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Registration Acts (comics)
Encyclopedia
The Registration Acts—the Mutant Registration Act (MRA) and Superhuman Registration Act (SRA or sometimes SHRA) —are fictional legislative bills
that have been plot points used in various comic books published by Marvel Comics
which, when passed into law, enforce the mandatory registration
of superpowered
individuals with the government
. The first mention of the broad concept was in Uncanny X-Men
#141 (January 1981). The term "Registration Act" was first used in Uncanny X-Men #181 (May 1984).
As their names suggest, the Mutant Registration Act and the Superhuman Registration Act deal with the registration of mutants
and of superhuman
s respectively. Numerous versions of each bill have been proposed at different times and in different jurisdictions in the Marvel Universe. A newly passed into law Superhuman Registration Act is a major plot point
in Marvel's 2006 crossover
limited series
Civil War.
The concept has been most extensively explored in comic books, though a version of them has featured in both the original X-Men animated series and the X-Men films
.
The issue that the government might seek to regulate the activities of super-heroes has also been explored in other comics, such as those featuring the Justice Society of America
, in Watchmen
, in Astro City
and in Powers
, as well as in films such as The Return Of Captain Invincible
(1983) and The Incredibles
(2004) and in the role-playing games Brave New World
(1999), and Dawn of Legends for Savage Worlds
.
and John Byrne) the concept is briefly suggested. In that issue the term "Registration Act" is not used, but one character (Moira MacTaggert
) brings up the notion of "registration". In reference to a politician whom she suspects of anti-mutant bigotry
she says:
The same issue features mention of the "Mutant Control Act", however it is left unclear exactly what that legislation involves and whether some form of registration is a part of it. However, in New Mutants
#1, it was implied that involved the operation of concentration camps.
The term "Mutant Registration Act" was first fully used in Uncanny X-Men #181, by writer Chris Claremont. As the MRA (as it became known) was passed into law in the Marvel Universe it became widely used as a subplot
, plot device
or background element across Marvel's entire line of titles, especially those featuring mutants (such as Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor
and New Mutants
) during the late 1980s.
In the early 1990s Chris Claremont left the X-titles and the topic of the MRA began to appear much more rarely in stories. It was still occasionally mentioned, though usually in the past tense, suggesting that it was repealed at some point (though this was never clearly shown) or that it simply ceased to be actively enforced.
However, in an interview regarding the Civil War: X-Men
limited series its writer David Hine
suggested that it is still law in the Marvel Universe, stating that in the series the idea of bringing "the Mutant Registration Act in line with the SRA" will be discussed.
The idea of an equivalent piece of legislation for non-mutant super-powered individuals—a Superhuman Registration Act—was first raised in comics that were published during the "Acts of Vengeance
" crossover in 1989-1990. The issue was most fully explored in Fantastic Four
#335-336 by writer Walter Simonson. In the course of the story, the issue was apparently resolved with the proposed Act being shelved.
The concept was then revived in 1993 in Alpha Flight
(vol. 1) #120 (May, 1993) by writer Simon Furman
. In that issue a "Superpowers Registration Act" becomes law in Canada and went on to be a major plot point in the remainder of the series. However later Alpha Flight series did not make use of the concept.
In 2006 the concept was again revived by writer Mark Millar
as the main plot point in Marvel's 2006 Civil War crossover. In preparation for that storyline a new version of the Superhuman Registration Act has been widely mentioned across various Marvel titles, with the issue being most widely discussed and explored in The Amazing Spider-Man
#529 - 531 (April - June, 2006) by writer J. Michael Straczynski
.
Debate on the topic of the registration of super-heroes or mutants as presented in Marvel Comics has generally tended to be slanted in favor of the anti-registration argument, due to the fact that the protagonist
s of the comics are the powered individuals—the people whose freedoms might be compromised by any such law.
As such the issue has most often been explored in a civil rights
context, with the various Acts portrayed as persecutory measures seeking to legislate against a minority group whose minority status is basically innate—an obvious parallel with the struggle of many minority group
s against prejudice
.
This was especially the case in the X-Men
stories of Chris Claremont
, in which the "Act" pertains to mutants (the MRA). The plight of mutants has traditionally been used as an allegory for the struggles of real world minorities such as African Americans and in Claremont's (and other contemporary comic writers in the 1980s) stories the passing of the Mutant Registration Act is generally treated as a negative development, a harbinger of a more repressive climate for mutants, foreshadowing the possible post-apocalyptian future first shown in the "Days of Future Past
" storyline.
When the topic of the original Superhuman Registration Act is debated in Fantastic Four #335-336 the issue is explored in a national security
context, with the utility of such a law being challenged. In the comics the Fantastic Four argue that super-heroes are already a hugely benevolent force for society and such an act would be unnecessary and possibly counter-productive.
When the issue of an SRA was raised again in Amazing Spider-Man #529 - 531 the prospect of a new SRA is explored once more from a security perspective, with reference being made to the fact that individual super-powered individuals often wield abilities which have massively destructive potential for use, making some mechanism to regulate their activities necessary. As such comparisons and allusions are made to real world issues such as gun control
and arms control
.
The writer of Civil War, Mark Millar, has stated that that storyline will explore the "civil rights" implications of the SHR as previous stories have done, but will also explore the other side of the argument in more depth, in particular how Marvel super-heroes are, absent an SRA, illegal vigilante
s, lacking proper legal authority or oversight.
One aspect of the Acts which has been consistently depicted is their requirement that super-powered individuals surrender their real names to the authorities. For many characters, this would entail the loss of their secret identity
(ies).
However, it has been unclear in depictions of the acts (previous to the 2006 SRA) exactly what, outside of the loss of anonymity, "registration" entails—whether it is enacted to enable the government to monitor all powered individuals or whether it is drafted to facilitate the government's licensing and/or employment of individuals who are actively using their powers.
It has also been unclear whether the terms of the acts compel all individuals with mutant or superhuman abilities to register with the government or whether only those individuals who wish to use those abilities actively need register. Further unclear is whether registration means that powered individuals are required to simply report their details to the government or whether registration entails an approval process where the powered individual must fulfill some requirements or meet some criteria before they are allowed to fully use their abilities.
The provisions of the 2006 version of the Superhuman Registration Act have been more specifically outlined. In a June 2006 interview Civil War editor Tom Brevoort
confirmed that registrants to the act have to reveal their identities to the government (but not the public) and they have to undergo some basic testing and/or training and satisfy certain (as yet unspecified) standards before they gain legal authorization to continue to use their abilities to fight crime. Government employment is not mandatory, though it is available to those who wish to take it. This has not remained consistent, though, and characters have made reference to all superpowered individuals being forced to register and enlist in S.H.I.E.L.D.
It was revealed in Amazing Spider-Man #535 that unregistered individuals are sent to a prison in the otherdimensional Negative Zone
indefinitely until they agree to register. Iron Man
claims that as this is off United States soil, they have almost no civil rights unless the United States Supreme Court explicitly rules otherwise—and he knows they won't. This leads Spider-Man
to re-evaluate his support of the act. After the major conflict of Civil War ends, all the superhero inmates are transferred to real prisons in the state while the facility is transformed into a Maximum Security Prison for high-threat-level villains such as the Taskmaster
and Lady Deathstrike
.
. On revealing herself to Kitty's team-mates she recounts to them the series of events which led to her dark future, in the hopes that the X-Men might be able to prevent those events from coming to pass.
One of those pivotal events was the passing of a "Mutant Control Act" by the government of the United States. When the Supreme Court
found the law unconstitutional the government responded by reactivating their robot Sentinel
program so that they might police the mutant race. The Sentinels interpreted their mandate in such a way that they decided to forcibly take over the government of the country and instituted a harsh regime where mutants were severely persecuted. The reference to the Mutant Control Act is brief, and it is unclear exactly what its provisions would entail, though it would appear that registration forms at least one part of it.
In the course of the story the X-Men are successful in preventing one of the pivotal events which Pryde had described to them (the assassination of Senator Robert Kelly
) from occurring, though the story's end is intentionally ambiguous as to whether Pryde's dystopian future was fully avoided. Although no Mutant Control Act has been introduced in the comics, the Mutant Registration Act may be its equivalent and the events of "Days of Future Past" continue to be alluded to in X-Men comics as a possible future.
story arc
, an insane reality warper, Jim Jaspers
, became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
and turned the UK
into a fascist state. As PM, he enforced "Super Hero Legislation"; using armored agents
of S.T.R.I.K.E.
, the UK division of S.H.I.E.L.D., to hunt down and detain superhumans within the UK. However, the legislation is abandoned after Captain Britain
defeated Jaspers.
Her suggestion eventually turns out to be accurate, and in the Uncanny X-Men #181 (May 1984) the first mention of a Mutant Registration Act is made when Kelly is seen discussing his introduction of the bill with a senatorial colleague. By #183 (July 1984) the Act is mentioned as passed legislation, and in #188 Nightcrawler
remarks that it appears to have become accepted as law, suggesting that, unlike the Mutant Control Act in the "Days of Future Past" timeline, it would not be struck down by the Supreme Court.
The passage of the MRA did not have an immediate impact on the plots of any Marvel series, but the legislation continued to be referenced intermittedly in various titles. In at least one instance, (X-Factor #1; February 1986) the Act is referred to as a "possible new law", an apparent contradiction with its previous depiction as passed legislation. In that story the prospect of the MRA is one of things which motivates Jean Grey
and Cyclops
to form X-Factor.
The legislation becomes a plot point later when government agent Val Cooper and the mutant terrorist Mystique
form Freedom Force
, a government sanctioned superhero team (mostly comprising former members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants) in Uncanny X-Men #199 (November 1985). Freedom Force went on to make many appearances where they sought to enforce the MRA by arresting unregistered mutants such as members of the X-Men (e.g. Uncanny X-Men #206, June 1986), X-Factor (e.g. X-Factor #30; July 1988) and the New Mutants (e.g. New Mutants #86, February 1990). They also appeared enforcing the MRA in non-X-Men related titles such as Daredevil #269 (August 1989).
Captain America
(who at this point is John Walker, the character who would later be known as U.S. Agent
) and Battlestar - two other officially sanctioned super-heroes - also briefly enforce the Act by capturing the unregistered mutant Meteorite
for the government in Captain America (vol. 2) #343 (July 1988).
