Civil War: Front Line #2 (Story 3)

Background

The Marvel Universe has always had problems with masked identities. From the Sentinels and the Mutant Registration Act to Jonah Jameson and his tirades against Spider-Man, masked heroes and villains are usually the object of scorn. However, when a group of heroes inadvertently destroy a small town, the scales of tolerance are tipped and the civilians call for the cataloguing of the super-hero community. The mini-series, "Civil War: Front Line", deals with what the normal man and woman on the street thing of this turining point in the history of the once merry Marvel universe. Caution: Possible spoilers ahead.

Story 'Civil War: The Program'

The story opens with an unmasked Spider-Man standing on a stage. He fields questions from reporters, while a man watches events unfold on a television. Eventually, the questioning turns to Spider-Man's long-standing relationship with Norman Osborn, and the fact that some would call them "mortal enemies". Peter simply tells the reporter that Norman Osborn killed someone very close to Peter.At this, the man watching the television says, "You broke the rules." Peter goes on to say that Norman Osborn should be locked up for the rest of his life.

The questions go into more mundane territory while the man watching the television becomes increasingly irate, eventually breaking the television. It's revealed that the man is Norman Osborn, who is with two SHIELD agents. A female one asks him if he's willing to play by a new set of rules.

General Comments

We see more of Peter Parker's press conference concerning his unmasking, and we learn that Norman Osborn is none too pleased with this.

Overall Rating

As with the main story of this issue, the writing is superb. The art is also quite nice, considering it's mainly Spider-Man speaking or Norman Osborn in a chair. The effects of Osborn being drafted into SHIELD should have interesting consequences, however.