The MC2 Presents: Secret Warriors, Week 1

Welcome back to the MC2, Multiversity’s column of noted Marvel experts. The three of us (Mc3 sounded weird) are covering Marvel’s straight up CALVACADE of “Secret Wars” tie-ins! This week, we tackle “Planet Hulk”, “Spider-Verse”, and more whilst giving up our own thoughts! Feel free to join in the conversation in the comments and let us know what you think about Marvel’s latest crossover. Spoilers below!

What We’re Expecting

James: I’ve been really big on Hickman’s “Avengers” work (as literally everything I write here can tell you) so I’m just happy to have the main “Secret Wars” series. But after the second issue showed off the type of setting Battleworld is, the plethora of tie-ins suddenly made sense. A world under rule by God Doom seems like one that’s really fun to explore, and I’d like to see it fleshed out in the tie-ins while the main series does its own thing.The worst thing, I think, is for a tie-in to not relate to the massive Game of Thrones style world being built.

Jess: I feel really far behind on “Avengers” and “New Avengers” but thanks to the internet, I have a basic idea of what happened to get us to “Secret Wars”. I’m expecting the tie ins to be fun and a little crazy. Battleworld seems like a creator’s dream as they can do a lot of things they normally wouldn’t be able to do with these characters. I’m really into this Game of Thrones like world that Hickman has created so I want to see more of that played with.

Alice: As a massive fan of Jonathan Hickman and his writing on “Avengers” and “New Avengers” from the very beginning of his run, I was excited for “Secret Wars” when it was first announced as the culmination of what was essentially Marvel’s version of “Crisis On Infinite Earths”. I’m still excited now, but mostly only for the main series by Hickman and Esad as I think they’re the perfect team for the multiversal Games Of Thrones story that’s going to cap off this era of the Marvel Universe. What I wasn’t looking forward to as much were a lot of the tie-ins largely because the idea and structure of Battleworld still confuses me and I was worried that that would take me out of the stories. And, not to spoil anything, but I was pretty much right about that.

Note: None of the writers above agreed to describe “Secret Wars” as Game of Thrones. That kind of just happened. It’s mostly the Doctor Strange as Littlefigner thing.

Micro-Reviews

Secret Wars: Battleworld #1
Written by Joshua Williamson & Ed Brisson
Illustrated by Mike Henderson & Scott Hepburn
Reviewed by Alice W. Castle

The idea of “Secret Wars: Battleworld” is one similar to that of “Original Sins” or, I’m assuming, “Axis: Revolutions” in that it serves as a companion piece to the main event book by telling small, related stories that don’t have enough to them to support their own book. It’s a neat idea that allows creators to flesh out the events of the… well, event without these stories taking up a whole slew of other tie-in books. While I must preface this by saying that this issue made me more confused than ever about the actual nature of Battleworld, the quality of the stories within are worth checking out on their merit alone.

The first story is one that I should be currently raving about and I’m not sure why I’m not. The premise is this: Doctor Strange souljacked a ride in The Punisher’s body and is currently on the run from demonic versions of The Hulk, Spider-Man, Wolverine and Ghost Rider. That’s such a good premise that I should already by giving this book a ten outta ten. Add on top of that the fact that story is by the creative team of “Nailbiter”, Joshua Williamson and Mike Henderson, and I should be going out of my mind right now. And I did as I read through the story the first time. The premise is fantastic and the writing of each character, for what little we get out of them, is pretty solid and the artwork for the fight is simply amazing. However, the biggest problem I had with the story is simply the fact that the fact that Strange’s soul was in Castle’s body wasn’t capitalised on as much as I would have liked? It basically came down to The Punisher using magic guns and as cool as that is, I think the idea had more potential than that. The biggest killer of this story for me, though, was the ending that revealed the the Doctor Strange inhabiting Punisher’s body is a different Doctor Strange than the one playing Littlefinger to God Doom. This moment took me completely out of the story as it just made me question too many things about Battleworld that no one’s bothered to explain.

The second story of this issue doesn’t have quite as cool a premise as the first, but that also means that it’s much more levelled out in terms of quality. Ed Brisson and Scott Koblish team up here for a story which sees MODOK teleport in various different MODOKS (from where I still don’t know and I’m afraid to question) in order to team up to usurp Doom. This story plays to both Brisson and Koblish’s strengths in terms of comedy as the story is goofy and over-the-top and is a nice reprieve from the serious, multiverse-ending nature of the event. Koblish has a lot of fun with the different, exaggerated versions of MODOK and even though the story takes place mostly in the same room, he keeps it lively by focusing on the over-the-top visual comedy of a bunch of different MODOKs yelling at each other in one room. While this story is simple, it’s fun and effective and shows what a character like MODOK gets up to when the entire world is controlled by Doom.