During this period of active enforcement of the MRA, the only mutants who are shown publicly protesting the Act were those who were not aligned with the X-Men or its affiliated teams. For example, in X-Factor #33 the Alliance of Evil
demonstrates against the MRA in Manhattan and after fighting X-Factor are arrested by Freedom Force and in Captain America #368 (March 1990) a mutant group called the Resistants
are shown protesting the Act in Washington D.C.. Indeed far from publicly agitating against the act, one X-team (X-Factor, in its original form) actually pretend in public to be supporters of the MRA who are actively enforcing it, though in actuality they act to subvert it.
With Freedom Force (the characters most involved in the enforcement of the Act) no longer existing (they disband following a disastrous mission in Iraq
in X-Factor Annual #6, 1991) and Chris Claremont (the writer who developed the MRA as a sub-plot) no longer writing X-Men stories after 1992, the Mutant Registration Act stopped appearing prominently in Marvel Universe stories.
(vol. 2) #29 and Avengers (vol. 1) #313 (both January 1990).
During that period, in Fantastic Four #335 and 336 (December 1989, January 1990) the Fantastic Four go to Congress where a committee is investigating whether an SRA, similar in its provisions to the already in effect Mutant Registration Act, is required for Superheroes (the MRA only covers individuals who have their powers inherently at birth, not those who acquire their abilities artificially in later life). In his testimony and in evidence he presents to Congress, Reed Richards
argues that a Super-human registration Act is unnecessary as Super-humans have been largely effective and trustworthy in their actions and government regulation would only stifle their ability to protect the world. He argues that those individuals who were likely to act irresponsibly with their powers are also likely to be supervillains and thus would not be candidates for registration anyway.
As the topic is debated, he and his teammates are continually attacked by random supervillain
s whom they easily subdue, though it is unclear if this helps or hinders his arguments. In his final point concerning the lack of any workable definition of superhuman Richards demonstrates a device that scans a human for physical and mental capabilities and compares those to the national average, marking 'significant outliers' as "superhuman". The device identifies several regular humans, including some committee members, as "superhuman" according to those criteria. The proposed legislation is abandoned and registration of superhumans in the United States is not recommended by the committee.
government in Alpha Flight
#120 (May 1993). Introduced by a minister of the Canadian government named Robert Hagon, the Super-powers Registration Act is part of a complex plot engineered by the Master
, who is using the alias "Joshua Lord".
The terms of the act entail the government employment of all super-powered individuals, including mutants, who are then enlisted in one of the government Department H
"Flight" programs such as "Alpha Flight" and "Gamma Flight
".
Although the Act was shown to be controversial and the first series ended with the disbandment of the Canadian government's superteams (the various "Flights") in Alpha Flight (vol. 1) #130 (March 1994), the Canadian SRA is never explicitly repealed or overturned within the comics.
Later Alpha Flight series did not acknowledge the law. As of 2006, rumors began to circulate (encouraged by some Marvel creators such as Mark Millar) that a new Alpha Flight series of some form is in the planning stages. The rumors suggest that the premise of this series would involve American superheroes fleeing the United States to Canada to escape a newly enacted U.S. Superhuman Registration Act. This suggests that registration is no longer mandatory in the Marvel Universe version of Canada. In July 2006 Civil War editor Tom Brevoort concurred with this sentiment saying "we've seen no evidence of it in ten-plus years of Canadian appearances. So if such legislation did exist, it was evidently repealed at some point."
Other sources, however, such as Michael Avon Oeming
's post-Civil War title Omega Flight
, contradict this statement, which several character mentioning having a Registration Act for years, without the negative effects of the American Superhuman Registration act.
" and the sudden dramatic fall in the Mutant population, the U.S. government again considers a Superhuman Registration Act and Spider-Man
and Iron Man
travel to Washington D.C. to discuss the issue. In those issues Iron Man is shown to be initially opposed to the idea, while Spider-Man is unsure of his opinion.
In The New Avengers
Special: the Illuminati
(May 2006), Iron Man attempts to persuade his Illuminati colleagues to support the SRA, in order to diffuse it. Iron Man predicts that some superhuman or group of superhumans will eventually make a mistake that will cost hundreds of lives (he specifically mentions the Young Avengers
and the Runaways
as candidates for causing such a catastrophe). After such an event, he went on to predict, the government would inevitably rush to make an example of someone, or everyone, in the superhuman community by passing legislation that would be even more restrictive or persecutory towards them than the proposed SRA. By supporting the Act before it is passed, he suggests, he and his fellow Illuminati might be able to help avert such possible future tragedies and also, by becoming a part of the process, help moderate the legislation so that it would have the minimum possible negative effect on the superhuman community. However, most of the Illuminati members (except for Reed Richards, who ironically had spoken against the similar proposition made 16 years before (see above)) flatly reject Stark's proposal, leading to the disbandment of the group.
In the same issue the first part of Iron Man's prediction are shown to be accurate when a conflict between the New Warriors
and a group of supervillains ends with a massive explosion which kills hundreds of people, including children attending a nearby school. As depicted in the Civil War
crossover and series, the public outcry that follows this event leads the government (with the support of Iron Man and fellow Illuminati member Reed Richards) to quickly enact the Superhuman Registration Act (SHRA), 6 U.S.C. S. 558, which required those with naturally occurring superhuman abilities, super abilities acquired through science or magic (including extraterrestrials and gods), and even non-super powered humans using exotic technology, such as Iron Man
, to register as "living weapons of mass destruction." Enactment of the law on the federal level led to various revisions to state criminal codes (such as Chapter 40, Article 120, Section 120 of the New York Penal Code and Section 245(d) of the California Penal Code) in order to allow state and federal coordination in enforcing the law. This leads to a major schism and conflict among the superheroes, with the anti-SHRA side- regarding the Act as a violation of civil liberties- led by Captain America and the pro-SHRA side- seeing the Act as a natural evolution of the superhuman's role in the modern world to regain public trust- led by Iron Man. Eventually, Iron Man's side wins the conflict and the "Fifty State Initiative
" is established.
Other countries followed America's lead and introduced their own Superhuman Registration laws.
Following the Skrull
invasion
and the subsequent fall from grace of Iron Man, Norman Osborn seizes control of the Initiative and SHIELD, but is prevented from getting his hand on the register (and thus the identities of most of the superhuman community) by Tony Stark when he infects the US government database with a computer virus (technically qualifying Iron Man as a terrorist). There is only one copy of the SHRA database, in Stark's brain, where he deleted it, piece by piece, before Osborn could get his hands on it, ironically destroying the very information that was the focus of "Civil War" in the first place.
At the conclusion of "Siege," Steve Rogers is named the new head of security of the United States and as a condition of joining, he convinces the President to dissolve the Act, allowing heroes to return to their daily businesses.
invasion
: all superheroes in the UK were drafted with immediate effect into the intelligence agency MI-13
. After the invasion, the terms were stated that MI-13 would monitor and support superheroes and call on them for reasons of national defence, but would allow them semi-autonomy so they would not feel morally compromised.
Universe, there are several laws in place that prohibit superhuman activity. Genetic modification of a human being is illegal, and the Superhuman Test Ban Treaty makes it illegal for nations to employ superhumans. This makes the Test Ban Treaty the polar opposite of the SHRA. in Ultimate Six #1, it was stated that the law on deliberately created superhumans is still unclear, allowing Nick Fury
to hold supervillains indefinitely without any trial and in hidden locations (#5 showed that the President of the United States
was unaware of this).
#12 a parallel world is shown, similar to the "Days of Future Past" timeline, in which the passing of a Mutant Registration Act led to the Sentinels taking over the world and herding mutants, superhumans and eventually even humans into concentration camps.
The "Age of Apocalypse
" version of Sabretooth
, who at that point was a member of the Exiles, stays on this planet in order to raise the infant David Richards (the son of the Rachel Summers
and Franklin Richards
of that reality).
series of one-shots published in November 2004, a Mutant Registration Act is in effect which mandates that mutants undergo a process which robs them of their abilities.
The Marvel Knights: Mutant 2099
one-shot explained that after the passage of this act the Avengers, X-Men and Fantastic Four opposed the government's enforcement of it and were eventually defeated in a major battle that was fought in front of the Baxter Building
. This led all the remaining superheroes to go underground.
's foster parents worry that they may have to "register her with the Mutant Control Agency" after she manifests her powers for the first time.
But following the attack on Jubilee at a mall, it was revealed that the hidden agenda of Henry Peter Gyrich
, the founder of the agency is to deceive the mutants into revealing their identities so the Sentinels
could eliminate them due to Gyrich's beliefs that mutants pose a threat to society. After the destruction of their files, following the X-Men's raid on the agency, the President decides to cancel the registration act. The government's persecution of mutants is a consistent theme throughout the fifth season of the series.
film are precipitated when Senator Robert Kelly introduces a Mutant Registration Act to the Senate. This motivates Magneto
, who sees such legislation as persecutory towards mutants, to kidnap Kelly and replace him with Mystique, who while impersonating Kelly, withdraws his advocacy for the Act.
In the sequel, X2
, the Mutant Registration Act is briefly mentioned when Storm speculates that Nightcrawler's attack on the White House
might lead the government to reintroduce the legislation.
' DC Universe
the Justice Society of America
chose to disband in 1951 rather than appear in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee
, which demanded that they unmask themselves. This was first shown in a back-up story in Adventure Comics
(vol. 1) #466 ("The Defeat of the Justice Society!"; December 1979) by writer Paul Levitz
and subsequently further explored in the America vs. The Justice Society
4 issue limited series (January–April 1985) by writers Roy
and Dann Thomas
.
There is also a piece of legislation called the "Keene Act" (an apparent reference to Watchmen, see below) in the DC Universe. First mentioned in Suicide Squad
(vol. 1) #1 (May 1987) in a story written by John Ostrander
, the "Act" is referred to as a piece of legislation from 1961 which gives prisons greater leeway in imprisoning superhumans than ordinary prisoners.
