Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Marvel’s Civil War mega-crossover keeps raging along. Spider-Man switches sides, the Punisher arrives, and the Fantastic Four are in there somewhere.

Recap: The controversy over superhero registration has divided all the Marvel characters into Iron Man’s pro-reg side vs. Captain America’s anti-reg side. Spider-Man revealed his secret identity to the entire world, Goliath, a.k.a. Bill Foster, died horribly in a fight between two sides, and the Reed and Sue of the Fantastic Four have separated. As I noted in previous posts, it’s difficult tracking the continuity of Civil War, as events occur simultaneously throughout all the comics. You can’t really dive into Civil War #5 without reading the Spider-Man comics that led up to it, so I guess we’re doing that now.

The Civil War issues of Spectacular Spider-Man are about Peter, Mary Jane, Aunt May, and Black Cat dealing with the aftermath of Peter revealing his secret identity to the world. The real story, though, was in Amazing Spider-Man. Issues 532 and 533 are an extended take on Peter revealing his identity (the press conference took place at the White House, I detail I’d missed before). This was followed by Iron Man announcing to the world that Spider-Man is joining a pro-reg strike team to pursue and arrest the anti-reg heroes – something Iron Man hadn’t discussed with Spidey ahead of time.

In issue #534, Spider-Man participates in the convoy battle on Yancy Street, also depicted in Fantastic Four a few issues back. Spidey fights Captain America hand-to-hand and he may or may not have let Cap escape. In issue #535, Peter shows more regret over what he’s done. He and Iron Man travel to the new Baxter Building to enter the Negative Zone and see this oft-discussed Negative Zone prison in person. (Civil War #5 treats the prison as a big reveal, but we see it first in ASM.) Peter and Reed have the same heart-to-heart talk they had in FF #540, except this time we see how much their conversation affected Peter. Peter sneaks Mary Jane and Aunt May out of Stark Tower, only to be caught in the act by Iron Man. Now stick a bookmark in ASM, because here’s where we switch over to the main Civil War comic.

Civil War #5 begins not with Spidey and Iron Man, but with our old friends the Fantastic Four. Specifically, it’s Sue and Johnny, on the run from S.H.I.E.L.D.’s so-called “cape killers.” Sue turns them both invisible to escape. The cape killers continue the search, while bragging about how flooding the streets with S.H.I.E.L.D. agents has lowered the crime rate. At Stark Tower, Nighthawk (formerly of the Defenders) and Stature (formerly of the Young Avengers) meet with Happy Hogan, saying they want to leave Captain America’s side and register. Nighthawk says it’s because the world has changed, and Stature says that if she’s going to continue crimefighting, she should have proper training and oversight.

Turn the page and we’re back in the Spider-Man/Iron Man fight from ASM #535. Except the fight plays out differently across the two comics. In Civil War, Iron Man says some people in S.H.I.E.L.D. want all superhumans locked up, and registration is the compromise. Peter says things like Bill Foster’s death and the Negative Zone prison are going too far. Spider-Man punches Iron Man through a wall, and then jumps all over the place to avoid Tony’s repulsor rays. Spidey tries to smash through a window, but it’s reinforced. Then cape killers burst into the room and open fire. This destroys the window, and Spider-Man escapes into the night. Iron Man doesn’t pursue, but just stands there and says, “Dammit.”

In Amazing Spider-Man, here’s how the same scene plays out. There’s no conversation at the start, except Iron Man saying, “I thought you knew who’s side you were on.” He smashes them both through a wall and onto the sidewalk outside, in daylight this time. They duke it out, causing some collateral damage to the street around them. Iron Man enacts a safeguard that switches off Spidey’s high-tech Iron Spider armor. But Peter is also a tech whiz, and he secretly disabled the safeguard ahead of time. Spider-Man webs up Iron Man’s helmet, giving him enough time to escape into the sewer. This issue would have you believe that Peter runs straight back to Mary Jane at this point, but a lot of story happens in other comics between these two pages.

Now we set aside the ASM issue and go back to the middle of Civil War #5. Maria Hill of S.H.I.E.L.D. contacts the new Thunderbolts, made up of supervillains, and sends them out in teams to track down and apprehend Spider-Man. In the sewer, Spider-Man comes across a toy, which is actually a bomb. It explodes, injuring him and dousing him with gas (his spider-sense is conveniently not mentioned). The bomb was set by the Jester and Jack O’ Lantern, now members of the Thunderbolts. They beat the absolute crap out of Spidey, with S.H.I.E.L.D. in their earpieces insisting that Spidey be brought in alive. Then they’re both brutally shot in the head (!). Peter, in a daze, looks at the shooter and says, “I know you from way back, don’t I?”

