6 Libertarian Themed Comic Book Stories You MUST Read

2. Civil War

Theme: privacy rights &  forced servitude

A story written as an allegory of the PATRIOT Act and the post 9/11 generation, Marvel Comics’ “Civil War” storyline split the Marvel Universe in half during the wake of a superhuman related tragedy where thousands of civilians were killed, which then prompts SHIELD (seeing a trend with this omnipotent spy agency?) to persuade the POTUS and Iron Man to support the new Superhuman Registration Act aka “the Initiative”, which would force all superheroes to not only give up their identities, but also enlist as agents of SHIELD to combat threats and respond to emergencies across the world.

While Iron Man leads the pro registration heroes and champions “the Initiative”, Captain America and other heroes are forced to go underground in order to protect their identities and continue to fight crime their own way, without SHIELD or government oversight and control over the superhero community. The two sides clash in a climactic battle, but ultimately, Iron Man’s forces break Captain America’s will, and the anti-registration heroes must decide whether they are to go underground and be hunted like criminals or register with SHIELD.

Marvel’s “Civil War” asks the reader what is more important: liberty or security? and what the tradeoff is in a world where the dangers and ways in order to prevent them from happening begin to waver on a very gray line of morality.