Sins of the Fathers: Story Arcs

[kjr_nanojournal]

Secret War

Nick Fury, Director of the international security force S.H.I.E.L.D., uncovers a secret plot by Latverian Prime Minister Lucia von Bardas to fund a group of B-List supervillains with advanced technology, presumably that of previous Latverian dictator Doctor Doom (who was trapped in Hell at the time), as a means of wreaking terror on American soil. Fury immediately takes his findings to the President of the United States but is denied the authorization requested to overthrow the post-Doom Latverian government due to its sponsorship by the U.S. Government. Fury is enraged at what he sees as the same pre-9/11 security complacency inviting disaster yet again.

Fury recruits Captain America, Spider-Man, Daredevil, Black Widow, Luke Cage, Wolverine, and superhuman S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Daisy Johnson in a private attempt to covertly overthrow Latveria.

A year later, a mass reprisal is unleashed across New York City, leaving Luke Cage in a coma as Fury and a cadre of NYC heroes facing off against a cyborg Von Bardas and her hi-tech army. The reprisal is revealed to be a trap for New York's superheroes when Von Bardas arms a high-tech bomb linked to the technology provided to her supervillain army.

The cyborg Von Bardas is destroyed by Daisy Johnson, the bomb is disarmed, and the supervillain army is defeated and arrested. Captain America immediately demands answers from Nick Fury about what happened. They are soon joined by the X-Men and Wolverine, who attacks Fury until Johnson informs him that the man before him is a Life Model Decoy, and that the real Fury already departed. Through the L.M.D., Fury reveals the invasion of Latveria and the fact that the heroes (with the exceptions of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Black Widow and Daisy Johnson) were brainwashed afterward. Nick Fury then informs the heroes that this is the last time they will see him and that he hopes those involved in his plot will understand that what he did was necessary.

His replacement as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Maria Hill, discovers the particulars of the story through her interrogation of Agent Johnson.

Source



Civil War
Civil War follows the implementation and consequences of the Superhuman Registration Act, a legislative bill which required the mandatory registration of any person based in the United States with super powers. The act arose due to public pressure for accountability following a series of superhuman-related events causing significant damage and death within the Marvel universe, such as an attack on Manhattan in reprisal for Nick Fury's "Secret War", and the Hulk's rampage in Las Vegas which resulted in the death of 26 people. When the mutant population was drastically reduced in the aftermath of M-Day, itself caused by a mutant, anti-mutant hysteria caused by extremist groups caused a majority of the remaining mutants, known as the 198, to relocate to the Xavier Institute, and raised public support for the proposed act.

Public sentiment toward superheroes plummeted after the New Warriors, a group of young superheroes and the focus of a reality TV show, botched an attempt to apprehend a group of supervillains in a quest for better ratings. In the resulting fight the villain Nitro used his explosive powers to destroy several city blocks, including an elementary school at the epicenter, resulting in the death of over 600 civilians, 60 of whom were children, with just Speedball of the Warriors and Nitro himself surviving. Although many high-profile superheroes assisted in the relief and rescue effort, there were a number of isolated revenge attacks, and support for registration rose.

The prospect of registration divided the superhuman community down the middle, with Tony Stark, the superhero Iron Man who had previously tried to halt the act, becoming the pro-registration figurehead, and Captain America leading the anti-registration group. Iron Man, with Mr. Fantastic and Henry Pym, argued that the changing political landscape meant that resisting the law was pointless, and that it is reasonable for heroes to have proper training and oversight, whereas Captain America, alongside Luke Cage and Falcon argued that heroes required secrecy in order to protect aspects of their 'normal' life, such as wives and children, and to allow them to act in whatever means necessary against threats which the ordinary emergency services couldn't cope with. Although nominally a U.N. agency, S.H.I.E.L.D. assumed the brunt of enforcing the act under acting director Maria Hill.

