go out and beat the bad guys and still have secret IDs, but they have some back up. If I were a loner like Spidey, I'd be all for that. The government would want your identity and safety protected, because you are a valued employee. The military has tried making super soldiers before, but has failed, with the exception of Cap. So having these rare examples of sucessful superpowered agents working for Uncle Sam would be a huge benefit to the government.

 

[Grim Goblin]

Wow, in the process of writing this I noticed that it would be too long to explain my view in one post so let's call this Part 1.

To me, this isn't even an issue. Now I know that the registration act doesn't mean that heroes have to go unmask on Oprah, but most likely the government will keep the information in their computers and in an age where a teenager can hack his way into the FBI database, that comes as no comfort to me.

Some people might not agree with this, but there were very slim chances of avoiding the Stanford massacre. Even if you replaced the New Warriors with the Swat team or the military, the result would have been the same.

"Nitro, come out with your hands up! You are surrounded!" BOOM!!!

As regrettable as the event was, would people be justified (I could completely understand the grief but I'm talking objectively here) to come out against the cops or the army in that instance? I don't think so, since they would have been dealing with a problem far beyond the capacities of normal people. Knowing they were outmatched, does it mean they shouldn't have tried and just let this massive threat run free?

Was Speedball's action reckless? Maybe, but being spotted kinda forced his hand a bit. Was his motives noble? absolutely not since he did it for the ratings (a more or less accurate portrayal of Speedball depending on who you talk to). Was Namorita an idiot for posturing to a guy who explodes instead of knocking him out? A big, resounding YES!

But still, super-heroes are the guys you call (figuratively) when 911 just won't cut it. When a generic thug robs a store, sure! call the cops. But what good will that do against a super-villain that can single-handedly take on the entire swat team?

And let's not forget that the battles that super-heroes wage against their rogues have often become deeply personal. In our world, the big name criminal might not try to get revenge against the beat cop who actually handcuffed him and brought him to the precinct, but he'll surely have some hatred for the detective who dogged his steps for years trying to find the evidence to put him away. Now replace the big name criminal with a super-villain (which is pretty much the same BUT he has powers on top of that) and replace the detective with a super-hero who not only dogged him for years, but also gave him a knuckle sandwich anytime he could and you've got one hell of a personal vendetta!

And seriously, if super-heroes registered, you really believe that their families are going to be protected more efficiently? Now I don't want this to sound disrespectful because I don't say this to be witty or anything, but how many US presidents have been assassinated? How many highly regarded person under "protection" got killed in human history? Again, think about the fact that the would-be assassins WILL be beyond normal criterias and the flaws in the registration becomes quite clear.

Coming soon, Part 2: A hero's code.