Changes: 15 Things Wrong With Marvel's Civil War

Revision as of 06:02, 8 May 2019

15 Things Wrong With Marvel's Civil War

Released	July 4, 2016
Running time	45:01
Previous review	Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day 3
Next review	Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 1
Tagline	15 things wrong with Marvel's event comic where heroes fight heroes! ...well, one of them, anyway...
Link	http://atopthefourthwall.com/15-things-wrong-with-marvels-civil-war-comic/

Linkara: Hello, and welcome to Atop the Fourth Wall, where bad comics burn! And while today, we're talking about a bad comic, we're not exactly doing a full-on review.

(Cut to shots of the DC comic "Identity Crisis" and Linkara's review of it)

Linkara (v/o): A few years ago, I did "15 Things Wrong With 'Identity Crisis'", which, amusingly enough, had a clickbait-y before clickbait-y titles were a thing. I just didn't consider a Top 15 since there was no particular order to it. The reason I did it like that was because "Identity Crisis" was a book that many people really, really liked, and I could spell out a lot of positives to it.

Linkara: "Civil War" does not have that benefit. Even those who did like it admit to things involved in it that were stupid and made no sense. So, why not a full review?

(Shots of Marvel's comic "Civil War" are shown)

Linkara (v/o): Because honestly, the book is really politically charged. It had only been a few years after 9/11, and it did raise up the question of personal liberty vs. security that was explored in various books and took its concepts seriously. It didn't try to weasel out of it and say it was all a plot of supervillains or something. It didn't examine those questions very well, I will admit. The Captain America movie, AKA Avengers 3, actually handled those questions a hell of a lot better than this thing. But it did raise them. While I do get serious on this show on occasion, the reason people are here is to be entertained and have fun. Sometimes you get that through my verbal assassination of a crappy comic, but less so if I'm trying to examine complex moral questions where there are no easy answers. And if there is one bit of praise I can give "Civil War" the comic, it's that it didn't chicken out of its conclusion. It's often a thing where creators will say an event comic "changes things forever" or something like that, but "Civil War" at least meant it. While its effects were eventually reversed, the Superhuman Registration Act lasted three years of real time. It was the status quo of the Marvel Universe from 2007 to 2010. So while "Civil War" is crap, it also deals with serious subject matters and complex issues that I'd rather not try to get into due to the potential for being bogged down in political discussions or the like.

Linkara: That being said, I do think it's crap, so we've got plenty of stuff I can nitpick or scratch my head wondering what the hell they were thinking. So, for those of you at home not familiar with it, what was the plot of "Civil War"?

Linkara (v/o): A superhero reality show consisting of the team "The New Warriors" went after a group of supervillains in Stamford, Connecticut. While three of the villains were taken out, the last, Nitro, had an explosive power that he unleashed. Aaaand it was pretty big, killing not only most of the New Warriors, but a considerable amount of civilians, including children. In the wake of this and other similar, then-recent tragedies in the Marvel Universe, a Superhuman Registration Act is quickly made law, classifying superheroes as "living weapons of mass destruction".

Linkara: A true statement, if ever I've heard it. After all, how else can you describe Squirrel Girl?

Linkara (v/o): This act required all superpowered individuals to reveal their identities to the government and receive training for their powers, with the option to join S.H.I.E.L.D. and basically act as a civil servant. And by the way, this was even if they didn't want to be a superhero. If they just wanted to, you know, use their flight powers... you know, to fly, if that was it... Thanks, Congress!

(Cut to a clip of an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, showing Mike Nelson dressed like Uncle Sam, with the American flag in the background)

Mike: (singing) I'm the government / I'm the government / I'm the reason nothing works!

(Back to the comic)

Linkara (v/o): Tony Stark, after having been confronted by the mother of one of the child victims of this tragedy, named Miriam Sharpe, decides that the act is for the best, while Captain America refuses to hunt down people who risk their lives trying to save people, or for the fear that the government will tell him who is a supervillain, something that Cap himself has had history with. The two sides go to war, with Cap's group always on the run and Iron Man's side continually working to hunt them down. Eventually, the two sides fight in the middle of New York, with Cap finally surrendering when he sees the damage their fight is having on the city.