Most of the pro-registration heroes, such as Mister Fantastic, Doc Samson, She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, and Wonder Man, already had highly public identities. Even Stark unmasked himself as Iron Man (for the second time in his career), and admitted to previous attempts to hide his identity. One supporter was not yet public: Spider-Man was reluctant to reveal his identity. He prepared to liquidate his assets and flee the country with his wife and aunt to avoid revealing his identity and putting them in jeopardy. They, on the other hand, were supportive and felt it was time for Peter to finally get some recognition for his good work. During a live, nationally televised broadcast, he pulled off his mask and announced, "My name is Peter Parker, and I've been Spider-Man since I was fifteen years old." J. Jonah Jameson watching the reveal fainted at the surprise. The reveal was seen as a useful event, as Spider-Man had guarded his identity closely.

The X-Men, on behalf of the mutant community, declared neutrality in the growing conflict. Acting leader Cyclops felt that the mutants had already been through too much during the Decimation to take a stand either way and survive. Individuals within the X-Men had their own opinions on the matter. Wolverine felt that the act was every bit as racist and oppressive as the Mutant Registration Act, while Bishop felt it was necessary to embrace the act and make sure that mutants could continue to self-police, lest the truly oppressive regime of his home timeline should come to pass. As the last known mutants, all members of the 198 and the X-Men were already in government databases and were registered by default when the act passed.

The 198 have since chafed at the constant O*N*E surveillance, as well as their inability to leave the school grounds without being tracked by monitoring chips. When it was discovered the chips could also deliver a powerful electric discharge to assure the 198 could be subdued, they rioted. Mister M used his powers to remove the chips and they left the mansion. Bishop, Sabra, and Micromax were given permission to apprehend them, threatening to shatter Cyclops' neutrality. During the incident, General Lazer's thinly veiled anti-mutant sentiments and his covert attempts to destroy them were uncovered. His neck was snapped by Johnny Dee (via his duplicate of the general) and the mutants and heroes rallied together to prevent disaster. The more sympathetic director of O*N*E, Valerie Cooper, now seems to have a free hand with regards to the mutant refugees.

The X-Men and the 198 were not the only voices of the mutant community. X-Factor Investigations, an independent group of private investigators made up in part by members of the old superteam X-Factor, have recently set up shop in Mutant Town. After several incidents, X-Factor has publicly and violently declared that Mutant Town is under their protection.

Meanwhile, Wolverine had begun tracking down Nitro the moment rescue efforts ceased. With interference and assistance of Atlantean forces, Wolverine determines that the disaster relief company Damage Control was corrupt at the top. Nitro had been given a "Mutant Growth Hormone" to make his explosions more powerful and thus more profitable for the company. Wolverine leaves Nitro to the Atlanteans and seemingly kills the corrupt director of Damage Control, Walter Declun.

The government sets up a new version of the Thunderbolts to parry various threats, such as the plans of rogue, uncontrollable villains. The captured villains willing to play along quickly swell the team into three large squads. Still more are being trained every day in a secret mountain camp. Numerous other villains have been released since then under more direct (or less legitimate) government supervision, including the Green Goblin, the Vulture, the Jester, and Jack O'Lantern. The villains are supposedly kept in check by nanites in their blood stream which can monitor and disable them at any time. Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin, learns the secret to deactivating them from a mysterious benefactor.

Most villains sought to bypass the act. Former Maggia member Hammerhead saw the act as an opportunity to usurp Wilson Fisk as the Kingpin of Crime by rallying criminals in opposition of the act. His reasoning was that it was only a matter of time before every super-being was treated as a walking WMD, and then the criminals among them were as good as dead. A number of super-criminals did in fact rally under him, but the Kingpin manages to orchestrate the capture and death of his rival from his jail cell.

Conflict among the heroes was constant, with the government-backed heroes tracking down unregistered superhumans (and subsequently arresting or registering them) and trying to find Captain America's Secret Avengers. The Secret Avengers operated out of a series of secret safehouses set up by Nick Fury, kept secret from everyone within S.H.I.E.L.D. Cap's team continued to apprehend supervillains (usually leaving them bound for the authorities), and launched a series of well-coordinated attacks on prison transports carrying unregistered superhumans. During one such raid, the convoy was diverted when Iron Man became aware of Cap's plan, and ended up going directly down Yancy Street. During the subsequent battle, a member of the Thing's beloved Yancy Street Gang dies. Ben leaves the country for a while.

