Secret Wars
- This article refers to the 1984 Secret Wars toy and comic book series. For other possible uses of Secret Wars see Secret Wars (disambiguation).
| Secret Wars | |
|---|---|
 Cover to Secret Wars #1. Art by Mike Zeck. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | limited series/maxiseries |
| Publication date | 1984 - 1985 |
| No. of issues | 12 |
| Main character(s) | See Cast of Characters |
| Creative team | |
| Written by | Jim Shooter |
| Penciller(s) | Mike Zeck |
Secret Wars (full title Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars) is the name of a Mattel toy line, and of a twelve-issue Marvel Comics' comic book limited series (or maxiseries) produced between 1984 and 1985.
The series, which was conceived to launch the toy line, was written by Marvel's then-Editor-in-chief Jim Shooter and primarily pencilled by Mike Zeck. The story was a large scale crossover, in which many of Marvel's most popular super-heroes and super-villains were transported to an alien planet and pitted against each other in an all-out battle. Although the toy line was discontinued in 1985, the miniseries was a hit for Marvel, breaking sales records for a monthly comic at the time of its release and spawning an almost immediate sequel: Secret Wars II.
Plot
The first issue of Secret Wars introduced an all-powerful, godlike character called the Beyonder to the Marvel Universe. The story explained that the Beyonder had been observing the universe for some time. At the series' start the entity is shown drawing various superhumans to specific locations and then abducting them by means of transportation.
All were transported to "Battleworld", a planet created by the Beyonder in a distant galaxy and stocked with alien weapons and technology. There the Beyonder issued the following message:
- "I am from beyond! Slay your enemies and all you desire shall be yours! Nothing you dream of is impossible for me to accomplish!"
Separating up into opposing factions of super-heroes and super-villains the two sides went on to engage in several battles on the planet. At one point the mutant X-Men left the side of the heroes to form a neutral third faction. The planet-consuming Galactus, claiming allegiance to no one, represented his "own" side.
Each group had its victories and losses. Even the Beyonder found itself caught up in a struggle for its existence, as Doctor Doom temporarily stole its vast power. In the end, the heroes snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and the Beyonder granted their wish to return home to Earth.
The series had several immediate consequences for a number of Marvel Universe characters. Spider-Man used some of the alien technology on the planet to create a new black costume, which years later would evolve into the super-villain Venom. A new Spider-Woman, Julia Carpenter was introduced, Colossus had an affair with an alien on battleworld which led him to break up with Shadowcat when he returned to Earth, and two new supervillainesses - Titania and Volcana- were created.
The Thing elected to remain on the Beyonder's world because he found that he was able to revert to his human state there. The character spent a year's worth of stories away from Earth and the She-Hulk took his place on the Fantastic Four.
The Beyonder would return months later in another crossover, the Secret Wars II miniseries, a sequel where the character took human form and came to Earth in search of enlightenment, consequently coming into conflict with the planets' superhumans.
A postscript of sorts to the original Secret Wars series came 14 years after its conclusion in What If...? Vol.2#114 (November, 1998) - "Brave New World" by Jay Faerber and Gregg Schigiel which explored what would have happened had all the characters gotten stuck on Battleworld and never returned home.
Though its title is clearly inspired by the series, the storyline of the 2003 Secret War limited series by Brian Bendis and Gabriele Dell'Otto is totally unrelated to the original series.
Cast of Characters
Super-Heroes
- Captain America
- Captain Marvel II
- Hawkeye
- The Hulk
- Human Torch
- Iron Man (Jim Rhodes)
- Mister Fantastic
- She-Hulk
- Spider-Man
- Spider-Woman
- Thing
- Thor
- The Wasp
The X-Men
(Though they were allied with Captain America's faction, the mutants chose to act as a "third force" in the conflict.)
Super-Villains
- Absorbing Man
- Doctor Doom
- Doctor Octopus
- Enchantress
- Kang the Conqueror
- Klaw
- The Lizard
- Molecule Man
- Titania
- Ultron
- Volcana
- Wrecking Crew
Non-aligned
Mattel Toy Series
In the years since the miniseries Jim Shooter has openly discussed its origin as a proposed toy line [1]:
- "Kenner had licensed the DC Heroes. Mattel had He-Man, but wanted to hedge in case super-heroes became the next big fad. They were interested in Marvel's characters, but only if we staged a publishing event that would get a lot of attention, and they could build a theme around. Fans, especially young fans often suggested to me "one big story with all the heroes and all the villains in it", so I proposed that. It flew.
- "Mattel thought that kids responded well to the word, "secret" so after a couple of working names bit the dust, we called the story Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars."
