Of course, 52 was facing up to some stiff competition that summer as Marvel unveiled their Civil War. Hinting at some genuine, lasting changes for their characters (well, as long as genuine changes tend to last in comic books), the storyline saw former friends and brothers-in-arms turned against each other by the implementation of a law which required all superpeople to register their powers - along with their secret identities - with the federal government, lest they get up to any funny business. Like DC's Death Of The Family, Civil War excelled both in the main title and the tie-ins. This was probably the last time Mark Millar's writing was readable, and paired with Steve McNiven's stylised-yet-realistic artwork it was a story with real gravitas and drama...despite being about grown men in tights wrestling with each other. Together the pair delivered twist after twist as heroes and villains alike fell, some more permanently than others. The ancillary books were pretty great, too, including a clash between teen heroes the Young Avengers and the Runaways, The Confession one-shot where Iron Man reflected on the events of the war, but especially Civil War: Front Line which took the entire conflict from the perspective of two Daily Bugle journalists reporting on the events of the main book, acting as a sort of Greek chorus. Also, in the tradition of the Kree-Skrull War, the story commented on contemporary issues like the 9/11-inspired Patriot Act. Whether it was successful in evoking that or not...probably isn't important. The comics are!
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
