Ask Marvel's Tom Brevoort CIVIL WAR Questions Here!

[Tom Brevoort]

I meant team of characters, although if I asked for names, you'd say "wait and see" :) so I thought hints where we would have to rack our brain would help. So, any hints? However, since you brought up the "creative team," just who IS going to be working on the book?

Both the creative team and a look at the line-up should be revealed in next week's Joe Fridays column at Newsarama. Would have been this week, but an unexpected family incident threw off our timing by a week.

Also, rumors are buzzing about Alpha Flight returning, as you no doubt know, which also involves a controversal choice for it's leader (according to Lying in the Gutters). I understand if you can't confirm or deny them, but it's been hinted that some of the heroes are heading to Canada to seek refuge from registration and that a team is being reformed, which is either Alpha Flight, The Champions, West Coast Avengers, or X-Force. Are these two things linked?

Can't tell you where the rumor might come from, so it's hard to say whether these two rumored pieces of information are linked--they're both rumors, after all.

Tom B

[Tom Brevoort]

Since Marvel Editorial's gone back to treating SHIELD as a UN agency in everything from Scorpion: Poison Tomorrow to Captain America to Secret War, and Illuminati # 1's already said what SHIELD's going to do in connection with the Act, I'd say that it's fair to guess that the decision's already been reached on how most of the UN member nations are going to go on this one.

Am I wrong?

You're not precisely right. SHIELD is an odd duck, in that it's a UN-sponsored agency that's operated, sanctioned and funded by the US. That's one of the reasons why the treatment of SHIELD tends to go back-and-forth depending on the storyline. So SHIELD will definitely have a role to play in CIVIL WAR, but carrying out that role or that operation on US soil doesn't necessarily imply a larger UN sanction, or that a similar Registration Act might be in effect in other nations around the world.

Tom B

[Tom Brevoort]

What are the odds of Reed and Sue having a divorce over Civil War?

Better than average.

What are the odds of Tony Stark crawling back into a bottle over this?

A long shot.

Care to give any cryptic clues as to the line-up of the FF after Civil War?

It'll have four super-powered members.

Tom B

[Tom Brevoort]

Hello, which side is Jessica Drew on. I can think of compelling reasons why she would be on each side, and that's not because she's a tripple agent. :D

Spider-Woman's story and how she fits into CIVIL WAR is the entirety of NEW AVENGERS #23. With sweet Olivier Copiel art.

Tom B

[Tom Brevoort]

I wanna know why we should get CV-Frontline. What is THAT about and who's appearing in it besides Sally of 198?

I gave a list of some of the characters who'll be in FRONT LINE earlier in this thread. If you want to see the effects of CIVIL WAR across the length and breadth of the Marvel Universe, FRONT LINE is the series for you.

Tom B

[Tom Brevoort]

Tom, I thought Canada -- oddly enough -- did it first for Marvel Continuity purposes. Was it not a key element of the closing arc of the original Alpha Flight series? And if it was, will we find out how the law in question was disposed of? Repeal by Parliament? Overturned by the Supreme Court as violating the Charter of Rights and Freedoms? Or what?

Was this back when Simon Furman was writing the book? I don't really remember this, honestly--but clearly any such act isn't still in force, as we've seen no evidence of it in ten-plus years of Canadian appearances. So if such legislation did exist, it was evidently repealed at some point.

Tom B

[Will.S]

Just a few last questions for Tom:

1) I guess this might be too early to say right now but while it seems that Iron Man will be heading a gov't sanctioned S.H.I.E.L.D. team, will Tony be leading the New Avengers in the near future or will he handling those duties off to another person post CW in Cap's place?

2) Tony and Cap have both shown their disdain for S.H.I.E.L.D. in New Avengers under it's newer more corrupted management, will this be fleshed out more during Civil War or will IM's continued dislike of S.H.I.E.L.D. be put aside for Civil War due to the gov't working with them?

3) Seeing as how Heroes for Hire is making a comeback, is it going to follow the same premise of having heroes getting paid for their services? I ask because when the registration bill passes, won't they have to joing a task force instead be being let to do their own thing or will there be more flexibility as far as rules and regulations go after being registered?

4) Seeing Cap and Iron Man being so seperated and fighting each other, while sure to be incredibly cool and interesting, it also alters the character's relationships with each other in the long run so it's a bit disheartening to see the loss of the big 3 of the Avengers. Will this type lineup ever exist again and from what's coming up, will the alliances forged in New Avengers after CW be as important as Cap and Iron Man (and Thor's) big set up as the heavy hitters?

[Young Avenger]

Will the Kree-Skrull War II that is happpening in Young Avengers be referenced in Civil War?