Overall, “Secret Wars: Battleworld” is off to a pretty good start in this issue with some very interesting ideas that flesh out the world of Battleworld and bringing in some great creators to see those ideas through to the end. While there are still a lot of quibbles I have with the nature of Battleworld (how come there’s two different Stranges? do they know each other? where did the other MODOKs come from if the only world left is Battleworld?) that took me out of the story, I can’t deny the creative talent on display.

Final Verdict: 6.6 – Despite moments that took me out of the story, this issue is a lot o

A-Force #1
Written by G. Willow Wilson and Marguerite Bennett
Illustrated by Jorge Molina
Reviewed by Jess Camacho

At one point, the only “Secret Wars” branded title I was going to read was “A-Force”. It featured an all female cast with a writing team I couldn’t pass on. The hype was in full effect for this book from the get-go and while it doesn’t meet the high expectations people had, it is an enjoyable read.

“A-Force” takes place in Arcadia, one of the many areas of the Battleworld. The protectors of Arcadia are the A-Force made up of She-Hulk, Captain Marvel, Spider-Woman, Nico Minoru, Medusa, Dazzler, American Chavez, Loki and many, many others. Arcadia is beautiful and seems to be an almost perfect place to live. While on patrol, the A-Force comes up against a really pissed off shark that Captain Marvel straight up punches in the face. American Chavez, getting really into the fight, does something that brings down the wrath of the Thors and has to face punishment for it.

The first thing you notice with “A-Force” is the dialogue. It’s witty and full of this great snarky attitude that never really comes off mean. When we join this story, it’s clear this team has been working together for some time and that’s what the dialogue reflects. G. Willow Wilson and Marguerite Bennett are letting their characters have some fun and so we have fun. They’re all confident in battle and behave like heroes when they show concern for civilians.

After the battle, Wilson and Bennett dive into the team dynamics a bit more through the situation with America Chavez. She-Hulk, as leader of the team and of Arcadia has to make some tough decisions after being scolded by Doctor Littlefinger Strange but she’s met with some resistance from within her team. I like that everything is not sunshine and roses for this team but more importantly, I appreciate that the conflict ties into the world Jonathan Hickman has built with “Secret Wars”. It makes the Battleworld meaningful and not just an arbitrary thing for promo material as everything is actually crossing over.

“A-Force” #1 is a good debut but has it’s share of issues. The biggest being how unclear the character versions are . Dazzler is back to her 70’s look, Spider-Woman is back in her red spandex but Carol Danvers is Captain Marvel and in her modern look. It seems that the other tie in books are clear with what Marvel era they’re playing with but “A-Force” isn’t. Some clarity would be nice since Marvel made a big deal about both Dazzler and Spider-Woman’s new costumes. Jorge Molina’s art is also very hit and miss. There are some really great moments when the heroes are in action and many of the close up shots are perfect. However, there are exposition heavy moments that feel incomplete and muddled. Faces in those panels have almost no discernible emotion and some of the proportions are way off. I’m a bit let down by She-Hulk’s size in comparison to the rest of the team. Her physique could be more pronounced and she should definitely be taller.

Overall, “A-Force” #1 is fun but not without its share of problems. However I do think this series is destined to be a hit with fans but the giant cast may need to be trimmed down a little bit. There’s a lot of potential here and with Wilson and Bennett writing, there’s no reason to get down on “A-Force” yet.

Final Verdict: 8.2 – Fun, colorful but leaves a little something to be desired

Ultimate End #1
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Illustrated by Mark Bagley
Reviewed by Jess Camacho

Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley return to close out the tales of the Ultimate Universe (I think) and while their work on “Ultimate Spider-Man” is the stuff of legend, “Ultimate End” #1 is a mess. That’s difficult for me to say because as we got closer to “Secret Wars”, I became a little excited for this one. The Ultimate Universe in the last few years has been a big mess. Creative teams didn’t really stick around and the work they did do just wasn’t as good as when this line was launched. “Ultimate End” #1 is presumably the ending of this line but if the first issue in any indicator, it’s not going to be a very good ending. There are some spoilers in this review so skip down if you want to avoid them.

