I just can't see how anybody who's been reading Marvel for a while can be surprised by the way Iron Man has been acting. He was like this durring the Armor Wars. Hell, it was him who disbanded the Avengers after Disasemble. The man is a Dick in just about every way he's been portrayed.

What has surprised me is that Peter bought into it. If EVER there was a character who needed to keep his identity a secret it's him. He has almost as many crazy enemies as Batman except that Bats is Hard on the inside and doesn't need his real identity.

Mr. Fantastic has been also becoming a bit of a Dick as of late so I'm waiting to see how he's going to deal with the consiquences of his participation. (And while their identities are public, The FF aren't free from the slings and arrows of public opinion as Jonny could attest to if he were he awake or the State of New York who wants to take Reed and Sue's kids away from them.)

 

It wouldn't surprise me if they did, but it won't work. The FF is a family. Each and every time they've tried to change it, sale go down. (except when they used the Hulk, Spidey, Wolverine, and Ghost Rider, but that was just one story arc)

 

Maybe involving Thor ? Else why have him return in FF as opposed to Avengers

 

Playing Devil's Advocate...

Iron Man is a dick because it's what the world needs, but also because he's the only one with enough guts to admit it. Armor Wars happened because he felt he had to atone for putting so many lives in danger with his technology; his rampage, although against the government, was ultimately to save lives. By this same reasoning, you could say Jack Bauer is a dick in the TV show "24;" he may act like one, but at the end of the day, the world is safer because of him.

Avengers Disassembled, well, he never said that there COULDN'T be a team. I believe he just said that continuing with the Avengers in its current format would be impossible, and unfair to others who depend upon him. Again, being a dick to some for the benefit of many others.

If you want to go back further in the history of the character, he's also the one that killed that big brain guy in (I think) the Kree-Skrull war. Being a dick? Sure. But saving lives in the process.

It's the same as far as Civil War goes. Tony believes that the government is CRUCIAL to the country; to go against it would wreak havoc on the citizens, ruin lives and businesses, as well as being, ultimately, selfish on the part of the heroes who refuse to play along. Further, if the heroes DIDN'T play along, and overthrew the government or changed the government to their liking...well, wouldn't people see that as the superhumans being in charge of the country, and not themselves and their elected leaders? Ie, might makes right?

The Superhero Registration Act (SRA) curbs this; power is still held by the majority (ie, non-metas), and legislation hence affects heroes rather than being crafted by them. The government stays intact, people go about their lives uninterrupted by a major upheaval, and the population feels safer and more in control with super-powered people held accountable for their actions.

And, really, the SRA isn't anything new. SHIELD has had files on many heroes (including secret IDs) for a LONG time; hell, there was even one recent arc where a baddie found out that Murdock was Daredevil (and other crucial information) via one such file. The only thing new is that the heroes are now being INFORMED that they MUST register.

If normal humans pass a law (such as the SRA), and superpowered people don't follow it, what does that tell you about the society? Who exercises legislative control in such a nation?

Yes, threatening to reveal the names of over a hundred heroes is pushing it a bit too far; that is a REALLY bad idea, and would be a breach of privacy. However, for the most part, Tony Stark being a dick is looking at the character and his actions with a very narrow scope; looking at the bigger picture, and the ethics involved, reveal that he's more of a brave, compassionate hero than a self-righteous prick who just wants to shut down all his friends.

Hell, if anything, I think Millar/Marvel is exercising a little too much bias in the story, intentionally writing Tony in a way that makes people automatically hate him in order to illustrate an argument about the government. I think the character is receiving the short end of the stick.

(My apologies if my argument was disjointed in some segments)

 

Yeah, I was wondering that too. He WAS against the SRA, before Stamford. Now, though, he might just be making a choice to butt out...maybe he's just sick of the whole mess.

 

In some book, Namor has a reaction to Namorta. I just can't remember what issue it will be in. I think it was mentioned in one of the Joe Fridays.

As for Civil War, I read ASM, Avengers, and FF today. Still have to read X-Factor, Frontline, and Wolverine. So far, everything has been spectacular. House of M was a load of crap. Disassembled was partially functional. Secret War suffered fro mtime problems. But this is amazing. And it's making me lost a lot of interest in DC.

So far the only DC title to actively capture my interest is 52. I get GL, Batman, Detective, Superman, Action Comics, Wonder Woman, Flash, Nightwing, and Teen Titans. So far none have had any WOW factors. But 52 is very interesting. It's like 24 but over a year in comic form.

Marvel did a fantastic job of putting out their events. HoM sucked but it drew some focus from Identity Crisis. DC made the problem of putting 3 years time into this idea. This allows plenty of time to let people get bored with the idea and for Marvel to overshadow them

 

Namor`s in the cover on an upcoming Wolverine issue (Vendetta part 4, I believe).

 

If you look closely I think he's been in at least one of the issues already. But yes Wolverine is where to look for Namor's reaction.

 

Dude, Frontline 3 continues the awesome. Also, Ms. Marvel 5... or 4. Whichever, it's great.

 

I love the front line series just beause its more information and less random needless action.