Linkara: There's plenty here that was just fine... and a whole lot that was not. These are my "15 Things Wrong With (holds up today's comic) Marvel's 'Civil War' Comic".

(Title sequence plays; title card has the MST3K gang's song "Government Gridlock" playing in the background; cut back to the comic again)

Linkara (v/o): This is not a Top 15 list. They are being presented in no particular order and range from mundane criticisms that people are probably gonna roll their eyes to things that people will probably disagree with me on. But before we get started, let's get something out of the way first.

Linkara: Three things you will not be seeing on this list: (holds up index finger) one, Iron Man, war profiteer; (holds up two fingers) two, Sally Floyd saying Captain America "doesn't reflect America because he doesn't watch NASCAR or use MySpace"; (holds up three fingers) three, the death of Captain America. All of these things are stupid and awful, and none of them happened in "Civil War" itself.

Linkara (v/o): This is not a review of the entirety of the event, just the original miniseries. The firs two occurred in "Civil War: Front Line", an eleven-issue miniseries...

Linkara: And by the way, why does a tie-in have than the main miniseries?! What is wrong with you?!

Linkara (v/o): ...while the last happens in "Captain America #25", in the aftermath of "Civil War". And really, killing off Cap wasn't actually the problem. I may not like killing off characters, but this was an opportunity for them to tell a cool story, and they always planned to bring him back, much like when Superman died. It's just the timing of it was bad: right after the controversial ending to "Civil War", which is something else we will be talking about today. With the way "Civil War" ended, coupled with that, it felt like... well, America itself was dying. Good work there. "Civil War: Front Line" is garbage and probably deserves an actual review at some point, but no, we're focusing on the event miniseries today. And there's plenty of dumb to go around on that alone. Let's get started.

#1

Linkara (v/o): Number 1: The Covers.

(Cut to a shot of the cover for this comic – the first of several to be shown here, actually)

Linkara (v/o): Yeah, let's ease in with the mundane and something that bugged the crap out of me about this series. Comic book covers are important, although it feels like, as the years go by, DC and Marvel care less and less about them. What was even the point? You've got this nice, big area to tell a story in itself, something that captures the mood of the comic... and you've cut off half of it for a big, blank, white space? Yeah, let's just jam everything into the top half! Or maybe have a wraparound so it's like in "widescreen" – even though most people won't even be paying attention to the back because that's not how comics are put on the racks in stores! Were they hoping to save money by not printing anything on the lower half? Or hell, maybe it was supposed to say, "Your ad here". Why not? Worked for those stupid Nick Lachey Twix ads DC ran in 2015.

(Cut to a shot of a cover for an installment of "Countdown")

Linkara (v/o): While the two series weren't happening at the same time, it says something when "Countdown" came right after this at DC and had better covers across the board.

Linkara: (smiling) And hey, I just said something nice about "Countdown"! And only three blood vessels burst this time inside of me! So maybe I'm getting more positive and... (starts reeling like he's dizzy) Ooh, the room is spinning... (falls over with a thud)

#2

Linkara (v/o): Number 2: Spider-Man's Unmasking.

(Events leading up to said unmasking in the comic is shown)

Linkara (v/o): Peter Parker, the guy who worked to protect his secret identity from the public more than anybody else, who actually has lost people because of his secret identity, within the first issue says how dangerous it is to make your secret identity public when Sue Storm says a public identity is not so bad... publicly unmasks so that he can support the Registration Act and thus put a target on himself and his loved ones.

Linkara: And I... (hesitates slightly) really liked this. (beat) No, really, the unmasking itself is not my problem, frankly. Out of character? Eh, a bit, yes, but I still like it, because it's a story that had never been explored before.

Linkara (v/o): Sure, there have been incidents where Peter had been unmasked by people, but they were usually able to write it off as a shapeshifter, or Peter trying to be a hero, or something like that. But a full-on admission and exploring the very real consequences of such an action for him? That's the kind of character development and plot point that opens up a ton of possibilities. And to be fair, this wasn't something he just chose to do out of the blue; they built it up, with Peter struggling with the question, consulting Mary Jane and Aunt May about it. Tony Stark had become something of a father figure for Peter, having taken him and his family into Avengers Tower, helping him out, providing him with a new, technologically-advanced suit, and basically just acting as the kind of guy Peter could trust above all others. So him convincing Peter to unmask is believable. So then, why am I listing this as a problem? Well, for two reasons. One, we don't see any of that in the main "Civil War" series, so Peter's big character moments are relegated to tie-ins.