The issue opens up with The Punisher aiming his sniper rifle at a clashing group of Marvel heroes saying that this was always how it was going to end. We’re then taken to Peter Parker Spider-Man swinging around Manhattan who ends up fighting against the Serpent Society. This is broken up by the All-New Ultimates who take Peter to the Triskelion to listen an extremely long winded conversation led by Nick Fury.

This whole issue is pretty much a giant conversation. The one action scene gets shortened very quickly and Peter Parker, the most amusing part of this whole thing, gets stopped in his tracks right as he starts getting funny. Somehow the Battleworld version of Manhattan has heroes from both the 616 Universe and the Ultimate Universe living together. The problem is that they somehow know that something isn’t right and need to work together to get everyone back to where they’re from. This makes no sense with the long story that Jonathan Hickman has been telling. It’s insinuated that Ultimate Tony Stark’s portal had something to do with bringing all these characters together but we know that isn’t true. The other tie ins are stories that are taking place with older/different versions of Marvel characters as they exist in the Battleworld. “Ultimate End” #1 reads like it’s trying to take over “Secret Wars” and be about how the two Marvel Universes that collided in the last Incursion “fix” things. I repeat, this makes no sense with what’s happened up to now. Also, they should all probably be dead but I guess we’re ignoring that…and the fact that Doom is a little smarter than leaving this kind of problem there when he created the Battleworld.

Mark Bagley’s art is just okay. I’ve seen at his A-game and this isn’t it but it’s not terrible. This issue is a bunch of people standing around in a room but he’s able to bring a great deal of expression to each character. The angles are very good and I’m never not going to love how he draws Spider-Man. Unfortunately at times I did get a little confused as to which Tony Stark belonged to which universe. The colors do leave a little something to be desired because they are a bit murky. It’s a dark book and I guess it does make sense to an extent but when the entire issue is people talking, I need something to pop off the page visually to keep me interested.

“Ultimate End” #1 is a very strange issue that just doesn’t work. I used to be a huge fan of the Ultimate Universe but at this point I want it to be put out of its misery.

Final Verdict: 4.0 – I was genuinely mad reading this and that never happens to me.

Deadpool’s Secret Secret Wars #1
Written by Cullen Bunn
Illustrated by Matteo Lolli & Jacopo Camagni
Reviewed by James Johnston

“Deadpool’s Secret Secret Wars” is kind of the opposite of what I wanted from the tie-ins. It’s set during the original “Secret Wars” from the 80’s with Deadpool shoved into it. That’s truly all I can describe of the main story. Mateo Lolli does a fun riff on the 80’s art style and balances it with some more contemporary style, but there’s not much else save for Deadpool doing the usual Bea Arthur routines. If Wade Wilson’s a stand-up comic, then “Secret Secret Wars” is a worn-out “Best Of” record. He acts wacky, he breaks the fourth wall, and confuses actual Marvel heroes with a healthy dose of violence and sexual harassment. The last one’s a pretty noticeable trend as Deadpool takes every opportunity to joke about Wasps’s chest and wish to nail Bea Arthur.

Normally, those pieces aren’t so noticeable – hell, who doesn’t want to nail Ol’ Bea – but they stick out in “Secret Secret Wars” because truly nothing else happens. The heroes stand around, introduce themselves, and vaguely go along the plot of the 1984 “Secret Wars” which god help you if you didn’t read. Amid the honestly solid action and blatant fourth-wall leaning – a moment where Professor X’s ability to walk is explained as a convenient tool for forgetful writers stands out in particular. There is the implication that this story is some retcon, that Deadpool did something to save the original series which is why he’s not remembered, but it’s not even close to explored. It’s just a sexist sociopath in a sock mask pointing at the “Secret Wars” title and expecting us to laugh.

The back-up “Contest of Champions” riff doesn’t hold much water either. Deadpan gets dragged into a team-up with a bunch of D-listers like Howard the Duck and Doop and it’s just pretty trite. This story, as well as the main one, feel utterly disconnected from anything going on, not just to the greater crossover but to their own internal storytelling. It’s two separate stories of filler.

Final Verdict: 4.6 – “Deadpool’s Secret Secret Wars” #1 isn’t a bad comic but you won’t remember it in a year’s time. The decision to revisit the old “Secret Wars” is a bold one, but one unsubstantiated by any actual look at that story besides a wanky surface level. Compared to the other tie-ins, “Deadpool’s Secret Wars” feels completely isolated and, for that, weaker as well.

