The symbolism of this cover is pretty fun, I must admit. As Tony and Steve are inevitably going to be the faces of the 2 sides in Civil War, here’s Peter stuck between them, with Tony exerting his influence. Sal Regla swaps in on inks this month. Well, Spidey’s still being dragged by Titanium Man, and he webs onto the Washington Monument to try to stop him, but ends up getting his line cut and falling down in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Visit scenic Washington DC, I guess. And then… He just…
He just stands there reading it? What is this, his first day of superheroing?
Spidey gets the better of Big T and crashes him back down to Earth.
Spidey really starts beating on him, but Titanium Man suddenly flies up and gets away. Whomp whomp. Thus, we move on to tomorrow.
“Superheroes shouldn’t be controlled by the government” is the most salient point against registration, but the government has routinely controlled the Avengers during their tenure, and created its own hero teams, so it’s not exactly a hypothetical. In a real world context, I think registration should work like registering a firearm, or maybe like registering a sex offender. Not conscription. But they had to make things complicated or they wouldn’t have an event. After the hearing, Tony tells Peter they’ve maybe bought some time. That if these things are delayed long enough, they can die out. Or maybe not.
But, of course, Tony did hire Titanium Man, and we see Iron Man paying him off. Big T reiterates that he thinks American superheroes will soon be doing what he does. Then we find Peter back home, watching a news report that would spoil the first issue of the impending event, which seems odd. I mean, everyone knew what was going to happen thanks to marketing, but it’s still weird to jump the gun on it. Well, anyway. On to all the other comics that have to take place before Civil War…