In Los Angeles, the Runaways, unaware of the situation, stop the Flag-Smasher in public. S.H.I.E.L.D. attempts to chase them out while severely damaging Victor Mancha, although the Runaways make it back to their lair beneath the La Brea Tar Pits. In New York, the Young Avengers see the fight on TV and the Vision II suffers a seizure. Despite Captain America's veto of the plan, the Young Avengers steal a Quinjet and track down the Runaways. After a brief fight, the two teams are attacked by Noh-Varr, who was sent by S.H.I.E.L.D. to take them down. Noh-Varr breaks Xavin's neck and kidnaps Hulkling, Wiccan, and Karolina taking them back to his prison in the Cube. During the fight, Vision II phase-shifted his hand into Noh-Varr's chest, who broke it off to escape. The remaining members of both teams break into the Cube and saved their teammates, freeing Noh-Varr from the mind control of the Cube's warden. The Runaways refuse to pick a side in the war and maintain a neutral stance.

The Secret Avengers are lured by a false emergency call into an ambush by the pro-registration forces. Captain America pretends to agree to talk with Iron Man, but uses a miniature device to wreck Iron Man's armour. A clone of Thor is sent in to help arrest the fugitives, instead it kills Bill Foster by blasting him through the chest. The clone then turns on the team, but they are saved from certain death by the Invisible Woman. Captain America orders a hasty retreat. The event shook up both sides in the war, with Stature and Nighthawk finally surrendering and registering, while the Human Torch and Invisible Woman decide to oppose the act's enforcement with Captain America.

Spider-Man decides to quit after learning about the Negative Zone prison and about spying programs on his new technological suit. He battles Iron Man and escapes into the sewers. Already weak, he was found, drugged, and blasted half to death by Jack O'Lantern and the Jester. He was saved at the last minute by the Punisher, who kills the villains and brings Spider-Man to Captain America's hideout. The resistance movement is hesitant, but agree to take on the Punisher's support. Later, Spider-Man would interrupt a newscast to make a public statement about the horrors of the act's enforcement, and pledge to fight it.

Subsequently, an ambassador from the kingdom of Atlantis, on a mission of peace backed by the European Community (represented at the event by the Super Heroes of Europe), was the target of an unsuccessful assassination attempt. Norman Osborn, bearing an obviously fake press pass and handgun (and none of his Green Goblin paraphernalia), fires once at the statesman, hitting him in the shoulder. The ambassador was escorted back to the ocean by his people, and Osborn immediately collapses to the ground, claiming he was framed. Police later recognized that an accomplished menace like Osborn could have easily killed the ambassador, and that the events leading up to the shooting just did not make sense. Osborn attempted to tell police that his actions were being controlled by a third party through the nanites, but was unable to reveal the third party's identity. He was turned over to the federal government before the NYPD could learn much. Following the attack, Atlantis has massed their troops and vessels along the U.S.' east coast, as if preparing to attack (though they have not yet done so).

Public interest peaked when Speedball was found alive, hurled a state away by the force of the Stamford blast. Robbie seemed to have lost his powers in the blast (the explanation being that his powers protected him from the sudden force, but burned out their biological mechanisms in the process). Despite the legal efforts of She-Hulk, who encourages him to register, he is sent to prison, where his powers return briefly. Robbie is later shot while traveling to testify at Congress. He survives the injury but his powers kill two paramedics and injure She-Hulk. At another prison, his fluctuating powers stop a prison riot.

Trying to navigate this entire affair are reporters Sally Floyd and Ben Urich. Sally interviews both sides, but ends up confused as ever. Ben Urich begins tying together events of the Civil War, from Robbie to Norman Osborn's shooting.

Meanwhile, Daredevil is arrested and sent to the Negative Zone prison by Stark, who mentions that the Fifty State Initiative is going to be the end result of the Superhero Registration Act, and offers Daredevil a chance to repent and become a leader. Daredevil does not respond, but has a guard give Stark a silver dollar, saying that he now has his thirty-one pieces of silver, labeling him as a Judas.

