Marvel Comics: Secret Wars The end of the Universe?

[Perpetual Man]

Yesterday Marvel made the following announcement talking about the long teased Secret Wars event. It seems as though the big reset button in the sky may well be flashing, but bigger than ever before.

http://www.newsarama.com/23276-the-marvel-universe-is-ending.html

 

[Perpetual Man]

There was a time, as hard as it is to believe that there were very few crossover events in comics. If there was an epic story to be told that needed a guest star, then that character appeared without crossing over with another title. In general the 'epic' storylines were the closure of ongoing tales in the monthly titles, normally occurring at a round number. (ie: Uncanny X-Men 175 saw the apparent return of Phoenix, 200 was the trial of Magneto).

In the late 80's, however, DC realising that they had some 50 years of convoluted history, filled with contradictions, multiple Earth's and different versions of the same characters decided to do something with it all and announced, then produced which might well be the first of the 'blockbuster' crossovers Crisis on the Infinite Earths. It broke down the existing universe, reorganising continuity, streamlining things, and was generally shocking as major characters were killed - Supergirl and the Barry Allen version of the Flash being most notable. While others were literally locked away from continuity - The old Superman and Superboy being bigger examples.

It heralded a new start for DC, with many characters being given a fresh start with revised origins and for a while it was stupendous.

However, Marvel realising what their competitors were up to, released a massive crossover event themselves.

 

[Perpetual Man]

After hints in the regular titles over the preceding months the main Marvel heroes were abducted by a strange force, a near omnipotent being known as The Beyonder. Apparently intrigued by the aspects of good and evil this being created a world from bits of other planets, called it Battleworld and brought the heroes and villains there to do battle.

Unlike DC's universe reorganising magnum opus, this was more the Summer blockbuster type affair the heroes came along fought, a lot of drama, they all go home unchanged. Nothing really altered in the Universe, continuity remained unaltered. (There were a couple of changes, but they were organic progressions of the storyline rather than altering any backstories. (The Thing left the Fantastic Four and wandered Battleworld), Spider-man gained a funky new black costume that would cause him a problem or two further down the line).

(To be fair Marvel had done a 3 issue limited series a few years earlier called the Conquest of Champions, but that was mostly smaller, lesser known characters).

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Hey Perp! I'm very interested in the new Secret Wars event by Marvel. I started reading comic books in the early 1970s (wow, how things have changed since then, in the comics world!). I started a DC fan, then became obsessed with Marvel in the mid 1970s. I remember what you're talking about very well, where it seemed a HUGE deal if, for example, Wolverine made a guest appearance in The Avengers--that seemed a major event in the 70s. But in 1984 in the U.S., Marvel had their first Secret War storyline...it was mind-blowing at the time. It seemed like the biggest event in the history of comics! I thought it was good...great at times, but then at other times kind of silly. In 1985 DC had their own huge crossover event with Crisis on Infinite Earths and it was even grander...even more epic in scale. I think it was a lot better than either of the Marvel Secret War storylines (Marvel had a second Secret War crossover series in...1986 I think it was). I think these crossover events really changed the direction of comics publishing. 1986 also saw the publication, of course, of Frank Miller's Dark Knight stories, and things changed even more...geesh, the various comics universes of 1989 would seem almost unrecognizable to the fan of 1979. Anyways, I'll probably have to wait till the new Secret Wars are published in a compendium version, but I hope you'll post reviews here when they come out! CC

 

[Perpetual Man]

Thanks CC, I'll do my best to keep things updated, without letting any spoilers out of the bag...

Following the two initial 'epic' the dam burst and it seemed as though there was a massive event each year, from DC it was hit or miss, from the solid Invasion, to the poor Millennium, to shooting themselves in the foot with Armageddon 2001 (A brilliant idea. A villain from the future turns ups - Monarch - and it is revealed that he is one of the current heroes. But which one? DC played fast and loose with the story, really building things nicely until it became apparent that the majority of the readership had worked out who Monarch was. In a desperate bid to prove us all wrong, they broke the rules they had set up about who he was, and changed it to a second tier hero. Logic said it was impossible to be him, but it had to stand. For the following months there was the feeling that things were haphazard and rushed, as all the storylines had to change to accommodate what had been done!)

