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Berkay Max Marvel Comics’ Civil War: Erdemandi An Allegory of September 11 in an American Civil War Framework Te September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States caused nationwide hysteria over issues of national security, domestic terrorism, and civil liberties. Te United States government addressed these issues by passing the PATRIOT Act and launching a full-scale war against terrorism and its supporters, while citizens in many parts of the country “erected spontaneous memorials consisting of candles, fags, and posters of missing people.”1 However, the prevailing atmosphere of grief and distress soon gave way to sentiments of nationalism, patriotism, and American heroism.2 tracesWhile this response was refected in many pop-culture products of the time, perhaps no format was better suited to portraying “heroism” than comic books. In fact, the regular storylines of comics like Captain America and Spider-Man were temporarily suspended and 9/11 dominated the next few issues. Tese issues discussed the superheroes’ inability to stop the attacks and asked whether superheroes could still protect society in the twenty-frst century. Tis trauma was revisited when 1 Veronike Bragard et al., eds., Portraying 9/11: Essays on Representations in Comics, Literature, Film and Theatre (Jefferson, NC: MacFarland, 2011), 3. 2 Ibid. 213 The UNC-Chapel Hill Journal of History Marvel Comics produced the multivolume, crossover superhero storyline Civil War over a period of roughly one year between 2006 and 2007. Te Civil War plot, while demonstrating similarities to events that took place around September 11, was crafed as an allegorical treatment of the American Civil War and the terrorist attacks addressing contentious post-9/11 debates over national security and civil liberties. In particular, the series critiqued the American hyper-nationalism of the time by portraying Captain America’s alienation from American patriotic ideology, which had previously been his character’s foundation. Fiction and Reality: Reactions to Attacks Te explosion that destroyed the World Trade Center killed many people who went to work that morning just as on any other day. In the fctional world of Marvel Comics, it is also an ordinary school day for the children at Stamford Elementary School. In one panel, children are seen playing peacefully in the schoolyard as the villain, Nitro, activates his superpower. Te following three panels show a freball killing the children before barreling through the rest of the town. Te next page shows a post- apocalyptic scene of the decimated town strewn with skeletons, wounded bodies, and a scorched American fag lying on the ground, as a superhero search-and-rescue team combs through the debris.3 Tese sorts of images are commonly found in photographs from 9/11.4 Likewise, the fact that the explosion in Stamford killed many innocent people spurs a discussion about imposing broader restrictions on humans with superpowers, just as the 9/11 attacks led to a debate in the real United States about personal freedoms versus national security. Te fate of captured superheroes is also similar to that of the terrorists. Te “War on Terror” compelled the United States to maintain “untouchable and inaccessible” detention facilities.5 Because the infamous prison at Guantanamo Bay naval base that the government used as a 3 Mark Millar, Civil War: A Marvel Comics Event Issue 1 (New York: Marvel Publishing, 2007), 12-13. 4 Mail Foreign Service, “First pictures as the World Trade Centre rises from the ruins of 9/11,” Daily Mail, February 5, 2010. 5 Travis Langley, “Freedom Versus Security: The Basic Human Dilemma from 9/11 to Marvel’s Civil War,” International Journal of Comic Art (Spring 2009): 636. 214 Berkay Max Erdemandi Superheroes help in search-and-rescue operations after the explosion in Stamford, from Civil War 1. (Image courtesy of Marvel Comics.) detention camp for hundreds of suspect al-Qaeda or Taliban loyalists is located outside US territory, the prisoners were not subject to the due process that would otherwise be applied within the nation’s borders.6 In the Civil War series, “rebel” Firefighters at Ground Zero. Images like this one provided a model for superheroes are similarly imprisoned Marvel Comics’s Civil War series. in “Negative Zone,” located in an (Photo courtesy of Mail Foreign Service.) alternate dimension. In Te Amazing Spider-Man 535, Iron Man explains to Spider-Man during a visit to the Negative Zone that the “detention is permanent.”7 Although he already revealed his secret identity to the public in support of the Superhero Registration Act (SRA), Spider-Man changes sides upon seeing fellow superhumans imprisoned together with the supervillains, and denied their basic rights. In a sense, the pro-SRA superheroes see the others as rebels, if not terrorists. 6 Ibid., 428. 7 Stan Lee, The Amazing Spider-Man (New York: Marvel Publishing, 2006), 12. 