As the Punisher works his way through the Baxter Building to retrieve plans for File 42, Sue Richards goes to Atlantis to persuade Namor to join the Secret Avengers, but to no avail. The supervillains Goldbug and Plunderer arrive at the Secret Avengers' base to join Captain America's team, but the Punisher immediately kills them, calling them killers and thieves. Captain America mercilessly beats the Punisher, and throws him off the team, though the Punisher refuses to fight Cap. The Secret Avengers, joined by Storm and the Black Panther, reach the Riker's Island penitentiary and, rendered invisible by Sue, head through the portal to the 42 complex undeterred only to be confronted by the pro-registration supporters on the other side, revealing that each team had placed a spy on the other. Tigra had been spying on the Secret Avengers, but Cap already knew this due to Hulking. Hulkling is able to release the incarcerated heroes from the cells of the 42 complex in the guise of Henry Pym, making the odds more even.

Cloak moves the battle to the center of New York City. Namor and an army of Atlanteans join the battle alongside the Secret Avengers, followed by the Thor clone and Captain Marvel on the pro-registration side. Vision II disrupts Iron Man's armor and Captain America is able to subdue him. On the battlefield, Mister Fantastic is shot while trying to save the Invisible Woman from the Taskmaster, who is in turn pulverized by one of Sue's invisible fields, and Hercules crushes the skull of the Thor clone with its hammer after it had been weakened by the X-Men member Storm. He calls it an insult to Thor, and yells 'Thou art no Thor!' As the battle rages on, the city is badly damaged. The Thing shows up in order to protect citizens from harm. Captain America's side seems victorious as Iron Man lies on the ground waiting for Captain America to deliver the finishing blow. Just before he can hit, several standard cops, EMTs, and firefighters hold him back, and he realizes how much damage the fighting has caused to the general population that they all want to protect. Wishing to avert any more unnecessary bloodshed, Cap surrenders and the team follows suit. Many of the Secret Avengers are given amnesty by the government, while Captain America is placed in jail; but weeks later is fatally shot by Crossbones and Sharon Carter (brainwashed by Dr. Faustus) on the way to the courthouse, leading to the end of the Civil War.

Two weeks later, the Fifty State Initiative is launched and the Mighty Avengers assemble as a team. Tony Stark is appointed Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., while Maria Hill is demoted to deputy status. Some heroes move to Canada, while some stay underground, such as the New Avengers (Luke Cage as leader, Iron Fist, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Spider Woman, Doctor Strange, and Ronin). In front of his New Avengers teammates Luke Cage and Dr. Strange, Spider-Man sorrowfully dons his black costume after Aunt May is critically injured by a sniper, later revealed to have been hired by the Kingpin in response to the unveiling of his identity. At the end of the series, Tony Stark tells Miriam Sharpe "the best is yet to come sweetheart...That's a promise."

Source

Secret Invasion">
After the Kree-Skrull War a group of Earth's superheroes—Iron Man, Mister Fantastic, Namor, Black Bolt, Professor Charles Xavier and Doctor Strange—band together as a group called the Illuminati to secretly confront the Skrulls. They attack the Skrull Empire, and warn that any further invasion attempts of Earth would mean further reprisals. However, they are all captured and intensely studied before escaping.

An eventual successor to the Skrull throne, Princess Veranke, claims that a prophecy foretold the annihilation of the Skrull homeworld. The current Emperor, Dorrek, exiles her to a prison world for inciting religious extremism. After the destruction of the Skrull Throneworld by the cosmic entity Galactus, Veranke becomes Empress by lineage, and guides an invasion of Earth, armed with the knowledge of superhumans gained from having studied the Illuminati. The Skrulls capture several superhumans and infiltrate Earth's defenses, with Veranke herself posing as heroine Spider-Woman. Veranke, however, is inconvenienced when there is a breakout of supervillains at the prison the Raft, which forces her to join the team the New Avengers.

The Skrulls also skirmish with the Earth's heroes several times prior to the invasion. Elektra, the leader of the ninja group the Hand, is revealed to be a Skrull named Pagon after dying in battle with the New Avengers. Posing as agents of spy organization S.H.I.E.L.D., the Skrulls attempt to mine the metal vibranium in the Savage Land and battle the New Avengers before being killed. The Illuminati battle an impostor posing as Black Bolt and two new Super-Skrulls, possessing all-new powers.