Zero Hour was an attempt to give the DC universe a cohesive timeline, but it seemed, to me at least, that DC just seemed to want to reboot itself every few years. There was a run of Crisis series, culminating in Final Crisis, which should have seen things wrapped up and a stable continuity but...

The return of silver age Flash, Barry Allen led to Flashpoint an epic reformation of the DC universe, culminating in the launch of the New 52, DC's new stable line-up. Everything tightened, interlocked and cohesive. Some of the changes seem to have not gone down so well, and it seems as though there is more tweaking to come.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Marvel followed Secret Wars with the 9 issue Secret Wars II which saw the Beyonder come to Earth and try to understand what it was to be human. It crossed over through evey Marvel title, making it a nightmare to follow, and sorry to anyone who worked on it or liked it, but it was appalling.

Marvel seemed to take the hint and their crossover events seemed to focus on subsets of the universe, Avengers, Spider-man, X-Men etc. But more recently as they began to emerge from their economic slump the crossovers have become more inclusive, with an Avengers crossover seeing the X-Men take part on the peripheries.

The last few years though have seen at least one major crossover (That will change the universe forever!), and a smaller one or two just to fill out the year.

Toward the end of last year without any real announcement of a crossover event Marvel began to tease with a series of intriguing uhhh teasers about what was to be coming.

 

[Perpetual Man]

As can be seen the teasers, riff off a lot of the crossover events of the passed 20 years, only with the summer date given as 2015. Whether this was misdirection - there was something coming linked to the past, or all events are going to be interconnected remains to be seen...

 

[Perpetual Man]

And this is the big payoff the new Secret Wars. A new Battleworld. And the ominous sound of 'everything ends'

If Marvel is planning a DC style reboot the question is going to be 'is it any good?' followed by can Marvel reboot and continue without giving into the temptation of a reboot every few years?

Although what can be seen in the picture is interesting - the Ultimate heroes fighting against/along side the regular guys it should be noted that there are a number of exceptions. No Spider-man and no X-Men. Obviously they could appear elsewhere - we can only see part of the picture - but could part of the reboot be Marvel separating their universe into different identities - The Avengers etc existing in one reality, Spidey in another (Miles Morales the Ultimate Spider-man staying with the Avengers perhaps), and the X-Men in their own. In keeping with the way the Marvel characters are distributed in the film franchises?

Could we be seeing a different two or three versions of the same characters appearing in different realities (Quicksilver & the Scarlett Witch being the obvious example).

We shall have to see....

And finally a link to an article that says it all really:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/how-marvels-secret-wars-reboot-765457

 

[Culhwch]

Interesting. At my current pace I should catch up to the 'reboot' sometime next year!

A nice little history, Perp. I must admit I'm not terribly well-versed with the Marvel Universe prior to the 2000s (although I've dipped in here and there). I don't mind crossovers that are straightforward, like Battle of the Atom, which was contained to a few title and was quite linear, but when they get convoluted (almost through Infinity, which is a bit like this) they can be frustrating. Anyway, if they're really re-doing Secret Wars it'll all be new to me regardless!

 

[Perpetual Man]

It has become apparent that DC are doing something big this year as well. Convergence will see a large crossover event that brings all the different versions of the DC universe together for the first time. (ie. pre-Flashpoint, pre-Crisis etc.)

The event will see the end of all regular monthly titles, to be replaced by a series of two issue limited over a two-three month period. It is more than probable that when the event is over there will be a few tweaks so that the resumed reality with have all the fan favourite bits in place from all various versions of DC continuity.

There is a practical reason for this - DC are relocating offices, from the East Coast to the West so it means a lot of upheaval for the staff. In cancelling everything and just having a pre-determined amount of comics to come out it will be easier to control during the move.

It has to be said that DC have been clear about exactly what is going on, with a simple list showing how Convergence will work and all title that will be published in that time. All else will be on hiatus until the event is over.

Unlike Marvel.

 

[Perpetual Man]

As of today trying to work out what is going on with the whole Secret Wars thing has been a nightmare. There are all kinds of new limited series titles coming out, all that tie into various aspects of Secret Wars, but exactly what they are and how it all fits together has been a nightmare to discover. Part of the problem seems to be Marvel trying to keep things quiet to try and surprise the fans without everything being ruined on the internet by a deluge of spoilers.