We then cut to short vignette with Sue and Johnny. They’ve dyed their hair black, and they have new fake IDs, forcing them to pretend to be a married couple. They sneak into Captain America’s secret headquarters just in time for a meeting. We learn that Cloak and Dagger have been arrested. This frustrates Cap, as he wanted to use Cloak’s teleportation powers to break into the Baxter Building and free everyone from the Negative Zone prison. Hulkling offers to use his shape-changing powers to sneak into the Baxter Building, but Cap says Hulkling has a secret mission in Arizona instead.

Then a voice says, “Get a medic! Now!” It’s the Punisher, with a beaten and bloody Spider-Man in his arms. Yes, he’s the one who killed the villains in sewer and saved Spidey. (What was Punisher doing in the sewer? It’s at this point where Civil War also intersects with Punisher War Zone. I’ll get to that one next week.)

Jane Foster and Night Nurse are the medics, who treat Spider-Man. The Punisher says Spider-Man is on “our side,” saying he intends to join Cap’s team now that Iron Man and S.H.I.E.L.D. are recruiting criminals and murderers as new Thunderbolts. Punisher reveals he’s the man with the black ski mask who’s been watching everyone from a distance. Falcon asks Captain America whether they should let the Punisher join them or turn him over to the cops. Cap says, “I’m thinking.”

In Hell’s Kitchen, New York, cape killers have arrested Daredevil (who is secretly Iron Fist posing as Daredevil during all this). Reed and She-Hulk have overseen the arrest. Reed wonders if they’ve done the right thing. Reed says life would be easier if he’d never gotten involved, never created the Thor clone, and not been aligned with the Thunderbolts. She-Hulk tells him crime is down, government approval is up, and the public overwhelmingly approves of the pro-reg side (for real?). She says, “You guys gave us a future.”

Later, at Ryker’s Penitentiary, we see there’s now a Negative Zone portal there. Tony Stark walks Daredevil to the portal in person. He reiterates that it was either this or have the government arrest all superhumans. He then confirms plans are under way for the Fifty States Initiative, nationwide superheroes that are fully licensed and accountable. “Nobody wants to put you in jail,” he says. And then, after all this time, we finally, FINALLY, get the official debut of the Negative Zone prison, even though the comics have talked about for months and we just saw it in Amazing Spider-Man. Credit where it’s due, though, artist Steve McNiven draws the heck out of it:

As he’s being locked up, Daredevil hands Tony Stark a silver dollar. He says, “Guess that’s thirty-one pieces of silver you’ve got now, huh? Sleep well, Judas.”

To be continued!  

Unstable molecule/Fade out: Reed and Sue both call Peter Parker the day after he revealed his secret identity to the public. Reed praises Peter’s courage, while Sue just wants to make sure he’s doing okay. Mary Jane and Aunt May are also on the call, and everybody ends up chatting as if Peter’s not there.

Clobberin’ time: Ben appears in two-page spread as one of several Marvel characters reacting to Spider-Man’s secret identity reveal. He’s frowning at it.

Flame on: Johnny is understandably disgusted by having to pretend he and his sister are married. But then he says Sue looks like his last girlfriend’s grandmother. I’ll grant that he’s only joking, but that’s still gross.

Fantastic fifth wheel: She-Hulk seemed iffy about registration in her solo series, but in these issues she’s all for it. Her solo series at this time has her in space for comedic encounters with Starfox, Man-Wolf, and even Thanos. No clue whether this takes place during or after Civil War.

Luke Cage continues to be Captain America’s right-hand man. He doesn’t like the idea of the Punisher joining the team.

There’s one panel of Tigra hiding around a corner with her phone, spying on Cap’s strategy meeting. Look very closely, and you can see the name “Tony” on her contacts.

Trivia time: The three kooky-looking superheroes Spider-Man sees during his visit to the Negative Zone prison are Prodigy, Gladiatrix, and N’Kantu the Living Mummy. They really are bringing back every obscure character for this event, aren’t they?

Fantastic or frightful? The big deal is that Spider-Man switches sides, one of few characters to do so during the Civil War event. This makes Iron Man look even more like the villain, even there are times when the crossover insists he’s the good guy. Also, the Punisher is here. Now that he’s in Civil War, he’ll be all over the place for a while. Even with all this happening, the Fantastic Four continue to be central figures, as both the main series and the Amazing Spider-Man issues make a point of continually checking in with the FF throughout. Beyond that, we’re in the “things get murky” period for Civil War, and it’ll be like this until we get to the big finish.

Next: Where’s Kate Beckinsale when we need her?

* * * *

Want more? Check out my new ongoing serial, THE SUBTERKNIGHTS, on Kindle Vella. A man searches for his missing sister in a sprawling city full of far-out tech and secret magic. It’s a sci-fi/fantasy hybrid full of action, romance, mystery, and laughs. The first three chapters are FREE! Click here for a list of all my books and serials.