Isn't this a steal?

[Floyd-the-k]

....from Watchmen?

Link: http://www.crayon.net/read.cgi" target="_blank">Spiderman 'outs' himself

[I, Cosh]

I'm afraid this link asks me to enter your e-mail address and password. If you could just post that up - along with your cedit card number - I'll be on my way.

Cheers.

[Floyd-the-k]

Bah


Spiderman outs himself



For a comic book hero, it's the ultimate taboo.

In the latest edition of the Marvel comic Civil War on sale today, Spiderman does the unthinkable and removes his Spidey mask to publicly reveal his hidden identity.

"I'm proud of who I am, and I'm here right now to prove it," the legendary webslinger tells a press conference called in New York's Times Square, before pulling off his mask and standing before the massed ranks of reporters as newspaper photographer Peter Parker.

"Any questions?" Parker asks in the final panel of the issue, amid a barrage of camera flashes.

In a statement, Marvel trumpeted the revelation as "arguably the most shocking event in comic book history".

The seven-issue Civil War series, launched in May, sees Marvel's writers taking on the topical issue of civil liberties.

Following a showdown between a group of superheroes and supervillains in which hundreds of innocent civilians are killed, the government passes the Super-Hero Registration Act, requiring all superheroes to reveal their identities and register as "living weapons of mass destruction".

Marvel's roster of invincible crime fighters is split into two bitterly opposed factions, with one camp - championed by the likes of Spiderman - in favour of the new law and the other, including Captain America and his ilk, refusing to relinquish anonymity.

"It's about which side you are on and why you think you are right," said Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Joe Quesada.

- AFP

[Satanist]

Story is in todays Metro

[scutfink]

The 'Superhero Registration Act' idea, was that originally in Watchmen?

I only ask 'cause any John 'Harold Shipman' Byrne fans out there might also remember the DC Legends maxi series, which IIRC he had a hand in, also used the same idea...

Not that I'm accusing anyone of plagarism, I'm just not sure of the timeline is all...

[IndigoPrime]

:: arguably the most shocking event in comic book history

Presumably, then, they've not read LoEG II when Hyde finally deals with the Invisible Man. Now, *that* was shocking.

[Bico]

I thought the whole superhero registration thing was taken from Powers, if anything.  Mark Millar tends to rip off more contemporary stuff, and I think there's a general consensus among writers in general that if you're going to rip something off, it's probably not the best idea in the world to rip off something from argueably the most highly-regarded comic series ever published in the west.  Not because of the deification of the writer or the material, but because 99 percent of the comic-reading public have read the damn thing and will spot a rip a mile away.

[Quirkafleeg]

Byrne's not going to like this...

[Bico]

Why, are there latino women in blonde wigs in it, too?

[Matt Timson]

I thought the concept came in with the X-Men and that the brilliant (for its time and subsequently done to death) 'Days of Future Past' storyline.  In fact I believe the Mutant Registration Act came to pass in the Marvel Universe about twenty years ago- I distinctly remember Cyclops either registering, or refusing to register in an issue of X-Factor.

[Mr C]

I dont think Civil War's concept of registration is a direct rip of Watchmen. I believe that it's meant to be a look at US homeland security policies through the medium of men in tights.

Interesting that they've made Captain America the filthy limp wristed liberal in this scenario. Always knew that Iron Man was a god dammned red-neck knee jerk hawk though, bloody alkie.

Good lord, I've just realised that I'm enjoying a Millar comic! Scrub me down in acid quick!

[Al_Ewing]

CALL YOUR LINK SPIDEY SPOILER YOU BASTARD!!

I MANAGED TO AVOID HEARING THAT NEWS FOR ALMOST THE WHOLE DAMN DAY! I THOUGHT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT A CHEAP PRICE!

BASTAAAARD!!

[Floyd-the-k]

sorry about that...I'll try to be more spoiler-careful in future.

[Al_Ewing]

RRRRAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHH

I'M GOING TO WATCH THE MOUSE TRAP AND THEN HUNT YOU DOWN AND TELL YOU THE ENDING

[House of Usher]

I, too, was expecting to hear about a bargain and not the theft of an idea...

...not that I care in the slightest about anything that happens in the Marvel Universe, or has happened in it since about 1987.

Isn't it plain daft to have Captain America insisting on his anonynity, when presumably the American government knows who he is? Didn't he enlist in the armed forces, which got him his super-hero powers and adamantium shield inthe first place?

And just a thought about Spider-Man: he would never have revealed his true identity in the old days. He wouldn't want to have risked the people he cared about becoming targets. That's what happens when you make him a member of the Avengers. He's just got far too comfortable, hasn't he?