In some ways this might be admirable, but it has led to a lot of confusion as to what is actually happening.

Obviously the simple answer is to wait and see and take of the shelves each month as it happens. But think for a moment from the perspective of the humble comic shop owner.

Like the rest of us they have no clue what is happening. And as the readers don't they can't order what they want and neither can the owners. They have to guess. But the big rub for them is that they buy months in advance for a delivery that will not happen for months.

But there are no refunds, so if they over order they have comics sitting on the shelf they have paid for, but get no money back on them....

That though is beside the point.

Now we have a better idea of what is happening.

 

[Perpetual Man]

To start with Marvel have announced that they are 'cancelling' 33 of their regular titles:

All-New Captain America
All-New Ghost Rider
All-New X-Men
Amazing Spider-Man
Amazing X-Men
Angela: Asgard’s Assassin
Avengers, Avengers World
Captain Marvel
Cyclops
Deadpool
Elektra
Fantastic Four
Guardians 3000
Guardians of the Galaxy
Hulk
Inhuman
Iron Fist: The Living Weapon
Legendary Star-Lord
Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man
New Avengers
Nightcrawler
Nova
Rocket Raccoon
Secret Avengers
Spider-Man & the X-Men
Spider-Man 2099
Storm
Superior Iron Man
Thor
Uncanny X-Men
Wolverines
X-Men.

 

[Perpetual Man]

There will be three core titles - BATTLEWORLD, LAST DAYS and WARZONES. These will all address different parts of the Secret War.

BATTLEWORLD - is the main title that looks at what could well be the last planet in the Universe(s) made up of different parts of different worlds and different Earths/realities. It is where all the characters struggle to come to term with the destruction of all that is and what is going to happen next.

LAST DAYS - Studies how various characters react to the end of reality.

WARZONES - concentrates on areas of conflict on Battleworld.

In addition to the core titles there will be support titles that view the conflicts from a street level and a series of limited series that look at the various characters in their new realities. These realities seem to be focusing on different classic storylines from the past which are part of these events.

Titles that have not been cancelled will tie in as well, making a chaotic mass of comics that will be hard to follow without a comprehensive flow chart and map

Hoping that you only need the core titles is probably reaching for the stars.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Surprisingly, outside of the Avengers there have been very few references to anything happening on the bigger picturing. There are very few hooks, foreshadowing, at least none that have been obvious.

Spider-man has just gone through a cross reality epic, and other than a member of the Captain Britain Corp making reference to something huge happening across reality I can think of nothing else.

Some of the titles - they seem to involve classic 'event' comics/stories of the past being reused/mashed together...

Thors - a title featuring many different version of the Avenger

Age of Ultron vrs Marvel Zombies

Ultimate: The End. The destruction of the Ultimate universe. Again, For real this time. Honest.

Star Lord & Kitty Pryde

Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows - Peter Parker & MJ are married, with a daughter. Pretty much as though the 'One More Day' story never happened. Or the alternate reality of Spider-Girl.

Years of Future Past - Riff on the classic X-Men title

Future Imperfect - Riff on the future Hulk title

Age of Apocalypse - return of the alternative reality featuring the X-Men

Old Man Logan

And on it goes. It is interesting to note that a lot of the title featuring regular characters (ie Spider-man/Thors) are all written by the regular creative teams.

Of course all of this is just part of the dressing, it is what happens at the end and after that counts.

 

[Perpetual Man]

One thing of note. This is rumour, but it looks as though there could be some truth behind it.

The Fantastic Four is going to end. But unlike other titles, what is considered to be the first comic in the modern Marvel era will not be returning.

It seems as though having not come to a deal with 20th Century Fox in the way they have with Sony over Spider-man, and not being happy with the way Fox are taking the FF, Marvel are making it as hard as possible to link said quartet to the Marvel Comic Universe by removing the title for the foreseeable future. And Secret Wars is the perfect place to do it.

It does lend speculation to the future of the other property Fox license from Marvel, The X-Men and connected characters. Are we going to see the Mutants removed from continuity, perhaps in their own 'universe' or just pared right back.

On TV and in the comics the Inhuman characters are being given a face lift and a big push , with mention of them possible being persecuted in Agents of SHIELD and the announcement of a new title Uncanny Inhumans, effectively poaching the Uncanny from the X-Men could there be some form of writing on the wall for the mutants?