Mattel went on to produce two lines of figures (with a series of vehicles and accessories and a few special foreign releases) in 1984 and 1985. After the first line most of the figures released were for characters who had not been involved in the Secret Wars comic at all.
Each figure was articulated only at the shoulders, hips and neck. They came with "Secret Shields"; the heroes' were round, while the villains had square shields. These shields came with a series of two-sided inserts whose image changed when tilted. A few figures came with other accessories, mainly guns, which reoccurred in multiple packs.
Full List of Mattel Toy Series
Series I
- Captain America
- Doctor Doom
- Doctor Octopus
- Iron Man
- Kang the Conqueror
- Magneto
- Spider-Man
- Wolverine
Series II
- Spider-Man (black costume)
- Baron Zemo
- Daredevil
- Falcon
- Hobgoblin
Foreign/Special Releases
Vehicles and Accessories
- Doom Copter
- Doom Cycle
- Doom Roller
- Doom Star Glider
- Marvel Super Heroes Freedom Fighter Playset
- Marvel Super Villains Tower of Doom Playset
- Star Dart Glider
- Turbo Copter
- Turbo Cycle
Comparisons with Crisis on Infinite Earths
Although Secret Wars was launched almost a year before Crisis on Infinite Earths (Secret Wars #1 was cover dated May, 1984, while Crisis #1 is cover dated April, 1985) the two have been compared to each other since the time of their first release.
Like Secret Wars, Crisis featured DC's most popular super-heroes in conflict with many of the company's super-villains. However, where Secret Wars featured a limited cast of around 20 superhumans, Crisis endeavored to touch on every character in the company's library, in the process drastically altering aspects of many of them.
Some critics in comparing the two, slighted Secret Wars for its more simplistic story and minor consequences [2], though others have expressed the view that the series is an entertaining diversion from the long, drawn-out plots and subplots of other comics [3].
Neither miniseries was the first of its type however. In 1982, two years before Secret Wars #1 was published, Marvel had released Contest of Champions, the first comic book which advertised the fact that it would only be published for a specific number of issues and the first to feature a large, company wide super-hero crossover storyline. However while Contest of Champions ran for 3 issues Secret Wars and Crisis would run for 12.
First Modern Crossover
Secret Wars was the first of a new breed of large crossover events which would become a staple of both Marvel and DC's publishing schedule from that year on. However, Secret Wars was unlike most of its successors in one important regard. From the month of the Secret Wars' debut all of Marvel's other titles were set after the events portrayed in the miniseries, rather then occurring simultanously as is the custom. For example, in The Amazing Spider-Man #251 (May, 1984), Spider-Man was shown being abducted by the Beyonder, and in the opening of #252 (April, 1984) he was shown returning from Battleworld in his new costume, the events of the Secret Wars miniseries having occurred in a matter of "days" between the two issues.
However the first issue of the miniseries was also published that May, the same month as The Amazing Spider-Man #252. This meant that by the time the series ended,( #12 in April 1985), a full years worth of storylines had occurred in the other titles since the events depicted in that final issue. Moreover, not only did the readers know from the very beginning of the story what many of its consequences would be, but also that by the time it ended they knew what would happen to each of the characters for some considerable time after the story took place. The series was entirely self-contained. Unlike Crisis and other subsequent "events", after its first month the other regular Marvel titles could not link in with the story. This put Marvel at a disadvantage to DC who maximised the sales potential of their Crisis, with lots of tie-in issues each of which saw a modest rise in sales.
When Shooter launched the sequel miniseries Secret Wars II a few months after the end of Secrets Wars the new crossover was more open ended, allowing him to tie-in the storyline with nearly every other Marvel title, some more than once, over the course of its nine month run.
Bibliography
The Original Miniseries
- Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1-12 (1984- 1985)
Original Tie-ins
- Amazing Spider-Man #249-252 (February - May, 1984)
- Avengers #240-243 (February - April, 1984)
- Captain America #292 (April, 1984)
- Incredible Hulk #294, 295 (April - May, 1984)
- Iron Man #181, 182 (April - May, 1984)
- Fantastic Four #265 (April, 1984)
- Marvel Team-Up #141 (May, 1984)
- The Thing #10 (April, 1984)
- Uncanny X-Men #178-181 (February - May, 1984)
Post Secret Wars #12 Tie-ins
- The Thing #11-22 (May, 1984 - May, 1985)
- Thor #383 (September, 1987)
- Quasar #8 (March, 1990).
- What If ...? Vol.2 #114 (November, 1998)
- She-Hulk Vol.3 #10 (February, 2005).