Linkara: But more importantly, HE HAD NO REASON TO REVEAL HIS IDENTITY TO THE PUBLIC!!! The Registration Act requires identities revealed to the government, and in the end, it's revealed, not even that, but S.H.I.E.L.D.! So Peter's unmasking in the story, quite literally, in the real world and the comic universe, was a PUBLICITY STUNT!

Linkara (v/o): They altered Peter's life and his relationship to everyone around him for a friggin' publicity stunt to sell the damn crossover in a plot point that is completely unnecessary other than for political reasons! Here's a tip: when you're trying to make your big crossover event seem like it's more nuanced and sophisticated than the normal brawl, don't make such a massive change to the status quo because you want characters to win points in fictional opinion polls. Again, it's not the idea of him unmasking; it led to several awesome moments and stories that could be told before it was undone.

Linkara: And no friggin' duh it was going to be undone! This is a superhero universe where the space-time continuum falls apart because some creepy guy wanted Ms. Marvel to give birth to himself, and that's forgotten the next week! PEOPLE ARE NOT VERY OBSERVANT IN THESE THINGS!!

Linkara: So, yeah, cool idea, bad execution. The tagline for this miniseries, come to think of it.

#3

Linkara (v/o): Number 3: The Negative Zone Prison.

(Cut to events leading up to the Negative Zone Prison)

Linkara (v/o): So, this being a story from 2006, with Americans still struggling with moral questions concerning a post-9/11, naturally, parallels to real-world things are gonna crop up. The Registration Act's quick passing and implementation was considered similar to the Patriot Act. The character Miriam Sharpe was inspired by Cindy Sheehan. So, in turn, there was a prison set up in an other-dimensional realm called the Negative Zone that served as a parallel to the prison at Guantanamo Bay.

Linkara: Because nothing says (makes "finger quotes") "parallel to real-world events" more than having entirely different contexts to the situations that kinda make you look like morons.

Linkara (v/o): The Negative Zone is a long-running thing in the Marvel Universe, with various parts to how it works, what it does to people, who lives there, etc. One of the things about it: it can induce despair and trauma when you go into or stay in it for a long period of time. Let me repeat that: this place can cause emotional trauma to the people inside of it just by being there, and they set up a prison there. A prison for superheroes! You know, superheroes? Those guys who once stopped Thanos from destroying the universe because he wanted to date Death itself?!

Linkara: And the best part about this place? It was NOT an example of the Marvel Universe's government overstepping its bounds! This was an idea by Tony Stark, Hank Pym and Reed Richards! Just another in our continuing series of "Scientists Are Evil"!

Linkara (v/o): The prison was named "42", based on the three of them getting together after the Stamford disaster and thinking up one hundred different ways they could improve the world.

Linkara: (as a scientist) Hey, should we get together and find a cure for cancer? (as another scientist) Nah, let's just think up some more ideas to make our friends and colleagues miserable! (as the first scientist) Okay, for my next idea, we sneak into the X-Men mansion and fill up Professor Xavier's drawers with wigs and toupees!

Linkara (v/o): To be fair, it was claimed they were only being held there temporarily to await trial, and that there were supervillains being held there, too, but why the hell would you have any prison in a place like this? And it's not like the Marvel Universe was born yesterday! Are you telling me that during the in-universe ten years or whatever they've all been operating, with multiple superhero teams and continually advancing technologies and emerging threats to the world, the S.H.I.E.L.D heli-carrier, Rom's war with the Dire Wraiths, the Sentinels, that nobody came up with a prison for superpowered individuals before this?! Oh, and speaking of how long the Marvel Universe has existed...

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This article is a stub. You can help Channel Awesome by expanding it.

