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Secret Wars #1 of 8 (Spoilers)
David_D
Posts: 3,881
I get most of my books via DCBS, but there are a handful of favorites and big event books that I wait and buy off the rack the day they come out. I am doing Secret Wars that way, and as it was the only book I bought at the shop yesterday, I really felt the cover price. Handing over a $5 bill for a single funnybook made me feel like I had lived too long.
Anyway, enough about price onto the content.
It is a beautifully packaged book. Hickman gets not only a writing credit, but also a design credit. And, like his creator-owned series that I believe he designs himself, it is a thoughtfully, skillfully constructed issue. As with his own series, I like the way that the previously page, as well as some of the more designed chapter break pages give the whole issue a little more feeling of weight and gravitas. Sort of a print-based special effect. The whole thing, and I haven't counted the story pages, but it feels like a big, meaty read. Which took some sting out of the cover price. The art is beautiful. Sometimes I wish that Marvel did still prestige format like a lot of late 80s/early 90s DC (and the occasional Marvel book like Wolverine The Jungle Adventure, things like that), as this book looked and felt like something that could be in that format.
I haven't read the last issues of "Time Runs Out" yet, as they are in the next shipment, and I have not been reading whatever books have been telling the end of the Ultimate universe, but I didn't feel lost. In fact I think someone could jump into the beginning of this story and probably be ok. The idea of planetary incursion is briefly explained. Clearly, at the very start of the issue, The Beyonders have come, and sh*t is going down. The two remaining Earths- 616 and Ultimate- are squaring off, and in the midst of this the Richards and T'Challa are trying to launch a ark of specially chosen scientists and experts in case humanity needs to be started over again. Basically the series starts out at the pace of giant, cinematic moment of disaster and escape that is familiar in these genres: A world is ending. A little rocket ship is being fired off just as Krypton crumbles.
From the ads and promos we know that Battleworld is to come, but this issue first makes a meal out of The End. And like those "The End"-branded Marvel books, or various What If issues that show disastrous fates, it is pretty epic. And I use that word unironically. It feels big. And not just big in the lots-of-splash-pages way. But big in a way where the emotional beats ring true, and the details feel right. Towards the end of the issue when the ship is breaking apart-- with Reed in one half, and Sue and the kids in the other-- and he stretches his arm to try to get to them? That is a hell of a moment. Hickman is a writer who, in my reading of him, more often succeeds with big ideas than with human emotions. And that scene was full of both.
And, getting back to the design of the book, the page at the end with the birth and death dates for the two universes is a nice touch. Now, of course, we all know this is a story about a shift into limbo. And a suppose the feeling-- even if it is meant to be temporary-- that the 616 is "dead" is immediately undercut by the preview pages of Uncanny Inhumans which follow (that is one of a number of books that, as far as I know, will continue on telling their story regardless of the Secret Wars stuff happening. So it seems that the Marvel Universe will still be alive and well in a number of books next month (not that I am complaining-- I would not have wanted them to force the entire publishing line into limbo). But it is a shame that those preview pages watered down the effect of that grave marker page.
A couple last observations--
To judge from last week's FCBD Secret Wars 0 issue, and now this one, it seems like the Fantastic Four will be the leads in this story. Or, at least, the story is starting out largely from their point of view. On the 616 side it is Richards (and T'Challa) taking the lead, not Cap and Tony. On the Ultimate side, the character with the most agency and power to wield is the Ultimate version of Reed. The book starts out with Doom staring into the veil, facing off against the Beyonders.
For all the noise about the Fantastic Four's title being cancelled last month, the FF characters, to judge from this beginning, are being given the most prominent roles in a summer crossover that they have had since... maybe the original Secret Wars? At first I was going to say Civil War, but even in that one they were mostly supporting roles to Cap, Tony, and Peter. So even if this ends up being their swan song as a team, I am guessing the FF will be getting a lot of page time in this event.
BOTTOM LINE:
It's a great start. I'm in. Looking forward to #2 next week.
Anyone else read this yet?
Anyway, enough about price onto the content.
It is a beautifully packaged book. Hickman gets not only a writing credit, but also a design credit. And, like his creator-owned series that I believe he designs himself, it is a thoughtfully, skillfully constructed issue. As with his own series, I like the way that the previously page, as well as some of the more designed chapter break pages give the whole issue a little more feeling of weight and gravitas. Sort of a print-based special effect. The whole thing, and I haven't counted the story pages, but it feels like a big, meaty read. Which took some sting out of the cover price. The art is beautiful. Sometimes I wish that Marvel did still prestige format like a lot of late 80s/early 90s DC (and the occasional Marvel book like Wolverine The Jungle Adventure, things like that), as this book looked and felt like something that could be in that format.
I haven't read the last issues of "Time Runs Out" yet, as they are in the next shipment, and I have not been reading whatever books have been telling the end of the Ultimate universe, but I didn't feel lost. In fact I think someone could jump into the beginning of this story and probably be ok. The idea of planetary incursion is briefly explained. Clearly, at the very start of the issue, The Beyonders have come, and sh*t is going down. The two remaining Earths- 616 and Ultimate- are squaring off, and in the midst of this the Richards and T'Challa are trying to launch a ark of specially chosen scientists and experts in case humanity needs to be started over again. Basically the series starts out at the pace of giant, cinematic moment of disaster and escape that is familiar in these genres: A world is ending. A little rocket ship is being fired off just as Krypton crumbles.