It was more fully explored in Secret Origins
(vol. 3) #14 (May 1987), again written by Ostrander, where it is revealed that the Act was passed in 1961 and it reaffirmed the right (that had been cast into doubt by HUAC in 1951) of superheroes to operate with secret identities
. That story also reveals that the later "Ingersoll Amendment" (a reference to lawyer and comics writer Bob Ingersoll
) to the Keene Act, which delineates governmental authority over superhuman activity in times of crisis, was passed into law in 1972.
starring Alan Arkin
and Christopher Lee
, Captain Invincible (Arkin) is a super-hero who was forced into retirement in the 1950s following the government's persecution of him.
In a similar scenario as that faced by the Justice Society, Captain Invincible faced a McCarthy-ish
congressional investigation which accused him of being a communist
(because of his red cape) and charged him for violating U.S. airspace by flying without a proper license.
As the title suggests a crisis forces Captain Invincible out of retirement in the 1980s which leads to him redeeming his reputation.
and Dave Gibbons
´ 12 issue Watchmen
series (September 1986 – October 1987), extensive reference is made to a law called the Keene Act.
The series reveals that the actions of superheroes or "costumed vigilantes" in the world of Watchmen caused a New York City police strike
in 1977, which led to riot
ing (shown in Watchmen #2; October 1986) and the passing of the Keene Act which outlaws non-government affiliated vigilantes (mentioned in Watchmen #4; December 1986).
The passing of the act led to the retirement of most of the US superheroes, and the series depicts them coming out of retirement when the Comedian, one of the few government-sponsored vigilantes, is murdered at the beginning of the comic.
universe, the United States intelligence community feared the Soviet bloc would gain an advantage in meta-human assets. To address this issue, the government passed the Might for Right Act. This law proclaimed any U.S. citizen with meta-human powers or paranormal abilities, super-powered individuals and vigilante heroes a valuable national resource subject to draft without notice into the service of the United States government.
The law was later struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court after numerous protests and complaints regarding the law's civil rights abuses.
Currently in effect in the setting is the Citizen Crime Fighting Act, which provides vigilantes who choose to register (whether technically superhuman or not) with police powers. Unlike the Might for Right act or the Marvel act the CCFA does not require heroes to work for the government.
's Astro City
Vol. 2 #6-9 (February - May, 1996) the registration of super-humans is mandated by the city's Mayor Stevenson. In those comic book issues, a super-human serial killer
is thought to be active in the city and the Mayor proposes that registration will help apprehend the killer.
Stevenson brings in federal E.A.G.L.E. agents to enforce the new requirement, which is opposed by many active super-heroes. The prominent hero Winged Victory
makes outspoken statements opposing registration and several super-humans flout the law and illegally continue their activities without registration.
In Astro City #8 the Mayor is revealed as an alien infiltrator whose actions are part of a planned extraterrestrial invasion. The mayor's policy discredited, Astro City's super-human population unite to defeat the invasion in Astro City #9.
Registration is abandoned at the storyline's conclusion and has not been mentioned again in the series. The issues involved were later collected in the trade paperback Astro City: Confession (ISBN 1-56389-550-1).
superhero role-playing game
originally released by Pinnacle Entertainment Group in 1999 the setting of a dystopian alternate timeline includes a fascist United States government which passed the "Delta Registration Act" after a group of supervillains attempted to assassinate President John F. Kennedy
on November 22, 1963.
In the game the law requires that anybody with super-human abilities must register themselves to the United States Government. Its restrictive provisions include requirements that registrants surrender certain civil rights and notify the police of their whereabouts regularly. The law also mandates that super-powered individuals register within 7 days of first manifesting their abilities, with the penalty for failing to do so being an automatic sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The Act also legislates for the mandatory military conscription
of individual super-powered individuals at any time should their abilities be judged necessary by the government. In the world of the game most other nations have similar laws, though they are far less draconian in their restrictions and enforcement.
and Michael Avon Oeming
's Powers
series, superheroes had to register with the government in order to be able to operate. This was changed following the events of Powers (vol. 1) #30 (March, 2003) in which Super Shock, the world's most trusted superhero, goes on a massive worldwide killing spree. At that point, the US government prohibited super-beings from using their powers and operating as superheroes.
This leads all the world's heroes to retire and attempt to live normal lives, though after Powers (vol. 2) #6 (November, 2004) some begin to re-emerge.
The Incredibles
superheroes are shown in flashback as originally having been required to register with the National Supers Agency (or "NSA"; a joke reference to the real-life National Security Agency
) in order to fight crime legally.
However, following the Sansweet v. Incredible court case (in which superheroes were found to be legally liable for the personal injury claims of people who were injured during the course of their activities) most superheroes were forced into retirement due to the potentially massive legal liabilities they faced. In the movie it is explained that to assist the superheroes in their retirement, the United States government set up a "Superhero Relocation Program" (similar in many ways to the non-fictional Witness Protection Program
) which granted heroes amnesty from legal claims provided they permanently retire from hero work and live anonymously.
By the end of the film, the protagonists have returned to their roles as superheroes, and the program appears to have been nullified.
, Christopher Gage's creator-owned limited series by Avatar Press
, super heroes are part of the police force. While the government is aware of their real identities, superheroes are not obligated to reveal their identities to the public.
The Vigilante Registrations Act (VRA) is proposed legislation that would require vigilantes to register themselves.
Legislation
Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...
that have been plot points used in various comic books published by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
which, when passed into law, enforce the mandatory registration
Licensure
Licensure refers to the granting of a license, which gives a "permission to practice." Such licenses are usually issued in order to regulate some activity that is deemed to be dangerous or a threat to the person or the public or which involves a high level of specialized skill...
of superpowered
Superhuman
Superhuman can mean an improved human, for example, by genetic modification, cybernetic implants, or as what humans might evolve into, in the near or distant future...
individuals with the government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
. The first mention of the broad concept was in Uncanny X-Men
Uncanny X-Men
Uncanny X-Men, first published as The X-Men, is the flagship Marvel Comics comic book series for the X-Men franchise. It is the mainstream continuity featuring the adventures of the eponymous group of mutant superheroes...
#141 (January 1981). The term "Registration Act" was first used in Uncanny X-Men #181 (May 1984).
As their names suggest, the Mutant Registration Act and the Superhuman Registration Act deal with the registration of mutants
Mutant (Marvel Comics)
In comic books published by Marvel Comics, a mutant is an organism who possesses a genetic trait called an X-gene that allows the mutant to naturally develop superhuman powers and abilities...
and of superhuman
Superhuman
Superhuman can mean an improved human, for example, by genetic modification, cybernetic implants, or as what humans might evolve into, in the near or distant future...
s respectively. Numerous versions of each bill have been proposed at different times and in different jurisdictions in the Marvel Universe. A newly passed into law Superhuman Registration Act is a major plot point
Plot point
In television and film, a plot point is a significant event within a plot that digs into the action and spins it around in another direction. It can also be an object of significant importance, around which the plot revolves. It can be anything from an event to an item to the discovery of a...
in Marvel's 2006 crossover
Fictional crossover
A fictional crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete fictional characters, settings, or universes into the context of a single story. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant copyright holders, or because of unauthorized efforts by fans, or even amid common...
limited series
Limited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
Civil War.
The concept has been most extensively explored in comic books, though a version of them has featured in both the original X-Men animated series and the X-Men films
X-Men (film series)
The X-Men film series consists of superhero films based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. The films star an ensemble cast, focusing on Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, who is drawn into the conflict between Professor Xavier and Magneto , who have opposing views on humanity's...
.
The issue that the government might seek to regulate the activities of super-heroes has also been explored in other comics, such as those featuring the Justice Society of America
Justice Society of America
The Justice Society of America, or JSA, is a DC Comics superhero group, the first team of superheroes in comic book history. Conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox, the JSA first appeared in All Star Comics #3 ....
, in Watchmen
Watchmen
Watchmen is a twelve-issue comic book limited series created by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colourist John Higgins. The series was published by DC Comics during 1986 and 1987, and has been subsequently reprinted in collected form...
, in Astro City
Astro City
Kurt Busiek's Astro City is a comic book series centered on a fictional American city of that name. Written by Kurt Busiek, the series is co-created and illustrated by Brent Anderson with character designs and painted covers by Alex Ross...
and in Powers
Powers (comics)
Powers is an American creator-owned police procedural comic book series by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Avon Oeming. The series' first volume was published by Image Comics from 2000 to 2004...
, as well as in films such as The Return Of Captain Invincible
The Return Of Captain Invincible
The Return of Captain Invincible is a 1983 Australian musical comedy and superhero film starring Alan Arkin and Christopher Lee.-Plot:The plot involves the Captain America/Superman inspired super-hero called "Captain Invincible" who is active during World War II and afterwards...
(1983) and The Incredibles
The Incredibles
The Incredibles is a 2004 American computer-animated action-comedy superhero film about a family of superheroes who are forced to hide their powers. It was written and directed by Brad Bird, a former director and executive consultant of The Simpsons, and was produced by Pixar and distributed by...
(2004) and in the role-playing games Brave New World
Brave New World (role playing game)
Brave New World is a role-playing game originally released by Pinnacle Entertainment Group in 1999. The game was later sold to Alderac Entertainment Group in 2000. The game is an alternate history superhero game set in a fascist United States of America living in a perpetual state of martial law...
(1999), and Dawn of Legends for Savage Worlds
Savage Worlds
Savage Worlds is an award-winning, universal generic, role-playing game and miniatures wargame, written by Shane Lacy Hensley, and published by Great White Games doing business as Pinnacle Entertainment Group...
.
Publication history
The idea that super-powered individuals might need to be "registered" by the government was first raised in specific relation to mutants. In Uncanny X-Men #141, (written by Chris ClaremontChris Claremont
Chris Claremont is an award-winning American comic book writer and novelist, known for his 17-year stint on Uncanny X-Men, far longer than any other writer, during which he is credited with developing strong female characters, and with introducing complex literary themes into superhero...
and John Byrne) the concept is briefly suggested. In that issue the term "Registration Act" is not used, but one character (Moira MacTaggert
Moira MacTaggert
Dr. Moira Kinross MacTaggert is a fictional character appearing in X-Men stories in the Marvel Comics universe. She works as a geneticist and is an expert in mutant affairs. Olivia Williams played a minor role of Dr. Moira MacTaggert in X-Men: The Last Stand...
