1. Publication history

2. Plot summary

3. Reception

4. Sequels

5. Other versions
    What If?  Secret Wars (2015) 

6. In other media

7. References

8. External links

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars, commonly known as Secret Wars, is a twelve-issue American comic book crossover limited series published from May 1984 to April 1985 by Marvel Comics. The series was written by Jim Shooter with art by Mike Zeck and Bob Layton. It was tied to the same-named toyline from Mattel.

Publication history

The series was conceived by Marvel Comics' Editor-in-chief Jim Shooter:

In the eleventh issue of the Marvel Age news magazine, published February 1984, a news column announced the series as Cosmic Champions. One month later, the twelfth issue of Marvel Age featured a cover story on the series, now titled Secret Wars.

Shooter also explained:

Crossover titles include The Amazing Spider-Man #251–252,^[3] The Avengers #242–243,^[4] Captain America #292,^[5] The Incredible Hulk #294–295,^[6] Iron Man #181–183,^[7] The Thing #10–22,^[8] Fantastic Four #265,^[9] Marvel Team-Up #141,^[10] Thor #341 and 383,^[11] The Uncanny X-Men #178–181,^[12]

Plot summary

A cosmic entity called the Beyonder observes the mainstream Marvel universe. Fascinated by the presence of superheroes on Earth and their potential, this entity chooses a group of both heroes and supervillains and teleports characters against their will to "Battleworld," a planet created by the Beyonder in a distant galaxy. This world has also been stocked with alien weapons and technology. The Beyonder then declares: "I am from beyond! Slay your enemies and all that you desire shall be yours! Nothing you dream of is impossible for me to accomplish!"^[13]

The heroes include the Avengers (Captain America, Captain Marvel, Hawkeye, Iron Man, She-Hulk, Thor, the Wasp); three members of the Fantastic Four (Human Torch, Mister Fantastic and Thing); solo heroes Spider-Man, Spider-Woman and the Hulk; and the mutant team X-Men (Colossus, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Professor X, Rogue, Storm, Wolverine, and Lockheed the Dragon). Magneto is featured as a hero, but immediately becomes non-aligned when the Avengers question his presence. In 2015 Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars revealed that Deadpool was also a chosen hero, but the Wasp accidentally caused the other characters to forget his involvement.

The villains include the Absorbing Man, Doctor Doom, Doctor Octopus, the Enchantress, Kang the Conqueror, Klaw, the Lizard, Molecule Man, Titania, Ultron, Volcana, and the Wrecking Crew. The cosmic entity Galactus also appears as a villain who immediately becomes a non-aligned entity.

The heroes (the X-Men choose to remain a separate unit) and villains have several skirmishes. There are several significant developments in the series: villainesses Titania and Volcana are created;^[14] the second Spider-Woman, Julia Carpenter, is introduced;^[15] Spider-Man finds and wears the black costume for the first time, initially unaware that it is actually an alien symbiote (the symbiote would subsequently bond with journalist Eddie Brock, giving birth to the villain known as Venom);^[16][17] Doctor Doom temporarily steals the Beyonder's power;^[18] having fallen in love with the alien healer Zsaji (who sacrifices her life on Battleworld to save the heroes), mutant Colossus ends his romantic relationship with a heartbroken Kitty Pryde;^[19] and the Thing chooses to remain behind on Battleworld and explores the galaxy for a year,^[20] with She-Hulk temporarily joining the Fantastic Four as his replacement.^[21]

The next issues of series tie-ins with Secret Wars open right after the return of the Marvel combatants. Immediate developments include: Thing replaced by She-Hulk in the FF, Spider-Man has a new costume, and Hulk has an injured leg and the savage side is re-emerging (to culminate in a totally animalistic, inarticulate Hulk in #299–300). Readers would have to read Secret Wars through to find what caused these changes.

Years later, it was revealed that—while the heroes and villains fought on Battleworld—the Thing's girlfriend Alicia Masters was replaced by Lyja, a Skrull spy.^[22] When the Fantastic Four returned to Earth without the Thing, she began a relationship with the Human Torch. The two eventually married^[23] and remained a happy couple until the Skrull's true identity was exposed by the Thing and the Puppet Master.^[24]

Reception

In 2011, IGN listed Secret Wars as one of the best comic book events. Their writers found the action and goofiness of the story to be enjoyable. They also highlighted the impact it had on the Marvel Universe by introducing the symbiote and new characters.^[25] In 2011, Alex Zalben of MTV News ranked Secret Wars as the second biggest comic event ever; he praised its story and lasting effect.^[26]

Sequels

One year later, Secret Wars II was published, with the Beyonder visiting Earth and having a tie-in with almost every Marvel comic book written at the time.^[27]

Marvel also published a third Secret Wars tale written by Steve Englehart and drawn by Keith Pollard within two issues of the Fantastic Four series (the "Secret Wars III" story in Fantastic Four #318–319 (September–October 1988)).