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2017:	Digimon: Digital Monsters 1 · Phonogram: The Immaterial Girl 1-6 · Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1 · Trouble 3 · The Star Wars 4 · Spectacular Spider-Man Episode 1x10 - "Persona" · Youngblood 9 · The A-Team 2 · The Batman/Superman Movie: World's Finest · See You Next Mirror: Exiles Retrospective, Part 1 · See You Next Mirror: Exiles Retrospective, Part 2 · Reagan's Raiders 1 · Fist of the North Star, Ch. 1 · Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters 4 · Iron Man: The Animated Series - The Wedding of Iron Man · Athena 3 · Batman: The Dark Knight 1-3 · The New Teen Titans Anti-Drug Giveaway 2 · Crisis on Infinite Earths · Secret Wars (1984) · The Infinity Gauntlet · Flashpoint · Babylon 5 1 · The Star Wars 5 · All-New Ghost Rider, Volume 2 · Robocop vs. the Terminator 2 · Superman vs. the Terminator 2 · Tandy Computer Whiz Kids: News By Computer Foils Kidnappers · Ultimate Power 4 · Delicious in Dungeon, Vol. 1 · Batman: Odyssey 1 · Asterix: The Legionary · Comic Book Quickies 7 · JoJo's Bizarre Adventures Episodes 1-4 (2012-2013 series) · Thunderbirds Are Go · Batman: The Official Movie Adaptation · Ultimate Iron Man Vol. 1 1-2 · My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic 11-12 · Stormwatch 0 · A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Beginning 1-2 · A Nightmare on Elm Street: Fearbook · New Line Cinema's Tales of Horror 1 · The Sensational Spider-Man 0 · Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash · Marvel Comics 1 · Brave and the Bold 28 · Kamen Rider Fourze Episodes 1-4 · Clive Barker's Hellraiser Dark Holiday Special · Sensation Comics 14: The Story of Fir Balsam · Steam Wars Holiday Special · Christmas with the Superheroes 2
2018:	My Top 15 Favorite Episodes of AT4W · Legion of Superheroes: The Great Darkness Saga · James Bond, Jr. 1 · JLA/Avengers · Homestuck, Act 2 · Isaac Asimov's I-Bots 1 · Thunderstrike 1 · Youngblood 10 · Badrock 1A · Event Comics Month II: Infinite Crisis · Event Comics Month II: Infinity War · Event Comics Month II: World War Hulk · Event Comics Month II: Final Crisis · Power Rangers Turbo vs. Beetleborgs Metallix 1 · Diesel 1 · Teen Titans: "Betrayal" and "Aftershock, Parts 1 and 2" · The Punisher: Purgatory · Comic Book Quickies 8 · 500th Episode · Dark Knight III: The Master Race 1-2 · Just Imagine Stan Lee Creating Green Lantern · The New Guardians 3 · US-1 7 · Nova Girls: Space 34-24-34 · Batman: Odyssey 2 · Star Wars 3-D 2 · Pokémon - The Electric Tale of Pikachu 3 · PSA Hell: Captain America Meets the Asthma Monster · Superman and Spider-Man · Amazing Cow Heroes 4: Cold Cuts · Ravage 2099 2 · Adventures of the Kool-Aid Man 2 · Tandy Computer Whiz Kids: Safeguarding the Environment · Mr. T and the T-Force 4 · Star Trek 2 (DC) · Star Trek (2009): The Official Motion Picture Adaptation · Star Trek: The Next Generation 4 · Star Trek 1 (Gold Key) · Silent Hill: Hunger · The Thing: The Northern Nightmare · Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash: The Nightmare Warriors · Spider-Man: Smoke and Mirrors · Hellraiser: Hell on Earth · Fantastic Four 52 · Marvel Comics 1 (The Human Torch) · The Incredible Hulk 181 · The New Mutants 98 · Batman Returns: The Official Comic Adaptation · The Punisher: Red X-Mas · Star Wars: The Force Awakens Comic Adaptation · Luke Cage, Hero for Hire 7