Since the register heroes will work for S.H.E.I.L.D will they be paid for their services?

[DEWLine]

Was this back when Simon Furman was writing the book?

Yes. It was the arc with which he closed out his run on that series, as well as the first series itself.

I don't really remember this, honestly--but clearly any such act isn't still in force, as we've seen no evidence of it in ten-plus years of Canadian appearances. So if such legislation did exist, it was evidently repealed at some point.

Apparently so, which is why I'd like to know: will we ever learn the specifics of how that happened as one of the results of Civil War?

[Ravenheart]

I know back in the early issues of Captain America,thanks to the essentials,that he revealed his identity and later on faked his death to get his secret identity back.Is his identity still a secret or was it made public again?

[Matt Adler]

I think it's all about how you do it. For instance, I don't think there would have been quite so much outcry about the death of Blue Beetle if they didn't spend 80 pages reminding everybody about what made the character cool and interesting and worthwhile in the past.

This is very true. I hope you guys will take the same approach in the future at giving characters really great send-offs. Hawkeye's death, for instance, didn't quite do that.

It depends on which people you ask, though. If not enough titles are tied in, some people feel that the event isn't "important" enough. On the most basic, primal level, everybody wants to read that one big story with all of their favorite characters in a great big adventure.

I think it's more about the marketing... if you make something your "big event" for the year, it's not gonna really matter whether it's linewide or just one title, I think. Like JLA/Avengers... just one book, but I think many would argue it was the biggest event of the decade. If, for instance, Civil War just took place in New Avengers, and other Marvel books then reflected the new status quo rather than having formal crossover issues, I think it'd still be a very successful event.

Also, I miss the days when one book would pick up plot points from another without there having to be a formal crossover. To me, that makes the books even more relevant, 'cause then you know they all "matter", and not just when there's a crossover on.

[Tom Brevoort]

1) I guess this might be too early to say right now but while it seems that Iron Man will be heading a gov't sanctioned S.H.I.E.L.D. team, will Tony be leading the New Avengers in the near future or will he handling those duties off to another person post CW in Cap's place?

You're asking for answers on speculation as to what's going to happen, so the only answer I can give you to this one is wait and see.

2) Tony and Cap have both shown their disdain for S.H.I.E.L.D. in New Avengers under it's newer more corrupted management, will this be fleshed out more during Civil War or will IM's continued dislike of S.H.I.E.L.D. be put aside for Civil War due to the gov't working with them?

Again, wait and see.

3) Seeing as how Heroes for Hire is making a comeback, is it going to follow the same premise of having heroes getting paid for their services? I ask because when the registration bill passes, won't they have to joing a task force instead be being let to do their own thing or will there be more flexibility as far as rules and regulations go after being registered?

Again, you're making some presumptions as to how the Registration Act is going to work, which is understandable, as the comics haven't come out yet. But the answers you seek will be found in the books--though the title of the series is HEROES FOR HIRE, so somebody had better be hiring them for something!

4) Seeing Cap and Iron Man being so seperated and fighting each other, while sure to be incredibly cool and interesting, it also alters the character's relationships with each other in the long run so it's a bit disheartening to see the loss of the big 3 of the Avengers. Will this type lineup ever exist again and from what's coming up, will the alliances forged in New Avengers after CW be as important as Cap and Iron Man (and Thor's) big set up as the heavy hitters?

We've seen Cap and Iron Man have differences of opinion before--in the Shooter days, for example, when they were often coming to blows, or during OPERATION: GALACTIC STORM and its aftermath. So I'd say that, given enough time, you could certainly see Cap and Iron Man on the Avengers together again.

Tom B

[Tom Brevoort]

Will the Kree-Skrull War II that is happpening in Young Avengers be referenced in Civil War?

Not especially, no.

Since the register heroes will work for S.H.E.I.L.D will they be paid for their services?

Wait and see.

Tom B

[Tom Brevoort]

Apparently so, which is why I'd like to know: will we ever learn the specifics of how that happened as one of the results of Civil War?

No, I don't think so--we're going to be focused on telling our story, rather than cleaning up danglers from stories told a decade ago. If an opportunity comes up to address it, maybe we will, but it's not really on the to-do list.

Tom B

[Tom Brevoort]

I know back in the early issues of Captain America,thanks to the essentials,that he revealed his identity and later on faked his death to get his secret identity back.Is his identity still a secret or was it made public again?

Cap's identity was made secret again at that time with the help of the Space Phantom. Since then, though, in the Marvel Knights CAPTAIN AMERICA #3, he unmasked on live television, so his identity is public these days--or public in that he's a big blond guy with blue eyes.

Tom B