The Skrull invasion destabilizes the superhuman community as simultaneous strikes disable the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier and orbiting base the Peak, a breakout is instigated at the supervillain holding facility the Raft, the Baxter Building headquarters of the Fantastic Four is transported to the Negative Zone and the Thunderbolt Mountain headquarters of the Thunderbolts is attacked. Additionally the Avengers are attacked by Skrulls posing as heroes in the Savage Land, and Reed Richards is wounded by the Skrull Criti Noll (who was posing as Henry Pym) seconds after determining a way to identify the shape shifters.

After several battles between Earth's heroes and the Skrulls in Manhattan and the Savage Land, Mister Fantastic manages to develop a device that can detect the aliens. Criminal kingpin the Hood aids the heroes, deciding that "no more Earth is bad for business." Veranke regroups with her forces in New York, and a final battle against the combined Avengers (now aided by Nick Fury and his new Commandos, Thor, Daredevil, Ka-Zar, and super teams the Young Avengers and the Thunderbolts).

In a final battle, Veranke is wounded by the Avenger Hawkeye. Criti Noll activates a booby trap placed on the heroine Wasp, although the blast is contained by Thor at the cost of her life. Veranke is then shot and killed by Norman Osborn (using a weapon he created with intel stolen from Deadpool). The last remnants of the Skrull armada are destroyed, with Iron Man locating the missing heroes. S.H.I.E.L.D. is dissolved by executive order of the President of the United States while a last Skrull (posing as the Avengers' butler Edwin Jarvis) flees with the child of hero Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. This Skrull is then killed by Bullseye shortly after returning the child. Norman Osborn is placed in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D's replacement, H.A.M.M.E.R., and forms a secret group consisting of himself, Emma Frost, Namor, Doctor Doom, The Hood and Loki.

Source



Dark Reign

Following the Skrull invasion of Earth during "Secret Invasion", Norman Osborn leveraged his success in defeating the Skrulls to replace Tony Stark as director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Deadpool played a large part in this, as he was supposed to send the information on how to kill the Skrull Queen to Nick Fury. An error occurred during the process and the information went to Osborn, suggesting subterfuge on Osborn's part. Osborn killed the queen and became the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., which he replaced with H.A.M.M.E.R.[6] Osborn simultaneously formed an alliance called the Cabal with Doctor Doom, Emma Frost, Namor, Loki, and the Hood. He used H.A.M.M.E.R. to carry out his own agenda and, at times, the Cabal's. However, Osborn's actions and his reputation influenced a number of heroes and villains to attempt to resist Osborn's rule and remove him from power, by force if necessary.

Source



Seige

Norman Osborn calls a meeting of the supervillain Cabal, consisting of Doctor Doom, the Hood, Taskmaster, and the Norse god Loki, to discuss Asgard, the home of the Norse gods, now located floating above Broxton, Oklahoma, and the last holdout in Osborn's consolidation of power. A rift develops between Doom and Osborn, creating mayhem that appears to dissolve the group. Later, under his guise of respectability, Osborn attempts in vain to secure from the President of the United States permission to invade Asgard under the claim it poses a national security threat. On Loki's advice, Osborn engineers a tragedy in which the hapless Norse god Volstagg, manipulated into battling the supervillain team the U-Foes, inadvertently causes an explosion that kills everyone in a crowded Soldier Field football stadium in Chicago, Illinois. This gives Osborn the pretext to lay siege on Asgard with military troops as well as with the Dark Avengers — his team of supervillains posing as superheroes — and with loyalists planted amid the various "50-State Initiative" teams of heroes. Osborn's aide-de-camp, Victoria Hand, growing worried over Osborn's instability, suggests unsuccessfully that Osborn seek therapy. Shortly afterward, the President realizes likewise, and orders Hand to produce Osborn.

In the meantime, in order to better control the highly powerful but psychologically fragile superhero the Sentry, who has allowed himself to be under Osborn's care, Osborn has the villainous Bullseye kill the Sentry's wife, Lindy Reynolds, and claim she committed suicide. Concurrently, Loki prepares Asgard for invasion through selective assassination and by neutralizing Heimdall, the city's guardian.