215 The UNC-Chapel Hill Journal of History An Allegory of September 11 in an American Civil War Framework Te allegorical narrative of Marvel’s series includes metaphors of post-9/11 unrest, the “War on Terror,” and a changing American identity. Just as the reactions of a scared and angry nation authorized the government to pursue a war on terror, in the Marvel universe the fctional United States government issues legislation authorizing a war against rebellious superheroes, fueled by public fear of superhumans. Civilians are crucial to the shaping of the government’s reaction in both scenarios, because as Frankfurt School theorist Erich Fromm once suggested, people have a contradictory desire for both personal freedom and security.8 In this sense, the series refects both the American Civil War theme of freedom versus slavery and the 9/11 theme of civil liberties versus national security. Feeling vulnerable and frightened by the attacks, the majority of Americans did not object to the government’s increased security measures—which included wire-tapping, e-mail monitoring, stricter airport regulations, and easier access to intelligence on American soil— even though it meant limiting their personal liberties.9 Te PATRIOT Act gave more authority to law enforcement agencies to acquire information about individuals within the United States, made immigration procedures harder, made detaining and deporting immigrants who were suspects of terrorism-related acts easier, and expanded the defnition of terrorism to include domestic terrorism. In a similar fashion, Marvel’s fctional United States government signs the SRA into law, requiring superheroes to register their real identities with the authorities of the Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate (S.H.I.E.L.D), a government-supervised espionage and law enforcement agency. Te SRA garners both support and opposition in the fctional United States, much like the PATRIOT Act did. United States representative from Ohio, Dennis J. Kucinich, voiced his opposition to the reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act on February 8, 2011, exhorting his fellow citizens to “remember our Constitutional experience.” He added, “We didn’t hear ‘give me liberty or give me a wiretap.’ We didn’t hear ‘don’t tread on me, but it’s okay to spy.’ What we heard was a ringing 8 Ibid., 427. 9 Ibid., 428. 216 Berkay Max Erdemandi declaration about freedom and it was enshrined in a Constitution.”10 Although the implementation of the PATRIOT Act was criticized, events never went as far as they did in the fctional Marvel Universe. In the comic book, the front pages of newspapers announce the passage of the SRA by Congress while simultaneously reporting that Captain America is forming an underground resistance force. Te paper also runs pictures of New York City citizens cheering for superheroes who support the act.11 Discussions over the SRA divide the superhero community into two opposing groups, with superheroes who support the SRA employed as government agents to capture the rebels.12 Te superheroes and civilians who support either side participate in the re-creation of American identity centering on the debate over security and personal liberties. In the real United States, pre-9/11 and post-9/11 defnitions of “American-ness” difer in nature. Before the attack, the United States was seen as isolated, untouchable, and so strong that no one would dare attack it. Afer 9/11, Americans realized that it was indeed possible that the country could be the target of terrorist attacks, and the government would be unable to stop it. Te superheroes in Civil War struggle with the same dilemma. Tis makes it difcult for readers to choose sides between Iron Man, who supports broad government regulations to protect civilians, and Captain America, who believes that registering superhero identities will take away their personal freedoms.13 By asking the readers to choose a side, the comics’ creators force readers to question their own values. Te polarization this question created among readers of Marvel’s Civil War was also inevitable in a post-Civil War and post-9/11 nation. Te atmosphere that dominates Marvel’s Civil War creates the feeling that the majority of fctional Americans support the government’s position that superheroes should register their identities in order to make citizens feel more secure. Te famous quote from then-President George W. Bush, “Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists,” created a similar 10 “Kucinich Speaks during Debate on PATRIOT Act Reauthorization,” C-SPAN, Feb. 8, 2011. 11 Mark Millar, Civil War: A Marvel Comics Event Issue 2 (New York: Marvel Publishing, 2007), 6. 12 Mark Millar, Civil War: A Marvel Comics Event Issue 3 (New York: Marvel Publishing, 2007), 17-19. 13 Mark Millar, Civil War: A Marvel Comics Event Issue 1 (New York: Marvel Publishing, 2007), 32. 217 The UNC-Chapel Hill Journal of History atmosphere in the United States.14 Many Americans were convinced that the government was justifed in spying on citizens in exchange for this feeling of security.

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