Planet Hulk #1
Written by Sam Humphries
Illustrated by Marc Laming
Reviewed by James Johnston

“Planet Hulk” #1, on the other hand, is exactly what I want from this crossover. An insane premise, an explanation of what Battleworld is as a whole, and a continuation of what traits our heroes still have, even if they’ve been transported across realities. The Steve Rogers of Battleworld is a gladiator partnered with Devil Dinosaur and you already have my money. After fighting back against the pit’s owner, Arcade, and getting arrested, Rogers is tasked by Doom to travel to Greenland and destabilize the Red King, a red Hulk building a resistance against Doom. Not only are the Dothraki of this Game of Thrones world Hulks, but they live in Greenland. A country this comic is presumably sold in.

What sells the insane premise is how its played completely straight. This isn’t your wacky “Everything’s changed so now Captain America rides a dinosaur!” There’s reasons given. Cap was sold into gladiator fighting and agreed to find the Red King so he could save Bucky, who also went after him for Doom. Not only have we justified why Cap’s riding a dinosaur (I think?) but we can tie it into the greater Battleworld saga, nip that bud, and move onto the gladiator Hulk business.

The reason “Planet Hulk” #1 is so compelling is that it’s just so simple. Where others may take the over-they-top route, Laming brings a down-to-earth realness in his art that’s also able to live with scenes like Cap fighting an army of gamma maggots. There’s just the right amount of self-awareness in the comic that prevents it from becoming another eyeball fest. Moving forward, this seems to be the template that all the other “Secret Wars” titles should look towards.

Final Verdict: 7.6 – A very strong start that answered all the questions it needed to and then bolted off into its own crazy direction. Not only does “Planet Hulk” contribute to the ongoing narrative of “Secret Wars”, but it looks to be a fun time all on its own.

Spider-Verse #1
Written by Mike Costa
Illustrated by Andre Araujo
Reviewed by Jess Camacho

So I did not read the “Spider-Verse” event that ran through anything Spidey related this year. I’m not actually that big of a Spider-Man fan which is why it’s kind of funny that I’m here now reviewing “Spider-Verse” #1.

“Spider-Verse” #1 opens with Spider-Gwen kicking some butt in a cemetary as she explains the existential crisis she’s experiencing. In this slice of the Battleworld she’s dead and so she’s understandably confused. Spider-UK and Anya Corazon are then seen on a dock fighting some bad guys and almost get beat until Spider-Man: India drops in to help out. But this is really Gwen’s story though as she tries to get to the bottom of why she’s here and how she kind of remembers two different lives.

As a whole, “Spider-Verse” is solid. It does a very good job setting up this story and what we should expect from it. Mike Costa really gets how the Spidey family should sound. His dialogue is pretty spot on with some funny one liners. Spider-UK and Spider-Girl have a great opposites attract banter but it’s Spider-Gwen that’s the star of the issue. Costa saves the best narration and snark for her and it works well with the personality that’s already been established for her. Now as you’ve probably already read my review of “Ultimate End” #1 you’re probably questioning why I’m not picking on this issue for insinuating that the characters know too much. It’s completely different because Costa doesn’t position them against Doom. The memories they have indicate that they remember the “Spider-Verse” storyline and not the Incursions. The mystery here, as we see, is much more isolated to this part of the Battleworld.

Andre Araujo’s artwork is very good because he gets how these characters should move. Spider-Gwen soars through the air with perfect gymnast movements. Araujo has great angles and is able to get some expression in body language despite the heroes wearing masks. The only place he really hurts himself is in drawing the costumes. At times they look a little baggy and with Spider-UK, he creates this very weird body proportion in his torso and legs. Rachelle Rosenberg’s colors are very, very good. They’re soft and gentle. She uses a lot of lighter colors but is able to still make darker scenes look properly dark. The colors on the costumes really pop, especially Spider-Girl and Spider-Gwen’s.

“Spider-Verse” #1 is accessible to new readers and sets up a central mystery that has enough potential to last a few issues at the very least. I don’t know if this one will be a huge deal in terms of what happens in “Secret Wars” but those who are reading “Spider-Gwen” and bummed about the break should check this out.

Final Verdict: 7.7 – Solid start that should resonate with Spider-Man fans.