The siege begins with the Sentry attacking Asgard, followed by a massive aerial assault led by Osborn in his Iron Patriot armor. The Norse god superhero Thor is stunned and falls in battle. With the attack on Asgard instantly becoming a major news story, Steve Rogers, the erstwhile Captain America, assembles a group of legitimate Avengers in Brooklyn, New York City, to battle the Dark Avengers and help defend Asgard and aide their comrade Thor. At the same time the Avengers Resistance led by Tigra, Justice, and Gauntlet launch their own attack on Camp H.A.M.M.E.R., aimed at eliminating Osborn's Initiative.

Osborn's people offer Todd Keller, a conservative talk show host, exclusive official coverage of the siege, in order to mold public opinion. Meanwhile, longtime investigative journalist Ben Urich, editor of the New York City newspaper The Front Line, heads to the Oklahoma site of the battle with cameraman Will Stern. Volstagg, whom they meet in a chance encounter along the way, accompanies them and gives the reporters his own perspective.

As the battle in Asgard intensifies, the Greek god Ares, whom Osborn had deceptively recruited to his Dark Avengers, realizes the truth about Osborn, and vows to kill him. Osborn has the Sentry brutally kill Ares instead. Osborn declares martial law, just as Rogers and a contingent of Avengers arrive. Volstagg, with the aid of a local sheriff whose own suspicions about Osborn have been raised, speaks to the public via a webcam video, leading to the beginnings of public disenchantment with the increasingly volatile Osborn.

The siege continues with the supervillain Scourge using the enchanted spear of the Norse gods' ruler, Odin, to sever the left limbs of the superhero U.S. Agent. The conflicted hero Night Thrasher, who had been compelled to make a Faustian bargain with Osborn, turns on Osborn by battling Osborn's Cabal minion the Hood. In Washington, the President orders the Secretary of State to dispatch military forces to Oklahoma to have Osborn and the Dark Avengers arrested for treason. At that moment in Asgard, Osborn is struck down by Captain America's shield, yet manages to order the Sentry to destroy the infrastructure of Asgard. Sentry, having survived a flurry of brutal blows from Thor unscathed and on the verge of tearing Thor apart having transformed into the evil Void (which greatly multiplies his power to evolved heights) he leaves Thor and annihilates Asgard in a climactic moment in the battle, as he levels the floating city, bringing it crashing down to Earth. Captain America finds Osborn amid the wreckage, pulls him out and places him under arrest. Before anyone can react further, Osborn's armor, now under the control of its inventor, Tony Stark / Iron Man, explodes off his body on live television, revealing his face painted in the image of the Green Goblin. He begins raving that with he himself now powerless, he no longer has the leverage to control the Sentry, who is now fully possessed by his nihilistic other self, the Void.

As the Void battles the Avengers, Loki repents and begs Odin to let him use the mystical Norn Stones to power-boost the heroes and give them the strength to win the day. The Void, realizing that the heroes' enhanced power is being granted to them by Loki, kills Loki. Spurred on by Loki's sacrifice, Thor and the others battle the Void to a point that it reverting to the Sentry's human form. The Sentry begs the heroes to kill him, and Thor, after circumstances force his hand, regretfully complies, striking the Sentry down with a lightning blast that leaves only a charred skeleton. As Thor takes the Sentry's body to the sun, the New Avengers round up the Dark Avengers, Victoria Hand, the renegade members of the Initiative and the remaining members of the Cabal and others, and have them placed under arrest. Steve Rogers gives his former partner, Bucky Barnes, his Captain America shield, bequeathing Barnes the mantle.

As the Avengers and their allies celebrate their victory at their headquarters, Stark Tower, the Superhuman Registration Act is abolished. The President asks Steve Rogers to take over Osborn's position. A large group of heroes later attend the Sentry's memorial service. Rogers says he will continue the 50-State Initiative. He also assigns Victoria Hand to work with the reformed Avengers. U.S. Agent is made warden of the maximum security supervillain prison The Raft.

Source