2019:	Yet Another 15 Missed Opportunities of AT4W · Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters 5 · Batman/Aliens 1 · Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel · Pokémon 15x19-20 "Cilan Takes Flight" and "An Amazing Aerial Battle" · Tomb Raider Vol. 3: Queen of Serpents · Little Victory: Chimera 1 · Youngblood 0 · Kickers, Inc. 1 · The Savage Dragon 1 · Darkwing Duck 1-4 · The California Raisins 3-D 5 · Hellstar Remina, Ch. 1-3 · Gallery of Horrors · Batman: The Dark Knight 16-17 · Tremors · Ultimate Power 5-6 · Batman Forever: The Official Comic Adaptation · Street Fighter: The Official Comic Adaptation · Catwoman: The Official Comic Adaptation · Dune: The Official Comic Adaptation · Superman IV: The Quest for Peace Movie Special · Justice is Silent: Cassandra Caintrospective, Part 1 · Justice is Silent: Cassandra Caintrospective, Part 2 · Justice is Silent: Cassandra Caintrospective, Part 3 · US-1 8 · Tandy Computer Whiz Kids: Community Action Program · Captain America Goes to War Against Drugs · Comic Book Swimsuit Issues · Batman 45-47: The Gift · Star Trek: The Next Generation 5 · The A-Team 3 · JoJo's Bizarre Adventures Episodes 5-9 · Trouble 4 · Franken Fran, Ch. 1 and 4 · Youngblood: Judgment Day · Teen Titans 27-28 · Clive Barker's Hellraiser 1 · Clive Barker's Hellraiser Summer Special · Clive Barker's Hellraiser Spring Slaughter · Spider-Man: The Exile Returns · Detective Comics 225 (Martian Manhunter) · Batman: Harley Quinn 1 · DC Comics Presents 26 · The Flash 123 · Evil Dead 2: A Merry Deadmite X-Mas · Transformers (UK) 145 · The All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold 14 · Star Wars: The Last Jedi Comic Adaptation
2020:	Top 15 Dumbest Evil Plans of AT4W · Batman/Aliens 2 · Star vs. the Forces of Evil: Deep Trouble 1-4 · Megamind · Revolution · Superman vs. Muhammad Ali · Hellstar Remina, Ch. 4-6 · Youngblood: Strikefile 1 · Comic Book Quickies 9 · Black Panther, Vol. 4 1-6 · Batman: Odyssey 3 · Justice League/Mighty Morphin Power Rangers · The Champions, Vol. 3 1-4: Beat the Devil · Star Trek vs. Transformers · Athena 4 · Daredevil: Born Again · Action Comics 775 · Comic Book Quickies 10 · 600th Episode · Star Wars: The Phantom Menace Comic Adaptation · Star Wars: Attack of the Clones Comic Adaptation · Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith Comic Adaptation · Star Wars: Rogue One Comic Adaptation · DC Challenge! 1 · Kyoryu Sentai Zyurangers Episodes 40-43 · Trouble 5 · Dan Dare: Voyage to Venus · Superman 358 · Zero Hour: Crisis in Time · House of M · Secret Empire · Heroes in Crisis · Animax 1 · Ninjutsu 1-2 · Green Goblin 1-2, 4, 8, 12-13 · US-1 9 · Emergency! 1 · Mr. T and the T-Force 5 · Pinhead 1-3 · Pinhead 4-6 · Pinhead vs. Marshal Law · Spider-Man: Web of Life · Marvel Super-Heroes 12 (Captain Marvel) · The Flash 110 · The Amazing Spider-Man 129 · Awesome Comics Holiday Special · Transformers (UK) 41 · Solo: A Star Wars Story Comic Adaptation
2021:	Yet Another 15 Screw-Ups of AT4W · Star Trek Book and Record Set: Dinosaur Planet · DC Challenge! 2 · The Mighty Heroes 1 · Justice League 1x01-3: Secret Origins · The Star Wars 6 · The King of Braves GaoGaiGar Ep. 1-4 · Youngblood: Strikefile 2 · Pokémon 15×01-02: "Enter Elesa, Electrifying Gym Leader" & "Dazzling the Nimbasa Gym" · Stanley and his Monster 1-4 · Marvel Than Meets the Eye: The Transformers 1-40 · Marvel Than Meets the Eye: Transformers 41-80 · Marvel Than Meets the Eye: Generation 2 and Regeneration One · Star Trek 9 (Gold Key) · Star Trek/Legion of Superheroes · Mystery Science Theater 3000 1 · Batman: The Dark Knight Returns · Ultimate Power 7-8 · Batman: The Dark Knight 23.4 · Just Imagine Stan Lee Creating Aquaman · Sword Interval: Flashback Arc · PSA Hell: The Amazing Spider-Man: Riot at Robotworld · Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Ultimate Edition) · Transformers/Ghostbusters: Ghosts of Cybertron · The New Guardians 4 · Codename: Ninja 1 · Batman: Hush · Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger Ep. 15-16 · Mr. T and the T-Force 6 · Doom’s IV 1 · Batman and Elmer Fudd & Catwoman and Sylvester and Tweety · Batman: Odyssey 4 · The Dresden Files: Storm Front, Vol. 1 · US-1 10 · Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters 6 · DC Challenge! 3 · Marvel Super Special 1: KISS · The Ring, Vol. 1 · The Ring, Vol. 2 · Spider-Man: Web of Death · Detective Comics 359 · The X-Men 4 · Batman 1 · Spider-Man Holiday Special 1995 · The Adventures of Chrissie Claus 1 · Christmas Quickies 1 · Still Another 15 Missed Opportunities of AT4W