Master Of Kung-Fu #1
Written by Haden Blackman
Illustrated by Dalibor Talajic
Review by Alice W. Castle

“Master Of Kung-Fu” was one of the few “Secret Wars” tie-ins that I was genuinely excited about upon announcement and I can happily say that it did not disappoint me. Haden Blackman and Dalibor Talajic have taken their inspiration from the 1970s Marvel series of the same name that popularised the character of Shang-Chi and incorporated a number of martial arts-related characters from across the Marvel Universe to celebrate a corner of the Marvel Universe that is often forgotten.

The basic premise is this, and it is told beautifully through Dalibor Talajic’s art: Shang-Chi is the son of the Emperor of K’un Lun and spends his time as a drunken vagrant only to be brought into a fight against the Emperor by – I kid you not – the Morlocks when they see him stand up to the Emperor’s minions. Those minions, by the way, are famous Daredevil villains reimagined for the book and is one of the many neat touches Blackman and Talajic pepper throughout this issue.

This issue strikes a fine balance between bringing the reader up to speed with this realm of the Battleworld as well as providing an engaging and action-packed story in the present. A lot of that has to do with Talajic’s artwork that incorporates the style of a gorgeous Chinese tapestry to tell the history of the realm before switching to a style that is very clean and simple for the main story. This allows Talajic to show the action in a very fluid way without cluttering the page and keeps everything very clear to the reader. The finishing touch are the colours by Miroslav Mrva who brings out vibrant reds and yellows throughout the book against a world of lush green grass and the earthy tones of cobbled stones that bring out the “Ancient China as depicted in a martial arts movie” aesthetic of K’un Lun beautifully.

All in all, this is a book that not only works as a tie-in to “Secret Wars” by exploring the history of one of the Battleworld’s realms, but also a fantastic issue in and of itself through use of engaging character, an action-packed story and gorgeous artwork. I genuinely want more of this story.

Final Verdict: 7.9 – A book so good that it didn’t even have to be related to “Secret Wars” to work.

First Week Thoughts:

Alice: In the grand traditions of pretty much every Marvel event comic I’ve ever read, it seems like the further away from the main story of “Secret Wars” you read the messier things get. The main story by Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic seems to be very on the nose with its inspiration derived from Game Of Thrones, but I feel like if anybody could pull it off it’d be these two. However, while some of the tie-ins this week were fun to read like “Master Of Kung-Fu” and “A-Force”, many of them seemed pretty pointless (the Deadpool one and “Planet Hulk”) or downright unintelligible (“Ultimate End”) to me. We’ll see as this whole event thing plays out if Marvel can capitalise of the seeming randomness of the stories being told, but for this week there simply too many things about the nature of the Battleworld itself that didn’t make sense to me for me to dig it.

Jess: It was a little rough in places but there’s a lot of potential here. “A-Force” #1 was fun with a lot of potential, “Planet Hulk” #1 was something I didn’t expect to like so much and “Battleworld” #1 was chaos but and featured sweet artwork from Mike Henderson.

James: Quick question, what didn’t you like about “Planet Hulk”?

Alice: Mostly the fact that its called “Planet Hulk” and it’s about Steve Rogers? I don’t get that. But also it was just a book where I spent the majority of it like “I don’t get it” because like… ok, the flashback showed how everyone turned into Hulks, but did that take place before Battleworld happened? Was that an alternate universe? Then how did it survive to become part of Battleworld because I thought only 616 and 1610 survived.

Though, I should add it wasn’t that I didn’t like it, it just didn’t do anything for me? I was mostly neutral on it except for how many questions I had about everything. Like did Cap and Bucky fight in World War II on Battleworld? What was that flashback about? I don’t know.

I don’t think I understand this event tbh.

James: I don’t think I totally do either. I started with “Deadpool” which was its own thing before diving into “Planet Hulk” which made sense because it had just the one Cap and the one Bucky. Then I started reading the other tie-ins and Cap showed up in “Ultimate End” and that alone had two Hawkeyes and two Iron Men. Then “Battleworld” had that story about the two Doctor Stranges which was kind of cool but only confused me further? I figured this would be a “House of M” situation where there’s just one new reality plucked from different worlds. And then there’s a bunch of them living across the different zones? How can Doom convince everyone he totally created this world if so many of them are duplicates? Why are the Avengers and Ultimates freaking out about meeting each other but NODOK ca just summon
Continued below

And so concludes our first week of “Secret War” tie-ins. Feel free to drop a comment below, let us know what tie-ins you did like, and how wrong we are for not getting the duplicate thing.