 

[Perpetual Man]

And so it begins...

Despite being behind in the comic reading area I snuck ahead to read the Free Comic Book Day: Secret War 0 and the opening salvo Secret War 1.

The background to the proposed epic began in the two core Avengers titles written by Jonathon Hickman, who is the guiding hand behind the whole Secret War, these are both titles that I do not read so the issue 0 is designed to catch the reader up to speed. It is simple, straightforward and does the job.

The Marvel Multiverse is being destroyed. (Easy eh?)

Universe after Universe is winking out and the heroes are rapidly becoming aware of it. They've gone passed the stage of 'This is a threat' and 'We need to stop it' to 'We can't stop it!'

By the start of the first issue there are only two Universes' left. The main Marvel Universe and the Ultimate Marvel Universe.

And they are going to collide.

Each side is determined that they will survive. (Well survive longer because they know they're doomed.)

With popular characters killed on panel, the whole thing is epic and fast paced and for once you feel there is a threat because we've been told this is the end. There is scheming, desperate measures twists and turns but in the end.... well here's the last panel (It's not a spoiler as such because we've been told it was going to happen for months....)

 

[Perpetual Man]

It is quite refreshing to read something where you really do not know what is going to happen, where there is the feeling that anything could happen. There is all the chance that this could flip back and be all a dream but we'll see where the ride takes us.

The biggest quibble so far is that Marvel has not been brave enough to cancel some titles - although some big ones have gone - The X-Men Amazing Spider-man, others continue including a number of recently launched ones Silk and perhaps strangely the wonderfully title Spider-Gwen. How they fit in with continuity is puzzling, their stories will be ongoing as the Secret Wars rage. How and why they fit together remains to be seen. In the case of Spider-Gwen, her reality is apparently gone, so how she fits into the War where everything is a paradox. So far.

Or maybe she will just combine into whatever comes after.

 

[Laurence_Donaghy]

Secret Wars is better than Convergence in my view, but that's like saying sellotaping your nuts to a belt sander is better than headbutting a cactus' arse. I have a real issue with Hickman as a writer too. His Avengers / New Avengers "epic" that has led up to this has been both incredibly boring and stupefyingly hard to follow, which in itself is a remarkable achievement. I don't think I'm a stupid person, and yet time after time when I read a Hickman comic book I'm going from panel to panel going "whuh? what's going-? who? what happened there?"

Also, and this may sound quite childish, I resent his habit of having entire pages of the comic dedicated to the one you've posted above i.e. "RIP the Marvel Universe" or some such crap. Comic books are not cheap, particularly when you factor in the $-to-£ exchange rate, and I don't appreciate an entire page which could have contained some, you know, actual storytelling / art instead containing a few words as if this somehow makes them meaningful and portentous. It's like when your teacher told you to do a 10 page report and you had the title page and the contents take up 2 pages and thought - yippee, I'm down to 8! (see, I told you it would sound childish)

 

[Perpetual Man]

Secret Wars has really kicked off now, with a rather interesting society put into place on Battleworld - the last planet existing in what is left of the Marvel multiverse. Made up of a variety of Baronies each ruled by a Baron who is a version of a Marvel character - for example there is Avalon which is ruled by the Braddock family (Captain Britain), others ruled by the likes of The Maestro (The Future Imperfect Hulk), 2099 and Utopia (The X-Men). All the Baronies are ruled over by the God Emperor Doom which ties into the start of the first issue where Doctor Doom spoke to a race from Beyond striking some form of deal as reality ended.

There is also the remains of an alien artifact that has been found...

Outside of the crossover the regular Marvel monthlies either seem to be coming to an end - each series ending with the words There is only Secret Wars - or tying into the series under the banner Last Days as the characters come to terms with the Universe collapsing.

There are a number of new titles that don't mention it at all and it will be interesting to see what happens as the series progresses.

Perhaps the most 'worrying' thing about this whole process is that for all of Marvel spouting that the New Marvel Universe is coming, the few snippets we have seen of what is to come show little difference to the current universe.

 

[HoopyFrood]

I don't know much Marvel, comics-wise, but I'm getting the new A-Force title because hell yeah comic full of superhero ladies!