Civil War - Front Line #2 - Marvel

This is an appendum to the Civil War book. Where the Civil War book shows what the heroes are going through, this book shows what the supporting cast is going through. The difference in the 2 books is that the heroes choose their role. They either register and play along or don't and become criminals. That's how the sides are chosen. The supporting cast doesn't get to choose. They're stuck with whatever the heroes decide. Or they're just stuck on the sidelines trying to avoid the fallout. Either way they don't get to make much of a decision in the process. That's what this book is about. The first story is about the Daily Bugle, or more specifically Ben Urich. He decides he wants to write an expose on Peter, and show the world that he really is a good guy. But, then he comes across, literally, one of the first acts of the Civil War, where Iron Man has to bring down Prodigy. It's exactly midnight on the eve of the law and Prodigy decides to make a stand. Being caught in the perifery of that confrontation is when Ben decides that the it's the normal people that are going to suffer. I think that may change the slant on the piece he wants to write. The second story is about Robert Baldwin, Speedball. He is incarcerated and given his only option of getting on board with the registration, and SHIELD, or becoming a criminal. He is convinced that he has done nothing wrong, refuses to "play along", and is thrown into a penetentiary somewhere in the south. The criminals see him as a "baby-killer", because of the 60 kids that died in Stamford, and he becomes "fresh meat". We also see Norman Osborne's reaction to Peter's press conference. He is apparently being recruited by SHIELD. Interesting! I wonder where that storyline's going?? And finally we get a history lesson about Gaius Julius Caesar, and how his standing up to Rome, is parallel with the Civil War beginning to break out in the Marvel Universe. As I said many times before, these will be great storylines as long as they enact lasting change. If we get a year down the road and everything goes back to normal, we will have been severly cheated. Some of the changes so far I really can't see them recanting. But, with comics, you never know. So, I hope that the changes stick, and I hope that this series is ushering a new era for the Mighty Marvel Machine, and a new way of looking at our heroes. However, history shows us that something this ambitious will not be lasting. I'm going to be optimistic though. It'll be sad to see some of the things change, but it'll be good to see things from a new perspective.