) brings up the notion of "registration". In reference to a politician whom she suspects of anti-mutant bigotry
Bigotry
A bigot is a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices, especially one exhibiting intolerance, and animosity toward those of differing beliefs...
she says:
- "Registration today, gas chambers tomorrow".
The same issue features mention of the "Mutant Control Act", however it is left unclear exactly what that legislation involves and whether some form of registration is a part of it. However, in New Mutants
New Mutants
The New Mutants are a group of teenaged mutant superheroes-in-training published by Marvel Comics. They have been the main characters of three successive comic book series, which were spin-offs of the popular X-Men franchise....
#1, it was implied that involved the operation of concentration camps.
The term "Mutant Registration Act" was first fully used in Uncanny X-Men #181, by writer Chris Claremont. As the MRA (as it became known) was passed into law in the Marvel Universe it became widely used as a subplot
Subplot
A subplot is a secondary plot strand that is a supporting side story for any story or the main plot. Subplots may connect to main plots, in either time and place or in thematic significance...
, plot device
Plot device
A plot device is an object or character in a story whose sole purpose is to advance the plot of the story, or alternatively to overcome some difficulty in the plot....
or background element across Marvel's entire line of titles, especially those featuring mutants (such as Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor
X-Factor (comics)
X-Factor is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics. It is a spin-off of the popular X-Men franchise, featuring characters from X-Men stories. The series has been relaunched several times with different team rosters, most recently as X-Factor Investigations.X-Factor launched in...
and New Mutants
New Mutants
The New Mutants are a group of teenaged mutant superheroes-in-training published by Marvel Comics. They have been the main characters of three successive comic book series, which were spin-offs of the popular X-Men franchise....
) during the late 1980s.
In the early 1990s Chris Claremont left the X-titles and the topic of the MRA began to appear much more rarely in stories. It was still occasionally mentioned, though usually in the past tense, suggesting that it was repealed at some point (though this was never clearly shown) or that it simply ceased to be actively enforced.
However, in an interview regarding the Civil War: X-Men
Civil War: X-Men
Civil War: X-Men is a four-issue comic book mini-series, published in 2006 by Marvel Comics.Though published as part of the wider Civil War event, its plot is a continuation of the earlier X-Men: The 198 mini-series.-Plot:...
limited series its writer David Hine
David Hine
-Biography:Hine has been working in comics since the early 1980s. For Crisis he drew the series Sticky Fingers in 1989, and wrote and drew a number of short pieces in 1990 and 1991...
suggested that it is still law in the Marvel Universe, stating that in the series the idea of bringing "the Mutant Registration Act in line with the SRA" will be discussed.
The idea of an equivalent piece of legislation for non-mutant super-powered individuals—a Superhuman Registration Act—was first raised in comics that were published during the "Acts of Vengeance
Acts of Vengeance
"Acts of Vengeance" is a comic book crossover storyline that ran through several titles published by Marvel Comics from December 1989 to February 1990.-Publication history:...
" crossover in 1989-1990. The issue was most fully explored in Fantastic Four
Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four is a fictional superhero team appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The group debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 , which helped to usher in a new level of realism in the medium...
#335-336 by writer Walter Simonson. In the course of the story, the issue was apparently resolved with the proposed Act being shelved.
The concept was then revived in 1993 in Alpha Flight
Alpha Flight
Alpha Flight is a fictional superhero team published by Marvel Comics, noteworthy for being one of the few Canadian superhero teams. Created by John Byrne, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #120 ....
(vol. 1) #120 (May, 1993) by writer Simon Furman
Simon Furman
Simon Christopher Francis Furman is a comic book writer, particularly associated with of a number of notable Transformers comics for Marvel UK, Marvel US, Dreamwave, and most recently, IDW...
. In that issue a "Superpowers Registration Act" becomes law in Canada and went on to be a major plot point in the remainder of the series. However later Alpha Flight series did not make use of the concept.
In 2006 the concept was again revived by writer Mark Millar
Mark Millar
Mark Millar is a Scottish comic book writer, known for his work on books such as The Authority, The Ultimates, Marvel Knights Spider-Man, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Civil War, Wanted, and Kick-Ass, the latter two of which have been adapted into feature films...
as the main plot point in Marvel's 2006 Civil War crossover. In preparation for that storyline a new version of the Superhuman Registration Act has been widely mentioned across various Marvel titles, with the issue being most widely discussed and explored in The Amazing Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Man is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics, featuring the adventures of the fictional superhero Spider-Man. Being the mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a monthly periodical and was published continuously until it was...
#529 - 531 (April - June, 2006) by writer J. Michael Straczynski
J. Michael Straczynski
Joseph Michael Straczynski , known professionally as J. Michael Straczynski and informally as Joe Straczynski or JMS, is an American writer and television producer. He works in films, television series, novels, short stories, comic books, and radio dramas. He is a playwright, a former journalist,...
.
Issues, allegories and metaphors
The issue has generally been portrayed in broad terms as being a debate between the rights of the individual (to freedom of action and expression etc.) on one side versus the rights of society at large (to safety from danger or harm) on the other. Does the superpowered individual (mutant or otherwise) have an absolute right to their abilities or does society have a right to constrain or at least monitor them and their expression of those abilities?Debate on the topic of the registration of super-heroes or mutants as presented in Marvel Comics has generally tended to be slanted in favor of the anti-registration argument, due to the fact that the protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
s of the comics are the powered individuals—the people whose freedoms might be compromised by any such law.
As such the issue has most often been explored in a civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
context, with the various Acts portrayed as persecutory measures seeking to legislate against a minority group whose minority status is basically innate—an obvious parallel with the struggle of many minority group
Minority group
A minority is a sociological group within a demographic. The demographic could be based on many factors from ethnicity, gender, wealth, power, etc. The term extends to numerous situations, and civilizations within history, despite the misnomer of minorities associated with a numerical statistic...
s against prejudice
Prejudice
Prejudice is making a judgment or assumption about someone or something before having enough knowledge to be able to do so with guaranteed accuracy, or "judging a book by its cover"...
.
This was especially the case in the X-Men
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...
stories of Chris Claremont
Chris Claremont
Chris Claremont is an award-winning American comic book writer and novelist, known for his 17-year stint on Uncanny X-Men, far longer than any other writer, during which he is credited with developing strong female characters, and with introducing complex literary themes into superhero...
, in which the "Act" pertains to mutants (the MRA). The plight of mutants has traditionally been used as an allegory for the struggles of real world minorities such as African Americans and in Claremont's (and other contemporary comic writers in the 1980s) stories the passing of the Mutant Registration Act is generally treated as a negative development, a harbinger of a more repressive climate for mutants, foreshadowing the possible post-apocalyptian future first shown in the "Days of Future Past
Days of Future Past
"Days of Future Past" is a popular storyline in the Marvel Comics comic book The Uncanny X-Men issues #141 and #142, published in 1981. It deals with a dystopian alternate future in which mutants are incarcerated in internment camps...
" storyline.
When the topic of the original Superhuman Registration Act is debated in Fantastic Four #335-336 the issue is explored in a national security
National security
National security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic, diplomacy, power projection and political power. The concept developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II...
context, with the utility of such a law being challenged. In the comics the Fantastic Four argue that super-heroes are already a hugely benevolent force for society and such an act would be unnecessary and possibly counter-productive.
When the issue of an SRA was raised again in Amazing Spider-Man #529 - 531 the prospect of a new SRA is explored once more from a security perspective, with reference being made to the fact that individual super-powered individuals often wield abilities which have massively destructive potential for use, making some mechanism to regulate their activities necessary. As such comparisons and allusions are made to real world issues such as gun control
Gun politics
Gun politics addresses safety issues and ideologies related to firearms through criminal and noncriminal use. Gun politics deals with rules, regulations, and restrictions on the use, ownership, and distribution of firearms.-National sovereignty:...
and arms control
Arms control
Arms control is an umbrella term for restrictions upon the development, production, stockpiling, proliferation, and usage of weapons, especially weapons of mass destruction...
.
The writer of Civil War, Mark Millar, has stated that that storyline will explore the "civil rights" implications of the SHR as previous stories have done, but will also explore the other side of the argument in more depth, in particular how Marvel super-heroes are, absent an SRA, illegal vigilante
Vigilante
A vigilante is a private individual who legally or illegally punishes an alleged lawbreaker, or participates in a group which metes out extralegal punishment to an alleged lawbreaker....
s, lacking proper legal authority or oversight.
Terms of the registration acts
The terms of the various registration acts (previous to the 2006 Superhuman Registration Act) have been vaguely and inconsistently portrayed in the comic books.One aspect of the Acts which has been consistently depicted is their requirement that super-powered individuals surrender their real names to the authorities. For many characters, this would entail the loss of their secret identity
Secret identity
A secret identity is an element of fiction wherein a character develops a separate persona , while keeping their true identity hidden. The character also may wear a disguise...
(ies).
However, it has been unclear in depictions of the acts (previous to the 2006 SRA) exactly what, outside of the loss of anonymity, "registration" entails—whether it is enacted to enable the government to monitor all powered individuals or whether it is drafted to facilitate the government's licensing and/or employment of individuals who are actively using their powers.
It has also been unclear whether the terms of the acts compel all individuals with mutant or superhuman abilities to register with the government or whether only those individuals who wish to use those abilities actively need register. Further unclear is whether registration means that powered individuals are required to simply report their details to the government or whether registration entails an approval process where the powered individual must fulfill some requirements or meet some criteria before they are allowed to fully use their abilities.
The provisions of the 2006 version of the Superhuman Registration Act have been more specifically outlined. In a June 2006 interview Civil War editor Tom Brevoort
Tom Brevoort
Tom Brevoort is an American comic book editor, known for his work for Marvel Comics, where he has overseen titles such as New Avengers, Civil War, and Fantastic Four. He became Executive Editor in 2007, and in January 2011 was promoted to Senior Vice President of Publishing...
confirmed that registrants to the act have to reveal their identities to the government (but not the public) and they have to undergo some basic testing and/or training and satisfy certain (as yet unspecified) standards before they gain legal authorization to continue to use their abilities to fight crime. Government employment is not mandatory, though it is available to those who wish to take it. This has not remained consistent, though, and characters have made reference to all superpowered individuals being forced to register and enlist in S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage and a secret military law-enforcement agency in the Marvel Comics Universe. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Strange Tales #135 , it often deals with superhuman threats....