From the ads and promos we know that Battleworld is to come, but this issue first makes a meal out of The End. And like those "The End"-branded Marvel books, or various What If issues that show disastrous fates, it is pretty epic. And I use that word unironically. It feels big. And not just big in the lots-of-splash-pages way. But big in a way where the emotional beats ring true, and the details feel right. Towards the end of the issue when the ship is breaking apart-- with Reed in one half, and Sue and the kids in the other-- and he stretches his arm to try to get to them? That is a hell of a moment. Hickman is a writer who, in my reading of him, more often succeeds with big ideas than with human emotions. And that scene was full of both.
And, getting back to the design of the book, the page at the end with the birth and death dates for the two universes is a nice touch. Now, of course, we all know this is a story about a shift into limbo. And a suppose the feeling-- even if it is meant to be temporary-- that the 616 is "dead" is immediately undercut by the preview pages of Uncanny Inhumans which follow (that is one of a number of books that, as far as I know, will continue on telling their story regardless of the Secret Wars stuff happening. So it seems that the Marvel Universe will still be alive and well in a number of books next month (not that I am complaining-- I would not have wanted them to force the entire publishing line into limbo). But it is a shame that those preview pages watered down the effect of that grave marker page.
A couple last observations--
To judge from last week's FCBD Secret Wars 0 issue, and now this one, it seems like the Fantastic Four will be the leads in this story. Or, at least, the story is starting out largely from their point of view. On the 616 side it is Richards (and T'Challa) taking the lead, not Cap and Tony. On the Ultimate side, the character with the most agency and power to wield is the Ultimate version of Reed. The book starts out with Doom staring into the veil, facing off against the Beyonders.
For all the noise about the Fantastic Four's title being cancelled last month, the FF characters, to judge from this beginning, are being given the most prominent roles in a summer crossover that they have had since... maybe the original Secret Wars? At first I was going to say Civil War, but even in that one they were mostly supporting roles to Cap, Tony, and Peter. So even if this ends up being their swan song as a team, I am guessing the FF will be getting a lot of page time in this event.
BOTTOM LINE:
It's a great start. I'm in. Looking forward to #2 next week.
Anyone else read this yet?
Comments
I'm confident that they will likely be meat for the beast, but still excited that those characters are getting taken off the shelf for something.
Great post. Couldn't agree more. I thought it was fantastic! Thought the artwork was stunning throughout, and Hickman, well, he's Hickman. 'Nuff said. I've been keeping up with the whole "Time Runs Out" storyline, so it was fairly seamless for me. Glad to hear you didn't have any problems trying to figure out what was going on. I have almost zero knowledge of the Ultimate Universe and was actually thinking to myself while reading it that I'd be a little lost if I hadn't read TRO. But then again, I'm not the brightest lamp in the living room ...
In any event, judging by reveals in TRO, Doom is going to be a major, major player in the story. And that scene at the end with Reed and Sue was great stuff. I also loved the "RIP Marvel Universe 1961-2015" bit at the end too. Just awesome.
I'm definitely "ALL IN* on the rest.
I think that, for me at least, both DC and Marvel this year have finally hit that plateau in event crossovers where I no longer care. And I say that as someone who generally loves the big events.
Better than expected. Nice to see the FF front and center. Fitting that the "First Family" was the one that kicked the whole 616 off, and are the last we see during the final gasps of that universe. Interested to find out more about choice for characters picked for the life-raft.
As always, I wanted more Doom, but that will come (all hope lies with Doom) .
I like the foil of the 2 Reeds. One is a savior who lost everything and one is a destroyer who never had anything.
The section of the ship with Sue and the kids had Franklin on it. Hes made pocket universes and other crazy things when stressed. I wonder...
Also, it kicks Convergence's ass.
Random...remember the Beyonder who became a tree? Could that be the new yggdrasil? The maker destroyed it in the ultimate universe.
I also have to agree with @Brack on the "WTF?" lips on Bullseye and The Punisher - It really took me out of the moment. If I was immature or in high school, I am sure I could make a dozen jokes about them being some serious DSLs.... The editing team should have fixed those.
Apart from Thor I'm jumping into this blind. I'm assuming I'd get this if I'd been reading Avengers and New Avengers?
Moment of the issue: the scene where Reed loses his whole family... and the tips of his fingers. Breathtaking, heart pounding and harrowing stuff.
As for Avengers and New Avengers, yeah. This is less of a standalone event comic and more an extension of Hickman's story in those two titles. I've read at least half of both and made sure I read the last issues to make sure I knew what was going on for Secret Wars. I'm glad I did; I've heard people have been absolutely at sea without Avengers and NA.
As for the issue itself, dang. DANG. I've been telling people since we started getting solicits that this was going to be bananas. Hickman and Ribic did not disappoint. I can't wait to see where this is all going.
They have gone out of their way to present it as such. That makes me doubt it. Perhaps it will be a summer event with actual lasting ramifications.
I feel this is Marvel's way of having Miles join the universe proper, trade Mutants for Inhumans, create Samuel L. Fury, and get rid of the Fantastic Four for a while.