Anghus Houvouras shares his disappointment with Marvel’s Secret Wars…
Disappointment is the byproduct of expectation. The feeling one gets when the excitement of anticipation makes way for the charred feeling of disenchantment.
Marvel’s latest event comic, Secret Wars, had been highly buzzed about since the series was first announced. An epic, world ending event that would see the Marvel Universe as we know it end, and a new universe assembled from the debris and ashes of everything we had come to hold dear.
The first two issues by Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic was as good as event comics get. We get to see the final moments of the two most prominent Marvel Universes, the 616 and the Ultimate Universe, futilely going to war in an effort to preserve their world. By the end of issue one, all is lost as the final two universes are ground into dust.
The second issue takes that nihilistic ending and shows us the new world order. Battleworld is a planet engineered by a superior being who has taken fragments of different universes and woven them together like Frankenstein’s Monster. You learn that Doom is now God of this world and rules with an iron fist. We get insights into how things work. Doctor Strange is the chief law enforcement officer and has an army of Thors to help maintain order. The issue has a Game of Thrones feel as different notable Marvel icons rule over various provinces. The wastelands are populated by Marvel Zombies and Ultrons. The second issue shows us the potential of this new world order. The old rules have been abandoned. Anything is possible.
At this point the series still held untold potential. There’s a lot going on, the art is beautiful. , and the story is shaping up into something epic. And somehow, with the next three issues they managed to throw it all away. How you ask?
1. The story came screeching to a halt
By the third issue, everything stops being interesting and starts becoming expository. The first two issues feature world ending chaos and Game of Thrones style superhero intrigue. The following three issues have been bland, talky affairs by comparison. It’s like writer Jonathan Hickman used up all his massive set pieces in the first two issues and now has nothing to offer but speeches and conversations.
2. Where exactly are the ‘Wars’. Are they a secret?
For a series called ‘Secret Wars’, there hasn’t been a lot of warring. Maybe that’s the secret in question? The original Secret Wars series delivered a lot of action over 12 issues. The promise of the series was having Earth’s greatest heroes and villains fighting one another to survive, all under the mysterious gaze of the alien being known as The Beyonder. The new Secret Wars has a small assembly of heroes and villains who have come to Battleworld and only fought for a handful of panels.
It seems like such a simple, almost childlike observation, but how on earth do you make a new Secret Wars series and not have the heroes and villains fighting one another? The cover of issue #3 features Reed Richards from the 616 Universe and the Ultimate Universe split down the middle. Here’s a series that promises a world where a good and evil Reed Richards are at odds with one another, trapped on a world where Doctor Doom is God. You would think those circumstances would lead to some amazing drama as these super scientists have to fight one another and God to try and survive. Nope. Three issues later and nothing’s happened.
It reminds me of an episode of the Simpsons where Homer voices the character ‘Poochie’. In the episode, a new character is introduced into the Itchy & Scratchy Show. The show opens and we see everyone’s favorite murderous cat and mouse driving down the road. A series of signs show up that say ‘Fireworks Factory 3 Miles’. Then ‘2 Miles’. Then ‘1 Mile’.
For the kids watching, the wait is excruciating. Finally Milhouse screams ‘When are they going to get to the Fireworks factory?’
That’s the question I want to ask Jonathan Hickman. Because right now I’ve paid $29 dollars to watch Doctor Doom and Doctor Strange share a lot of secrets.
3. Esad Ribic stopped drawing backgrounds
It was around the third issue that I started noticing something strange with Esad Ribic’s art. The lush, epic panels and amazing action packed visuals started to be replaced with a lot of close-ups without backgrounds. Entire scenes with a character talking either in front of a purple or a gold background.
There’s little sense of geography. Everything is so washed out, you get no sense of Battleworld’s landscape. This is the comic book equivalent of bad green-screen sequence in film and each subsequent issue has gotten worse. I like Esad Ribic’s art, but the lack of detail and a boring color palette are making this feel lazy and labored.
4. Why can’t event comics tell the vast majority of the story in the main series
I’m not sure when it happened, but at some point the event comic became less about telling a cohesive story and more about being a loose assemblage and a framework to hold together and endless number of ancillary titles. Any time you complain about the lack of story in an event comic, some dullard will exclaim “If you had bought the companion series it would make sense.” I.E. if you spent another $46 dollars this week, you’d get it.
This is the comic book equivalent of paid DLC in the video game word. And while you never want to feel like any artistic endeavor is a cash grab, Secret Wars has only a handful of issues to try and breathe life back into the rotten husk it has become.
Anghus Houvouras is a North Carolina based writer and filmmaker and the co-host of Across the Pondcast. Follow him on Twitter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=8k_v0cVxqEY