It was revealed in Amazing Spider-Man #535 that unregistered individuals are sent to a prison in the otherdimensional Negative Zone
Negative Zone
The Negative Zone is a fictional setting, an antimatter universe depicted in publications from Marvel Comics, most frequently in Fantastic Four and Captain Marvel. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, it first appeared in Fantastic Four #51 .-Fictional description:The Negative Zone in the Marvel...
indefinitely until they agree to register. Iron Man
Iron Man
Iron Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, first appearing in Tales of Suspense #39 .A billionaire playboy, industrialist and ingenious engineer,...
claims that as this is off United States soil, they have almost no civil rights unless the United States Supreme Court explicitly rules otherwise—and he knows they won't. This leads Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
to re-evaluate his support of the act. After the major conflict of Civil War ends, all the superhero inmates are transferred to real prisons in the state while the facility is transformed into a Maximum Security Prison for high-threat-level villains such as the Taskmaster
Taskmaster
Taskmaster is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. The character is primarily a supervillain but is often portrayed as an antihero. The Taskmaster first appeared in Avengers vol.1 #195 and was created by David Michelinie and George Pérez...
and Lady Deathstrike
Lady Deathstrike
Lady Deathstrike , occasionally spelled "Deathstryke", is a Marvel Comics supervillain, a foe of the X-Men, especially Wolverine.Her father Lord Dark Wind created the adamantium-bonding process that was forced on Wolverine...
.
Mutant Control Act
The first direct mention of a piece of legislation specifically aimed at super-humans in the Marvel Universe comes in Uncanny X-Men #141 (January 1981) in which the "Mutant Control Act", a law from the future, is mentioned. In the course of the story, the first part of the two-part "Days of Future Past" storyline, Kate Pryde travels back in time from a dystopian future to the present and possesses the body of her younger self, X-Men member Kitty PrydeKitty Pryde
Katherine Anne "Kitty" Pryde is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #129 and was created by writer-artist John Byrne....
. On revealing herself to Kitty's team-mates she recounts to them the series of events which led to her dark future, in the hopes that the X-Men might be able to prevent those events from coming to pass.
One of those pivotal events was the passing of a "Mutant Control Act" by the government of the United States. When the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
found the law unconstitutional the government responded by reactivating their robot Sentinel
Sentinel (comics)
Sentinels are a fictional variety of mutant-hunting robots, appearing in the Marvel Comics Universe. They are usually portrayed as antagonists to the X-Men. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, they first appeared in The X-Men #14 .According to Marvel canon, Sentinels are programmed to locate...
program so that they might police the mutant race. The Sentinels interpreted their mandate in such a way that they decided to forcibly take over the government of the country and instituted a harsh regime where mutants were severely persecuted. The reference to the Mutant Control Act is brief, and it is unclear exactly what its provisions would entail, though it would appear that registration forms at least one part of it.
In the course of the story the X-Men are successful in preventing one of the pivotal events which Pryde had described to them (the assassination of Senator Robert Kelly
Robert Kelly (comics)
Robert Edward Kelly is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. He most often appears in Marvel's X-Men and X-Men-related comic books. He is a prominent United States Senator who began his career on an anti-mutant platform, and as the X-Men team is made up entirely of mutants, his role...
) from occurring, though the story's end is intentionally ambiguous as to whether Pryde's dystopian future was fully avoided. Although no Mutant Control Act has been introduced in the comics, the Mutant Registration Act may be its equivalent and the events of "Days of Future Past" continue to be alluded to in X-Men comics as a possible future.
1982 British Super Hero Legislation
During the events of the Jaspers' WarpJaspers' Warp
"Jaspers' Warp", also known as "Crooked World", was a Marvel UK storyline featuring primarily the character Captain Britain. It was originally published between 1982 and 1984 in Marvel Superheroes, #387-388, The Daredevils, #1-11 and The Mighty World Of Marvel, volume 2, #7-13.The story is a...
story arc
Story arc
A story arc is an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, boardgames, video games, and in some cases, films. On a television program, for example, the story would unfold over many episodes. In television, the use of the story...
, an insane reality warper, Jim Jaspers
Mad Jim Jaspers
Sir James Jaspers is a fictional character created by Dave Thorpe and Alan Davis for the Captain Britain stories in Marvel UK comics and later developed by Alan Moore....
, became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
and turned the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
into a fascist state. As PM, he enforced "Super Hero Legislation"; using armored agents
Superhuman Restraint Unit
The Superhuman Restraint Unit is a fictional special operations unit of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the Marvel Comics universe designed by penciller, Howard Chaykin. These S.H.I.E.L.D. agents wear armor, and use hardware, designed by Tony Stark and Stark Enterprise employee, Kenny and are trained to take down...
of S.T.R.I.K.E.
S.T.R.I.K.E.
S.T.R.I.K.E. is a fictional, comic book counter-terrorism and intelligence agency in the . The organization, that often deals with superhuman threats, was introduced in Captain Britain Weekly #17, as the United Kingdom's version of the United Nations' S.H.I.E.L.D.The acronym stands for Special...
, the UK division of S.H.I.E.L.D., to hunt down and detain superhumans within the UK. However, the legislation is abandoned after Captain Britain
Captain Britain
Captain Britain , briefly known as Britannic, is a fictional character, a superhero appearing in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Chris Claremont and Herb Trimpe, he first appeared in Captain Britain Weekly, #1...
defeated Jaspers.
Mutant Registration Act
Registration as a concept is first mentioned in Uncanny X-Men #141 where Moira MacTaggert suggests that Robert Kelly has decided the registration of mutants by the government is a necessity.Her suggestion eventually turns out to be accurate, and in the Uncanny X-Men #181 (May 1984) the first mention of a Mutant Registration Act is made when Kelly is seen discussing his introduction of the bill with a senatorial colleague. By #183 (July 1984) the Act is mentioned as passed legislation, and in #188 Nightcrawler
Nightcrawler (comics)
Nightcrawler is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Marvel Universe. He has been associated with both the X-Men and Excalibur, originally appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum, he debuted in Giant-Size X-Men #1...
remarks that it appears to have become accepted as law, suggesting that, unlike the Mutant Control Act in the "Days of Future Past" timeline, it would not be struck down by the Supreme Court.
The passage of the MRA did not have an immediate impact on the plots of any Marvel series, but the legislation continued to be referenced intermittedly in various titles. In at least one instance, (X-Factor #1; February 1986) the Act is referred to as a "possible new law", an apparent contradiction with its previous depiction as passed legislation. In that story the prospect of the MRA is one of things which motivates Jean Grey
Jean Grey
Jean Grey-Summers is a fictional comic book superheroine appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. She has been known under the aliases Marvel Girl, Phoenix, and Dark Phoenix and is best known as one of five original members of the X-Men, for her relationship with Cyclops, and for her...
and Cyclops
Cyclops (comics)
Cyclops is a fictional character, the leader of the X-Men superhero team in the . A mutant, Cyclops emits a powerful energy beam from his eyes...
to form X-Factor.
The legislation becomes a plot point later when government agent Val Cooper and the mutant terrorist Mystique
Mystique (comics)
Mystique is a fictional character associated with the Marvel Comics' franchise X-Men. Originally created by artist David Cockrum and writer Chris Claremont, she first appeared in Ms...
form Freedom Force
Freedom Force (comics)
Freedom Force is the name of two teams within Marvel Comics' universe.The original was a supervillain team, though they occasionally acted in a heroic capacity as well. It was a government-sponsored team originally composed mainly of Mystique's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants...
, a government sanctioned superhero team (mostly comprising former members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants) in Uncanny X-Men #199 (November 1985). Freedom Force went on to make many appearances where they sought to enforce the MRA by arresting unregistered mutants such as members of the X-Men (e.g. Uncanny X-Men #206, June 1986), X-Factor (e.g. X-Factor #30; July 1988) and the New Mutants (e.g. New Mutants #86, February 1990). They also appeared enforcing the MRA in non-X-Men related titles such as Daredevil #269 (August 1989).
Captain America
Captain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
(who at this point is John Walker, the character who would later be known as U.S. Agent
U.S. Agent
U.S. Agent is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in books published by Marvel Comics, usually those starring Captain America and the Avengers. He was created by Mark Gruenwald and Paul Neary in Captain America vol...
) and Battlestar - two other officially sanctioned super-heroes - also briefly enforce the Act by capturing the unregistered mutant Meteorite
Lifter (comics)
Lifter is a fictional mutant supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe. He was created by Jack Kirby in Captain America Annual #4 .-Publication history:...
for the government in Captain America (vol. 2) #343 (July 1988).
During this period of active enforcement of the MRA, the only mutants who are shown publicly protesting the Act were those who were not aligned with the X-Men or its affiliated teams. For example, in X-Factor #33 the Alliance of Evil
Alliance of Evil
The Alliance of Evil is a name used for a fictional group of supervillains that appear in comic books published by Marvel Comics.-Publication history:...
demonstrates against the MRA in Manhattan and after fighting X-Factor are arrested by Freedom Force and in Captain America #368 (March 1990) a mutant group called the Resistants
Resistants (comics)
The Resistants, also known as Mutant Force are a fictional supervillain group in the Marvel Comics universe. They were originally the second incarnation of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, but have become completely independent of the other incarnations of that group, except that they were...
are shown protesting the Act in Washington D.C.. Indeed far from publicly agitating against the act, one X-team (X-Factor, in its original form) actually pretend in public to be supporters of the MRA who are actively enforcing it, though in actuality they act to subvert it.
With Freedom Force (the characters most involved in the enforcement of the Act) no longer existing (they disband following a disastrous mission in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
in X-Factor Annual #6, 1991) and Chris Claremont (the writer who developed the MRA as a sub-plot) no longer writing X-Men stories after 1992, the Mutant Registration Act stopped appearing prominently in Marvel Universe stories.
