The Road to Civil War

Title: The Road to Civil War
Cover art: Gabrielle Dell'otto
Written by: Brian Michael Bendis, J. Michael Straczynski
Pencils: Alex Maleev, Ron Graney, Mike McKone, Tyler Kirkham
Publisher: Marvel Publishing Inc.
Year: 2007

Lead by the US government the Marvel Universe is on a path that can only lead to a civil war amongst its heroes and villians. The growing sentiment in Washington D.C. is that superhumans/superheroes are not above the law. With this sentiment as the driving force certain senators (namely Senator Dickerson) are pushing for a Metahuman Registration Act which essentially gives superhumans two choices. They can either register their real names with the US government or be considered criminals by the very government they dutifully serve. Besides a record of every superhuman the Metahuman Registration Act seeks to make them accountable under the letter of the law for any damages/consequences of their actions. What strikes me about this is that it's clearly a political ploy (as with many things government related) and could certainly do more harm than good.
The initial meeting of superhumans who are aware of the coming danger are Professor Charles Xavier, The Black Panther, Dr. Stranger, Mr. Fantastic, Namor, Black Bolt and Iron Man who I must mention is the first person aware of the U.S. government's intentions. The group cannot agree to bring their respective team members under an umbrella organization so that they're orgainzed and share information properly (similar to The Justice League Unlimited), and this is where they enter a temporary private pact. The stories in The Road to Civil War are clearly all linked back to previous issues which means you'll have to acquire a few other issues to understand other aspects of this seemily intertwined story (House of M, The New Avengers Illumaniti Special, Amazing Spider-Man #529)
Of note is the character manipulation by Tony Stark (Iron Man), Spider-Man's new costumes, and the mercenary Titanium Man. Even though the events that obviously leading to a civil war Bendis and Straczynski could have inculded just a little more substance in the story line given it was such a smooth yet short read.