http://image.comicvine.com/uploads/vol/4000/3352/3352-57504-1-marvel-super-heroes-_400.jpg"> src="http://image.comicvine.com/uploads/vol/4000/3352/3352-57504-1-marvel-super-heroes-_150.jpg">Ah…Secret Wars. I remember first hearing about Spider-man’s new costume. The news media was all over it. Everyone clamored to pick up Amazing Spider-man 252 to find out what was going on. Little did the average non-reader know that it wouldn’t be explained until seven months later in another comic.
Despite what some have said, I think Marvel’s Secret Wars was one of the best mini-series/crossovers to this day. It was very ambitious for it’s time. Let’s bring in all these heroes and villains that haven’t had a whole lot of interaction with each other (unlike nowadays) and pit them against each other. After that it became so that you couldn’t read a character’s comic without “guest stars” popping in all the time.
I’ve already mentioned Spidey’s new duds (and we all know that later it would result in Venom). Look at the other things that came about. The Thing was able to turn back into Ben Grimm and left the Fantastic Four (which brought in She-Hulk). Colossus ends up cheating on Kitty Pryde and they end up breaking up (which lead to the excellent Wolvering and Kitty Pryde mini-series in which she gets her ninja mojo). Julia Carpenter is introduced as the new Spider-woman. I could keep going on but I think I’ll stop just in case there are actually some people out there that haven’t read the series yet. (Run out to your comic or book store and pick up the trade paperback!!)
Maybe it’s because we weren’t bombarded with mini-series after mini-series back then or we didn’t have the huge Infinite Crisis or Civil War storylines that made it special. It was just a really fun series. I still remember when Spidey had to take on the entire X-men. You had the unexpected happening even though the rest of the Marvel Universe continued from the end of the series. I’ve griped a little about 52 but this was only 12 issues. I think it really worked because it was a somewhat new idea, or at least one that hadn’t been played out every couple months.
Secret Wars II? Yeah, I guess I should bring that up. Is that one available in a trade paperback? I’m thinking no. It was…okay. Granted I haven’t re-read that story as I have Secret Wars. What really sticks to my memory is the Beyonder’s perm. Ugh. No offense if there’s anyone out there with that hairstyle. I mean I never said I had the best hairstyle in the world but it just sort of came out of nowhere. He looked almost like a white Michael Jackson. (Wow, guess the Beyonder really was omnipotent. He knew what Michael Jackson would become.) This one was nine issues but it crossed over into like every single comic. The main series barely told the whole story. You had to read each individual comic to get the whole story. I’m sorry but I just really wasn’t into Power Pack. Did I buy that issue? Hate to admit it but yeah. Then didn’t Secret Wars III take place in an issue of Fantastic Four? Now we find out that the Beyonder (in it’s female form…longer story) died (again) at the beginning of Annilitation. Did I miss something? I didn’t even see that happen. Who knows if the Beyonder will return. I’ve heard something about “BEYOND” but haven’t picked that up.
Then there’s the recent Secret War that took forever between issues to come out. Yeah there were ties to the New Avengers but I wasn’t overly impressed. Why call it “Secret War”? I mean I know why, it was a secret and their memories were blocked, but it seemed like they were pulling at my heart when I first heard of the series. No connection to the Beyonder here. Will they ever do an Ultimate Secret Wars? I might be a little scared if they did. Ultimate War and Ultimate Nightmare didn’t do a whole lot for me. Sorry.