Proposition X
In an attempt to further subjugate the remaining mutant population Simon Trask leads the Humanity Now! coalition in support of federal legislation called Proposition X. Proposition X if passed would have force mandatory chemical birth control on all mutants. While marching to San Francisco's city hall in support of Proposition X Simon Trask and his followers met opposition by Hank McCoy, young mutants and mutant right activist. Hank McCoy's peaceful resistance against Proposition X eventually led to a fight between the opposing sides. In response Norman Osborn will declare martial law in San Francisco which cause the riot that will plague the city the next few nights. These events will lead to Cyclops creating a new mutant sanctuary called Utopia, where mutants can be free from bigoted legislation.1990 Super-human Registration Act
A variation on the concept of the Mutant Registration Act the Superhuman Registration Act concept is originally proposed in comic books published circa the "Acts of Vengeance" storyline, such as PunisherPunisher
The Punisher is a fictional character, an anti-hero appearing in comic books based in the . Created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita, Sr., and Ross Andru, the character made its first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 .The Punisher is a vigilante who employs murder,...
(vol. 2) #29 and Avengers (vol. 1) #313 (both January 1990).
During that period, in Fantastic Four #335 and 336 (December 1989, January 1990) the Fantastic Four go to Congress where a committee is investigating whether an SRA, similar in its provisions to the already in effect Mutant Registration Act, is required for Superheroes (the MRA only covers individuals who have their powers inherently at birth, not those who acquire their abilities artificially in later life). In his testimony and in evidence he presents to Congress, Reed Richards
Mister Fantastic
Mr. Fantastic is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero and a member of the Fantastic Four. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, he first appeared in Fantastic Four #1 ....
argues that a Super-human registration Act is unnecessary as Super-humans have been largely effective and trustworthy in their actions and government regulation would only stifle their ability to protect the world. He argues that those individuals who were likely to act irresponsibly with their powers are also likely to be supervillains and thus would not be candidates for registration anyway.
As the topic is debated, he and his teammates are continually attacked by random supervillain
Supervillain
A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
s whom they easily subdue, though it is unclear if this helps or hinders his arguments. In his final point concerning the lack of any workable definition of superhuman Richards demonstrates a device that scans a human for physical and mental capabilities and compares those to the national average, marking 'significant outliers' as "superhuman". The device identifies several regular humans, including some committee members, as "superhuman" according to those criteria. The proposed legislation is abandoned and registration of superhumans in the United States is not recommended by the committee.
1993 Canadian Super-powers Registration Act
A similarly titled "Super-powers Registration Act" is passed by the CanadianCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
government in Alpha Flight
Alpha Flight
Alpha Flight is a fictional superhero team published by Marvel Comics, noteworthy for being one of the few Canadian superhero teams. Created by John Byrne, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #120 ....
#120 (May 1993). Introduced by a minister of the Canadian government named Robert Hagon, the Super-powers Registration Act is part of a complex plot engineered by the Master
Master (comics)
The Master of the World is a fictional character, a supervillain appearing in publications from Marvel Comics. He was a caveman who was experimented on by a Plodex spacecraft for thousands of years, after which he gained different powers. His first appearance was in Alpha Flight #2...
, who is using the alias "Joshua Lord".
The terms of the act entail the government employment of all super-powered individuals, including mutants, who are then enlisted in one of the government Department H
Department H
Department H is a fictional organization in the Marvel Universe.-History:It is a branch of the Canadian Department of National Defence and is also responsible for the recruitment, provisioning, administration and deployment of Alpha Flight....
"Flight" programs such as "Alpha Flight" and "Gamma Flight
Gamma Flight
Gamma Flight is the name of two fictional Canadian teams of superheroes in the Marvel Comics Universe.-Flight tier level:They first appeared in Alpha Flight vol. 1, #1 ....
".
Although the Act was shown to be controversial and the first series ended with the disbandment of the Canadian government's superteams (the various "Flights") in Alpha Flight (vol. 1) #130 (March 1994), the Canadian SRA is never explicitly repealed or overturned within the comics.
Later Alpha Flight series did not acknowledge the law. As of 2006, rumors began to circulate (encouraged by some Marvel creators such as Mark Millar) that a new Alpha Flight series of some form is in the planning stages. The rumors suggest that the premise of this series would involve American superheroes fleeing the United States to Canada to escape a newly enacted U.S. Superhuman Registration Act. This suggests that registration is no longer mandatory in the Marvel Universe version of Canada. In July 2006 Civil War editor Tom Brevoort concurred with this sentiment saying "we've seen no evidence of it in ten-plus years of Canadian appearances. So if such legislation did exist, it was evidently repealed at some point."
Other sources, however, such as Michael Avon Oeming
Michael Avon Oeming
Michael Avon Oeming is an American comic book creator, both as an artist and writer. He is known for using a stark art style to tell stories with sophisticated and mature subject matter.-Career:...
's post-Civil War title Omega Flight
Omega Flight
Omega Flight is the name used by three teams of fictional characters with superpowers in the Marvel Universe, one of the few Canadian teams published by an American comic book company. Omega Flight first appeared in the pages of Alpha Flight as a supervillain team...
, contradict this statement, which several character mentioning having a Registration Act for years, without the negative effects of the American Superhuman Registration act.
2006 Superhuman Registration Act
Interest in the concept of the act was revived in various Marvel comic books in 2006. In Amazing Spider-Man #529-531 (April–June 2006), following the events of "DecimationDecimation (comics)
Decimation is the late 2005 Marvel Comics storyline spinning off from the House of M limited series. It focuses on the ramifications of the Scarlet Witch stripping nearly all of the mutant population of their powers, thereby reducing a society of millions to one of scant hundreds.This event, which...
" and the sudden dramatic fall in the Mutant population, the U.S. government again considers a Superhuman Registration Act and Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
and Iron Man
Iron Man
Iron Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, first appearing in Tales of Suspense #39 .A billionaire playboy, industrialist and ingenious engineer,...
travel to Washington D.C. to discuss the issue. In those issues Iron Man is shown to be initially opposed to the idea, while Spider-Man is unsure of his opinion.
In The New Avengers
Avengers (comics)
The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers...
Special: the Illuminati
Illuminati (Marvel Comics)
The Illuminati are a group of comic book superheroes who joined forces and secretly work behind the scenes in Marvel Comics' main shared universe. The group was formed very shortly after the Kree-Skrull War...
(May 2006), Iron Man attempts to persuade his Illuminati colleagues to support the SRA, in order to diffuse it. Iron Man predicts that some superhuman or group of superhumans will eventually make a mistake that will cost hundreds of lives (he specifically mentions the Young Avengers
Young Avengers
Young Avengers is an American comic book series written by Allan Heinberg and published by Marvel Comics. It follows a group of young superheroes, each of whom patterns themselves after a member of the long-established Marvel superhero team the Avengers....
and the Runaways
Runaways (comics)
Runaways is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The series features a group of teenagers who discover that their parents are part of an evil crime group called the Pride. Created by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona, the series debuted in April of 2003 as part of Marvel Comics'...
as candidates for causing such a catastrophe). After such an event, he went on to predict, the government would inevitably rush to make an example of someone, or everyone, in the superhuman community by passing legislation that would be even more restrictive or persecutory towards them than the proposed SRA. By supporting the Act before it is passed, he suggests, he and his fellow Illuminati might be able to help avert such possible future tragedies and also, by becoming a part of the process, help moderate the legislation so that it would have the minimum possible negative effect on the superhuman community. However, most of the Illuminati members (except for Reed Richards, who ironically had spoken against the similar proposition made 16 years before (see above)) flatly reject Stark's proposal, leading to the disbandment of the group.
In the same issue the first part of Iron Man's prediction are shown to be accurate when a conflict between the New Warriors
New Warriors
The New Warriors is a Marvel Comics superhero team, traditionally consisting of young adult heroes. They first appeared in The Mighty Thor #411 .-General publication history:...
and a group of supervillains ends with a massive explosion which kills hundreds of people, including children attending a nearby school. As depicted in the Civil War
Civil War (comics)
Civil War is a 2006-2007 Marvel Comics crossover storyline built around a self-titled seven-issue limited series written by Mark Millar and penciled by Steve McNiven, which ran through various other titles published by Marvel at the time...
crossover and series, the public outcry that follows this event leads the government (with the support of Iron Man and fellow Illuminati member Reed Richards) to quickly enact the Superhuman Registration Act (SHRA), 6 U.S.C. S. 558, which required those with naturally occurring superhuman abilities, super abilities acquired through science or magic (including extraterrestrials and gods), and even non-super powered humans using exotic technology, such as Iron Man
Iron Man
Iron Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, first appearing in Tales of Suspense #39 .A billionaire playboy, industrialist and ingenious engineer,...
, to register as "living weapons of mass destruction." Enactment of the law on the federal level led to various revisions to state criminal codes (such as Chapter 40, Article 120, Section 120 of the New York Penal Code and Section 245(d) of the California Penal Code) in order to allow state and federal coordination in enforcing the law. This leads to a major schism and conflict among the superheroes, with the anti-SHRA side- regarding the Act as a violation of civil liberties- led by Captain America and the pro-SHRA side- seeing the Act as a natural evolution of the superhuman's role in the modern world to regain public trust- led by Iron Man. Eventually, Iron Man's side wins the conflict and the "Fifty State Initiative
Fifty State Initiative
The Fifty State Initiative, often referred to as simply The Initiative, is a fictional governmental plan that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics, in particular those related to The Avengers...
" is established.
Other countries followed America's lead and introduced their own Superhuman Registration laws.
Following the Skrull
Skrull
The Skrulls are a fictional race of extraterrestrial shapeshifters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics.-Publication history:The Skrulls first appeared in Fantastic Four #2 and were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby....
invasion
Secret Invasion
"Secret Invasion" is a comic book crossover storyline that ran through a self-titled eight issue limited series and several tie-in books published by Marvel Comics from April through December 2008....
and the subsequent fall from grace of Iron Man, Norman Osborn seizes control of the Initiative and SHIELD, but is prevented from getting his hand on the register (and thus the identities of most of the superhuman community) by Tony Stark when he infects the US government database with a computer virus (technically qualifying Iron Man as a terrorist). There is only one copy of the SHRA database, in Stark's brain, where he deleted it, piece by piece, before Osborn could get his hands on it, ironically destroying the very information that was the focus of "Civil War" in the first place.