2022:	Ultimate Power 9 · The Adventures of Superboy 3x05-06 and 4x07-08 · Batman: The Killing Joke Adaptation · Just Imagine Stan Lee Creating the JLA · Chew: Poyo Character Focus · Youngblood: Strikefile 3 · Doctor Who: Logopolis · Armageddon 2001 · Secret Invasion · Civil War II · Dark Nights: Metal · The Star Wars 7 · Sonic the Hedgehog: Tangle and Whisper · Star Trek: The Next Generation/X-Men: Planet X · Stargate SG-1: P.O.W. · Man of Steel · Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters 7 · Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger Episodes 17-21 · US-1 11 · X-Men Green · Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage · DC Challenge! 4 · Comic Book Quickies 11 · 700th Episode · Ken Penders' The Lost Ones 1 · Star Wars Infinities: A New Hope · Transformers: Deviations · Legion of Superheroes 0 and Legionnaires 0 · Mr. T and the T-Force 7 · The Ring, Vol. 3: Spiral · The Ring, Vol. 4: Birthday · Spider-Man: Funeral for an Octopus · Christmas Quickies 2 · Batman 27: A Christmas Peril · Mr. T and Emmanuel Lewis in A Christmas Dream · Top 15 Goofiest Superheroes of Atop the Fourth Wall
2023:	Star Wars: A New Hope Comic Adaptation · Marvelman Family's Finest 1 · Superman vs. Aliens 1 · Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney · Hellblazer: Dangerous Habits · Youngblood: Strikefile 4 · What Dreams May Come, Part 1: The Sandman 1-20 · What Dreams May Come, Part 2: The Sandman 21-40 · What Dreams May Come, Part 3: The Sandman 41-60 · What Dreams May Come, Part 4: The Sandman 61-75 · Animax 2 · The Dome: Ground Zero · Action Comics 1 (Non-Superman Stories) · Transformers (UK) 132-134 · Just Imagine Stan Lee Creating Robin · Mr. T and the T-Force 8 · The Dresden Files: Storm Front, Vol. 2: Maelstrom · Captain Marvel: The Last Avenger · E-Robot, Ch. 1 · Overwatch: Legacy and Old Soldiers · Green Lantern: Emerald Twilight · Back to the Future: Who is Marty McFly? · Super Soldier 1 · Legends of the Dark Claw 1 · Spider-Boy 1 · Assassins 1 · DC Challenge! 5 · US-1 12 · The Star Wars 8 · Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters 8 · The Ring, Vol 0: Birthday · Sadako at the End of the World · Spider-Man: The Mark of Kaine · Sadako-San and Sadako-Chan · Doctor Who: Remembrance of the Daleks · Doctor Who: The Klepton Parasites · Doctor Who: The Chimes of Midnight · Yu-Gi-Oh: Capsule Monsters Ep. 1-3 · Klaus 1-7
2024:	Still Another 15 Mistakes of AT4W · Batman vs. the Predator 1 · Ben 10 Ep. 1×01, 09, 13 · Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger Ep. 14, 22-24 · Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Comic Adaptation · Sonic/Mega Man: Worlds Collide, Act 1 · Youngblood: Strikefile 5 · Marvel vs. DC
Specials:	AT4W 2009 Trailer · Linkara's Take on Watchmen · Watchmen Review · Theme Song Contest · The Spoony Experiment: Warrior #1 · Theme Song Contest Winner! · Blackest Night · Silent Hill: Dying Inside Trailer · Silent Hill Alternate Endings · AT4W & Spoony: Experiment Warrior 2-3 · October 2010 Trailer · Silent Hill: Dead/Alive Review Alternate Endings · The Live Show! · AT4W Story Recap · October 2011 Trailer · Return of AT4W Live! · Revenge of the AT4W Live! · Southland Tales · Curse of AT4W Live · House of AT4W Live! · Ghost of AT4W LIVE! · October 2012 Trailers · Bride of AT4W Live! · Son of AT4W Live! · Night of AT4W Live! · Day of AT4W Live! · Dawn of AT4W Live! · Land of AT4W Live! · Diary and Survival of AT4W Live! · Power of AT4W Live! · Midnight of AT4W Live! · Planet of AT4W LIVE! · Genesis of AT4W LIVE! · 300th Episode Livestream Recordings · Destiny of AT4W LIVE! · Resurrection of AT4W LIVE! · Revelation of AT4W Live! · Remembrance of AT4W LIVE! · The New 52 · Atop the Fourth Wall: The Movie, Part 1 · Atop the Fourth Wall: The Movie, Part 2 · Atop the Fourth Wall: The Movie, Part 3 · Atop the Fourth Wall: The Movie, Part 4 · Atop the Fourth Wall: The Movie, Part 5

