Civil War: Front Line #2: Review

Aug 2006

Paul Jenkins, Ramon Bachs

Story Name:

Embedded Part Two

Synopsis

Civil War: Front Line #2 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

In the aftermath of Peter Parker’s dramatic unmasking as Spider-Man on television, Ben Urich is hounded by the press wanting him to comment on the story. Instead he phones Peter—who turns out to be right above/behind him. Meanwhile, Sally Floyd is talking to Firestar in a bar; the heroine explains that with the Superhuman Registration Act, she would no longer be able to live her own life—so she quits her Firestar identity…. At the Daily Bugle office, Joe Robertson tries to persuade J. Jonah Jameson that the revelation that Spider-Man was a Bugle employee could be seen to the paper’s advantage. Instead, Jonah is angry that Parker made a fool of him all those years…. At the stroke of midnight, just as the Registration Act is set to go into effect, a drunken Prodigy appears on a rooftop, shouting to a crowd below (including Sally and Ben) about how in one minute he will go from being a hero to a criminal. As if to prove his point he is confronted by Iron Man who demands he surrender. An angry Prodigy attacks Shellhead and is violently subdued and taken away. Ben knows that this is only the beginning….

Story #2

The Accused Part Two

Writer: Paul Jenkins. Penciler: Steve Lieber. Inker: Steve Lieber. Colorist: June Chung.

Synopsis

By Peter Silvestro

Robbie Baldwin, the former Speedball, is in federal custody for his connection with the Stamford disaster. SHIELD Agent Eric Marshall offers him a deal: amnesty if he joins the Super-Human Registration Act and goes to work for SHIELD. Robby refuses, insisting he is innocent. Taken back to his cell, Robbie is beaten by a guard who lost a relative in Stamford. His lawyer advises him to sign the agreement but Robbie still refuses. And now that his identity has been made public, the other inmates brutalize him too….

Story #3

Civil War: The Program

Writer: Paul Jenkins. Penciler: Leandro Fernandez. Inker: Leandro Fernandez. Colorist: Christina Strain.

Synopsis

By Peter Silvestro

Peter Parker reveals himself to the world as Spider-Man on television; he is questioned by a team of reporters. When one of them asks why he and Norman Osborn are enemies, Peter replies that Osborn once killed someone very close to him. Norman, watching from prison smashes the television set exclaiming "You broke the rules!" But two government agents are there with a proposition for him….

Story #4

(No title given)

Writer: Paul Jenkins. Penciler: Kano. Inker: Kano. Colorist: Christina Strain.

Synopsis

By Peter Silvestro

Julius Caesar’s decision to cross the Rubicon, starting a civil war in Rome is paralleled with Iron Man’s arrest of Prodigy in the first story.

Review / Commentaries

Rating:

Civil War: Front Line #2 Review by Peter Silvestro (September 6, 2014)

Review: See issue #1 for full review.

Comments: 1) Story takes place immediately after the events of CIVIL WAR #2. 3) Story takes place during the final events of Embedded Part One in issue #1.