At the conclusion of "Siege," Steve Rogers is named the new head of security of the United States and as a condition of joining, he convinces the President to dissolve the Act, allowing heroes to return to their daily businesses.
MI-13 Registration Act
First raised in #1 and further detailed in #5 of Captain Britain and MI-13 (2008), the British version of registration was started during the SkrullSkrull
The Skrulls are a fictional race of extraterrestrial shapeshifters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics.-Publication history:The Skrulls first appeared in Fantastic Four #2 and were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby....
invasion
Secret Invasion
"Secret Invasion" is a comic book crossover storyline that ran through a self-titled eight issue limited series and several tie-in books published by Marvel Comics from April through December 2008....
: all superheroes in the UK were drafted with immediate effect into the intelligence agency MI-13
MI-13 (comics)
MI-13, sometimes written MI13 or MI: 13, is a fictional British intelligence agency in the Marvel Comics universe, operating out of Portwell House in Whitehall. It was introduced in Excalibur vol...
. After the invasion, the terms were stated that MI-13 would monitor and support superheroes and call on them for reasons of national defence, but would allow them semi-autonomy so they would not feel morally compromised.
Ultimate Universe
Although no Registration Act exists in the Ultimate MarvelUltimate Marvel
Ultimate Marvel is an imprint of comic books published by Marvel Comics, featuring reimagined and updated versions of the company's superhero characters, including Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Avengers, and the Fantastic Four. The imprint was launched in 2000 with the publication of the series...
Universe, there are several laws in place that prohibit superhuman activity. Genetic modification of a human being is illegal, and the Superhuman Test Ban Treaty makes it illegal for nations to employ superhumans. This makes the Test Ban Treaty the polar opposite of the SHRA. in Ultimate Six #1, it was stated that the law on deliberately created superhumans is still unclear, allowing Nick Fury
Nick Fury
Colonel Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury is a fictional World War II army hero and present-day super-spy in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by artist Jack Kirby and writer Stan Lee, Fury first appeared in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 , a World War II combat series that portrayed the...
to hold supervillains indefinitely without any trial and in hidden locations (#5 showed that the President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
was unaware of this).
Exiles #12
In ExilesExiles (Marvel Comics)
The Exiles are a group of fictional characters that feature in three Marvel Comics series, Exiles, New Exiles, and Exiles vol. 2. The Exiles consists of characters from different dimensions, or realities, which have been removed from time and space in order to correct problems in various alternate...
#12 a parallel world is shown, similar to the "Days of Future Past" timeline, in which the passing of a Mutant Registration Act led to the Sentinels taking over the world and herding mutants, superhumans and eventually even humans into concentration camps.
The "Age of Apocalypse
Age of Apocalypse
"Age of Apocalypse" is a 1995 - 1996 comic book crossover storyline published in the X-Men franchise of books by Marvel Comics. The Age of Apocalypse briefly replaced the universe of Earth-616, although it was later retconned as having occurred in the alternate universe of Earth-295, it had...
" version of Sabretooth
Sabretooth (comics)
Sabretooth is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics supervillain created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne. The character first appeared in Iron Fist #14...
, who at that point was a member of the Exiles, stays on this planet in order to raise the infant David Richards (the son of the Rachel Summers
Rachel Summers
Rachel Anne Summers is a fictional character, a comic book superheroine created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne for Marvel Comics....
and Franklin Richards
Franklin Richards
Franklin Richards is a fictional comic book character appearing in books published by Marvel Comics, usually as a supporting character in Fantastic Four.Franklin is an Omega-Level mutant with vast psionic and reality-manipulating powers...
of that reality).
Marvel Knights: 2099
In an alternate world (Earth-2992) shown in the Marvel Knights: 2099Marvel 2099
Marvel 2099 is a Marvel Comics imprint, started in 1992, that explores one possible future of the Marvel Universe. It was originally announced by Stan Lee in his "Stan's Soapbox" column as a single series entitled The Marvel World of Tomorrow, which was being developed by Lee and John Byrne...
series of one-shots published in November 2004, a Mutant Registration Act is in effect which mandates that mutants undergo a process which robs them of their abilities.
The Marvel Knights: Mutant 2099
Mutant 2099
Mutant is a fictional character in the Marvel Knights 2099 universe, published by Marvel Comics, and created by Robert Kirkman.-Publication history:...
one-shot explained that after the passage of this act the Avengers, X-Men and Fantastic Four opposed the government's enforcement of it and were eventually defeated in a major battle that was fought in front of the Baxter Building
Baxter Building
The Baxter Building is a fictitious 35-story office building in Manhattan whose five upper floors house the Fantastic Four's headquarters in the Marvel Universe.-Publication history:...
. This led all the remaining superheroes to go underground.
The 1992 X-Men animated series
The first episode of the 1992 X-Men Animated Series (Night of The Sentinels (part 1); original airdate: 31 October 1992) mentions that some form of registration is in effect already. In the episode, JubileeJubilee (comics)
Jubilation "Jubilee" Lee is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superheroine associated with the X-Men.A mutant, Jubilee had the superhuman power to generate "fireworks" of explosive plasma. A teenage "mall rat," she was the X-Men's youngest member in the early 1990s, often playing sidekick to...
's foster parents worry that they may have to "register her with the Mutant Control Agency" after she manifests her powers for the first time.
But following the attack on Jubilee at a mall, it was revealed that the hidden agenda of Henry Peter Gyrich
Henry Peter Gyrich
Henry Peter Gyrich is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Avengers Vol. 1 #165 and was created by Jim Shooter and George Pérez.-Fictional character biography:...
, the founder of the agency is to deceive the mutants into revealing their identities so the Sentinels
Sentinel (comics)
Sentinels are a fictional variety of mutant-hunting robots, appearing in the Marvel Comics Universe. They are usually portrayed as antagonists to the X-Men. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, they first appeared in The X-Men #14 .According to Marvel canon, Sentinels are programmed to locate...
could eliminate them due to Gyrich's beliefs that mutants pose a threat to society. After the destruction of their files, following the X-Men's raid on the agency, the President decides to cancel the registration act. The government's persecution of mutants is a consistent theme throughout the fifth season of the series.
The X-Men movies
The events of the first X-MenX-Men (film)
X-Men is a 2000 superhero film based on the fictional Marvel Comics characters of the same name. Directed by Bryan Singer, the film stars Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Anna Paquin, Famke Janssen, Bruce Davison, James Marsden, Halle Berry, Rebecca Romijn, Ray Park and Tyler Mane...
film are precipitated when Senator Robert Kelly introduces a Mutant Registration Act to the Senate. This motivates Magneto
Magneto (comics)
Magneto is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the central villain of the X-Men comic, as well as the TV show and the films. The character first appears in X-Men #1 , and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby...
, who sees such legislation as persecutory towards mutants, to kidnap Kelly and replace him with Mystique, who while impersonating Kelly, withdraws his advocacy for the Act.
In the sequel, X2
X2 (film)
X2 is a 2003 superhero film based on the fictional characters the X-Men. Directed by Bryan Singer, it is the second film in the X-Men film series...
, the Mutant Registration Act is briefly mentioned when Storm speculates that Nightcrawler's attack on the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
might lead the government to reintroduce the legislation.
Non-Marvel equivalents
In many other super-hero universes the government has intervened to regulate or control the activities of super-heroes. Some examples of this include:DC Universe
In DC ComicsDC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
' DC Universe
DC Universe
The DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...
the Justice Society of America
Justice Society of America
The Justice Society of America, or JSA, is a DC Comics superhero group, the first team of superheroes in comic book history. Conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox, the JSA first appeared in All Star Comics #3 ....
chose to disband in 1951 rather than appear in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee
House Un-American Activities Committee
The House Committee on Un-American Activities or House Un-American Activities Committee was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. In 1969, the House changed the committee's name to "House Committee on Internal Security"...
, which demanded that they unmask themselves. This was first shown in a back-up story in Adventure Comics
Adventure Comics
Adventure Comics was a comic book series published by DC Comics from 1935 to 1983 and then revamped from 2009 to 2011. In its first era, the series ran for 503 issues , making it the fifth-longest-running DC series, behind Detective Comics, Action Comics, Superman, and Batman...
(vol. 1) #466 ("The Defeat of the Justice Society!"; December 1979) by writer Paul Levitz
Paul Levitz
Paul Levitz is an American comic book writer, editor and executive. The president of DC Comics from 2002–2009, he has worked for the company for over 35 years in a wide variety of roles...
and subsequently further explored in the America vs. The Justice Society
America vs. The Justice Society
America vs. The Justice Society is a four-issue comic book mini-series starring the Justice Society of America which was first published by DC Comics between January and April 1985....
4 issue limited series (January–April 1985) by writers Roy
Roy Thomas
Roy William Thomas, Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor, and Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics, with a series that added to the storyline of Robert E...
and Dann Thomas
Dann Thomas
Danette "Dann" Thomas is a comic book writer, the wife of comic book writer and editor Roy Thomas. She has at times collaborated with Thomas on All-Star Squadron, Arak, Son of Thunder, the Crimson Avenger miniseries and Avengers West Coast.She married Roy Thomas in May 1981 and legally changed her...
.
There is also a piece of legislation called the "Keene Act" (an apparent reference to Watchmen, see below) in the DC Universe. First mentioned in Suicide Squad
Suicide Squad
The Suicide Squad, also known as Task Force X , is a name for two fictional organizations in the DC Comics Universe. The first version debuted in The Brave and the Bold #25 , and the second in Legends #3...
(vol. 1) #1 (May 1987) in a story written by John Ostrander
John Ostrander
John Ostrander is an American writer of comic books. He is best known for his work on Suicide Squad, Grimjack and Star Wars: Legacy, series he helped create.-Career:...
, the "Act" is referred to as a piece of legislation from 1961 which gives prisons greater leeway in imprisoning superhumans than ordinary prisoners.