In 2010, a Marvel Adventures all-ages non-canonical miniseries titled Spider-Man & the Secret Wars was released. It tells the story from Spider-Man's perspective and features major discrepancies with the original event. These tales include him receiving the Beyonder's power and creating "New Parker City", Spider-Man and the Thing spying on Dr. Doom, and a story featuring Spider-Man's suspicions concerning the Hulk. It was released in conjunction with Avengers & The Infinity Gauntlet and Captain America & The Korvac Saga, similar self-contained, all-ages re-imaginations of past events, that appear to take place in their own separate continuities in the standard "Marvel Adventures" manner.^[28]

In 2015, as part of the modern day Secret Wars event, Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars was released. This four-issue miniseries retold the events of the original miniseries from Deadpool's point of view and fixed inconsistencies with the original and later events. Among these was the Wasp and Magneto's sudden one-night stand, and the purpose of the Secret Shields from the original toyline. It was ultimately revealed that the Wasp, out of either disgust or regret for seeing Deadpool's cancer-ridden body, accidentally caused everyone to forget his involvement in the storyline, creating the inconsistencies.

Other versions

What If?

Some issues of What If? revolve around the Secret Wars:

• "Brave New World" by Jay Faerber and Gregg Schigiel explored what would happen if the heroes became stranded on Battleworld,^[29] after Galactus and Beyonder destroy each other in battle. The battle continues for a while, but after the deaths of Bulldozer, Captain Marvel, Cyclops, Doctor Octopus, Kang, Magneto, and Spider-Woman, both sides declare peace. Hulk heads into the wilderness to find a way to get everyone back home, while Doctor Doom builds a replica of his Latverian castle. The Enchantress disappears, Mister Fantastic somehow dies, and Spider-Man's black suit causes him to turn cold and accelerates his aging to the point of becoming a skeleton. Eventually, some of the inhabitants have children who inherit some of their powers, including Bravado, Chokehold, Crusader, Firefly, Gator, Malefactor, Moleculon, Mustang, Raze, and Torrent. By Bravado's 18th birthday, Malefactor disposes of his father and gathers Chokehold, Gator, Klaw, Moleculon, and Raze in a plot to take over Battleworld. Bravado, Crusader, Firefly, Mustang, Torrent, and the heroes and reformed villains defeat them. Hulk and Doctor Doom (who faked his death when Malefactor attacked him) return to help end the conflict. Hulk has used 30th Century technology from the deceased Kang to create a portal that will take everyone home with the help of Thor's hammer. Uatu soon appears and warns them of the bad thing that will happen if they return to Earth. Though the adults call off the trip, the younger heroes sneak out at night and end up on Earth which is overrun with Sentinels. The five agree to stay on Earth as the Avengers and liberate Earth.^[29] On a related note, these five had appeared in the Destiny War storyline.
• In another alternate universe, Doctor Doom retains the Beyonder's power and takes over the universe.^[30]

Secret Wars (2015)

In May 2015 Marvel published a new Secret Wars mini-series, written by Jonathan Hickman and drawn by Esad Ribić, that picked up from where the "Time Runs Out" storyline running in Avengers and New Avengers at the time ended.^[31] The storyline involved the Marvel Universe combining with other alternate universes, including the Ultimate Universe, as well as the 2099 Universe, to form Battleworld, a world which exhibits aspects of the various universes. The core limited series was nine issues long, and ran for eight months, ending in January 2016.^[32][33][34] One of the core miniseries, Ultimate End, had ended the Ultimate Marvel imprint after 15 years at the time. Ultimate End is written by Brian Michael Bendis and artist Mark Bagley, the team that began the Ultimate Marvel universe with Ultimate Spider-Man.^[35]

In other media

An abbreviated form of the 1990s "Secret Wars" storyline appeared in the animated television series Spider-Man, in which the Beyonder and Madame Web selected Spider-Man to lead a team of heroes (consisting of himself, the Fantastic Four, Captain America, Black Cat, Iron Man and Storm) against the villains Doctor Doom, Doctor Octopus, Lizard (who later switched sides), Alistair Smythe, and Red Skull. The goal was to allegedly determine whether good or evil was stronger. But, it was revealed after the war that the real goal was to determine which of several alternate Spider-Men was worthy to lead a team to save the universe. One completely written chapter of "Secret Wars" involved Spider-Man finding another black suit and the X-Men, but transporting the X-Men cast to L.A. (where production for the Spider-Man animated series was based) from Canada (where the X-Men animated series was based) was too costly in the previous episodes the X-Men appeared in, so the episode was dropped and only Storm was used for the rest of the chapters of Secret Wars due to the fact that Iona Morris (who was the first voice of Storm) lives in L.A.^[36][37] Hulk and She-Hulk were not used in these episodes because the Hulk show was on UPN.^[36][37] Furthermore, Quinton Flynn was the only voice actor to reprise his role from the Fantastic Four animated series.^[37]

Mattel released three waves of action figures, vehicles, and accessories in the Secret Wars toyline from 1984 to 1985.

References

External links

• Secret Wars at Marvel.com

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