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+'''Linkara (v/o):''' Number 3: The Negative Zone Prison.
+''(Cut to events leading up to the Negative Zone Prison)''
+'''Linkara (v/o):''' So, this being a story from 2006, with Americans still struggling with moral questions concerning a post-9/11, naturally, parallels to real-world things are gonna crop up. The Registration Act's quick passing and implementation was considered similar to the Patriot Act. The character Miriam Sharpe was inspired by Cindy Sheehan. So, in turn, there was a prison set up in an other-dimensional realm called the Negative Zone that served as a parallel to the prison at Guantanamo Bay.
+'''Linkara:''' Because nothing says ''(makes "finger quotes")'' "parallel to real-world events" more than having entirely different contexts to the situations that kinda make you look like morons.
+'''Linkara (v/o):''' The Negative Zone is a long-running thing in the Marvel Universe, with various parts to how it works, what it does to people, who lives there, etc. One of the things about it: it can induce despair and trauma when you go into or stay in it for a long period of time. Let me repeat that: this place can cause ''emotional trauma'' to the people inside of it just by ''being there'', and they set up a ''prison'' there. A prison for ''superheroes!'' You know, superheroes? Those guys who once stopped Thanos from destroying the universe because he wanted to ''date Death itself?!''
+'''Linkara:''' And the best part about this place? It was NOT an example of the Marvel Universe's government overstepping its bounds! This was an idea by Tony Stark, Hank Pym and Reed Richards! Just another in our continuing series of "Scientists Are Evil"!
+'''Linkara (v/o):''' The prison was named "42", based on the three of them getting together after the Stamford disaster and thinking up one hundred different ways they could improve the world.
+'''Linkara:''' ''(as a scientist)'' Hey, should we get together and find a cure for cancer? ''(as another scientist)'' Nah, let's just think up some more ideas to make our friends and colleagues miserable! ''(as the first scientist)'' Okay, for my next idea, we sneak into the X-Men mansion and fill up Professor Xavier's drawers with wigs and toupees!
+'''Linkara (v/o):''' To be fair, it was claimed they were only being held there temporarily to await trial, and that there were supervillains being held there, too, but why the hell would you have ''any'' prison in a place like this? And it's not like the Marvel Universe was born yesterday! Are you telling me that during the in-universe ten years or whatever they've all been operating, with multiple superhero teams and continually advancing technologies and emerging threats to the world, the S.H.I.E.L.D heli-carrier, Rom's war with the Dire Wraiths, the Sentinels, that ''nobody'' came up with a prison for superpowered individuals ''before this?!'' Oh, and speaking of how long the Marvel Universe has existed...
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 ==#5==