It was more fully explored in Secret Origins
Secret Origins
Secret Origins is the title of three American comic book series published by DC Comics.The title began in 1961 and for one issue, all reprints. The title Secret Origins of Super Heroes went onto a second series, also reprints, which ran for seven issues from 1973-1974...
(vol. 3) #14 (May 1987), again written by Ostrander, where it is revealed that the Act was passed in 1961 and it reaffirmed the right (that had been cast into doubt by HUAC in 1951) of superheroes to operate with secret identities
Secret identity
A secret identity is an element of fiction wherein a character develops a separate persona , while keeping their true identity hidden. The character also may wear a disguise...
. That story also reveals that the later "Ingersoll Amendment" (a reference to lawyer and comics writer Bob Ingersoll
Bob Ingersoll
Robert "Bob" Ingersoll is an American lawyer and writer. Ingersoll's full time occupation was an appellate attorney with the Cuyahoga County Public Defender Office in Cleveland, Ohio, until he retired in 2009...
) to the Keene Act, which delineates governmental authority over superhuman activity in times of crisis, was passed into law in 1972.
The Return Of Captain Invincible
In the 1983 comedy film The Return Of Captain InvincibleThe Return Of Captain Invincible
The Return of Captain Invincible is a 1983 Australian musical comedy and superhero film starring Alan Arkin and Christopher Lee.-Plot:The plot involves the Captain America/Superman inspired super-hero called "Captain Invincible" who is active during World War II and afterwards...
starring Alan Arkin
Alan Arkin
Alan Wolf Arkin is an American actor, director, musician and singer. He is known for starring in such films as Wait Until Dark, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Catch-22, The In-Laws, Edward Scissorhands, Glengarry Glen Ross, Marley & Me, and...
and Christopher Lee
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
, Captain Invincible (Arkin) is a super-hero who was forced into retirement in the 1950s following the government's persecution of him.
In a similar scenario as that faced by the Justice Society, Captain Invincible faced a McCarthy-ish
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
congressional investigation which accused him of being a communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
(because of his red cape) and charged him for violating U.S. airspace by flying without a proper license.
As the title suggests a crisis forces Captain Invincible out of retirement in the 1980s which leads to him redeeming his reputation.
Watchmen
In Alan MooreAlan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
and Dave Gibbons
Dave Gibbons
Dave Gibbons is an English comic book artist, writer and sometime letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries Watchmen and the Superman story "For the Man Who Has Everything"...
´ 12 issue Watchmen
Watchmen
Watchmen is a twelve-issue comic book limited series created by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colourist John Higgins. The series was published by DC Comics during 1986 and 1987, and has been subsequently reprinted in collected form...
series (September 1986 – October 1987), extensive reference is made to a law called the Keene Act.
The series reveals that the actions of superheroes or "costumed vigilantes" in the world of Watchmen caused a New York City police strike
Police strike
A police strike occurs when law enforcement is affected by a labour dispute. They are extremely rare. Generally, they are illegal, but for obvious reasons this law is difficult to enforce...
in 1977, which led to riot
Riot
A riot is a form of civil disorder characterized often by what is thought of as disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence against authority, property or people. While individuals may attempt to lead or control a riot, riots are thought to be typically chaotic and...
ing (shown in Watchmen #2; October 1986) and the passing of the Keene Act which outlaws non-government affiliated vigilantes (mentioned in Watchmen #4; December 1986).
The passing of the act led to the retirement of most of the US superheroes, and the series depicts them coming out of retirement when the Comedian, one of the few government-sponsored vigilantes, is murdered at the beginning of the comic.
City of Heroes
Following World War II, in the City of HeroesCity of Heroes
City of Heroes is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on the superhero comic book genre, developed by Cryptic Studios and published by NCsoft. The game was launched in North America on April 27, 2004 and in Europe on February 4, 2005 with English, German and French language...
universe, the United States intelligence community feared the Soviet bloc would gain an advantage in meta-human assets. To address this issue, the government passed the Might for Right Act. This law proclaimed any U.S. citizen with meta-human powers or paranormal abilities, super-powered individuals and vigilante heroes a valuable national resource subject to draft without notice into the service of the United States government.
The law was later struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court after numerous protests and complaints regarding the law's civil rights abuses.
Currently in effect in the setting is the Citizen Crime Fighting Act, which provides vigilantes who choose to register (whether technically superhuman or not) with police powers. Unlike the Might for Right act or the Marvel act the CCFA does not require heroes to work for the government.
Astro City
In writer Kurt BusiekKurt Busiek
Kurt Busiek is an American comic book writer notable for his work on the Marvels limited series, his own title Astro City, and his four-year run on Avengers.-Early life:...
's Astro City
Astro City
Kurt Busiek's Astro City is a comic book series centered on a fictional American city of that name. Written by Kurt Busiek, the series is co-created and illustrated by Brent Anderson with character designs and painted covers by Alex Ross...
Vol. 2 #6-9 (February - May, 1996) the registration of super-humans is mandated by the city's Mayor Stevenson. In those comic book issues, a super-human serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
is thought to be active in the city and the Mayor proposes that registration will help apprehend the killer.
Stevenson brings in federal E.A.G.L.E. agents to enforce the new requirement, which is opposed by many active super-heroes. The prominent hero Winged Victory
Winged Victory (comics)
Winged Victory is a fictional character in the comic book series Astro City. Created by writer Kurt Busiek and artists Brent Anderson and Alex Ross, Winged Victory is a prominent superheroine of Astro City, motivated by a powerful desire for social justice and self-sufficiency for...
makes outspoken statements opposing registration and several super-humans flout the law and illegally continue their activities without registration.
In Astro City #8 the Mayor is revealed as an alien infiltrator whose actions are part of a planned extraterrestrial invasion. The mayor's policy discredited, Astro City's super-human population unite to defeat the invasion in Astro City #9.
Registration is abandoned at the storyline's conclusion and has not been mentioned again in the series. The issues involved were later collected in the trade paperback Astro City: Confession (ISBN 1-56389-550-1).
Brave New World
In the Brave New WorldBrave New World (role playing game)
Brave New World is a role-playing game originally released by Pinnacle Entertainment Group in 1999. The game was later sold to Alderac Entertainment Group in 2000. The game is an alternate history superhero game set in a fascist United States of America living in a perpetual state of martial law...
superhero role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
originally released by Pinnacle Entertainment Group in 1999 the setting of a dystopian alternate timeline includes a fascist United States government which passed the "Delta Registration Act" after a group of supervillains attempted to assassinate President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
on November 22, 1963.
In the game the law requires that anybody with super-human abilities must register themselves to the United States Government. Its restrictive provisions include requirements that registrants surrender certain civil rights and notify the police of their whereabouts regularly. The law also mandates that super-powered individuals register within 7 days of first manifesting their abilities, with the penalty for failing to do so being an automatic sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The Act also legislates for the mandatory military conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
of individual super-powered individuals at any time should their abilities be judged necessary by the government. In the world of the game most other nations have similar laws, though they are far less draconian in their restrictions and enforcement.
Powers
In Brian Michael BendisBrian Michael Bendis
Brian Michael Bendis is an American comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim for his self-published, Image Comics and Marvel Comics work, and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics, with his books selling consistently highly for over a...
and Michael Avon Oeming
Michael Avon Oeming
Michael Avon Oeming is an American comic book creator, both as an artist and writer. He is known for using a stark art style to tell stories with sophisticated and mature subject matter.-Career:...
's Powers
Powers (comics)
Powers is an American creator-owned police procedural comic book series by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Avon Oeming. The series' first volume was published by Image Comics from 2000 to 2004...
series, superheroes had to register with the government in order to be able to operate. This was changed following the events of Powers (vol. 1) #30 (March, 2003) in which Super Shock, the world's most trusted superhero, goes on a massive worldwide killing spree. At that point, the US government prohibited super-beings from using their powers and operating as superheroes.
This leads all the world's heroes to retire and attempt to live normal lives, though after Powers (vol. 2) #6 (November, 2004) some begin to re-emerge.
The Incredibles
In the world depicted in the 2004 Pixar animated feature filmFeature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
The Incredibles
The Incredibles
The Incredibles is a 2004 American computer-animated action-comedy superhero film about a family of superheroes who are forced to hide their powers. It was written and directed by Brad Bird, a former director and executive consultant of The Simpsons, and was produced by Pixar and distributed by...
superheroes are shown in flashback as originally having been required to register with the National Supers Agency (or "NSA"; a joke reference to the real-life National Security Agency
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
) in order to fight crime legally.
However, following the Sansweet v. Incredible court case (in which superheroes were found to be legally liable for the personal injury claims of people who were injured during the course of their activities) most superheroes were forced into retirement due to the potentially massive legal liabilities they faced. In the movie it is explained that to assist the superheroes in their retirement, the United States government set up a "Superhero Relocation Program" (similar in many ways to the non-fictional Witness Protection Program
United States Federal Witness Protection Program
The United States Federal Witness Protection Program is a witness protection program administered by the United States Department of Justice and operated by the United States Marshals Service that is designed to protect threatened witnesses before, during, and after a trial.A few states, including...
) which granted heroes amnesty from legal claims provided they permanently retire from hero work and live anonymously.
By the end of the film, the protagonists have returned to their roles as superheroes, and the program appears to have been nullified.
Absolution
In the world depicted in AbsolutionAbsolution (comics)
Absolution is a 6-issue comic book limited series written and created by Christos Gage with art by Roberto Viacava that is published by Avatar Press, launched in July 2009.-Plot:...
, Christopher Gage's creator-owned limited series by Avatar Press
Avatar Press
Avatar Press is an independent American publisher of comic books, founded in 1996 by William A. Christensen, and based in Rantoul, Illinois.Avatar initially published only mini-series; however, they have since begun to branch out...
, super heroes are part of the police force. While the government is aware of their real identities, superheroes are not obligated to reveal their identities to the public.
Smallville
In the television series SmallvilleSmallville
Smallville is the hometown of Superman in comic books published by DC Comics. While growing up in Smallville, the young Clark Kent attended Smallville High with best friends Lana Lang, Chloe Sullivan and Pete Ross...
The Vigilante Registrations Act (VRA) is proposed legislation that would require vigilantes to register themselves.