The original Secret Wars mini series was initially made to sell action figures, much like Gi-Joe and Transformers were in the 1980s. That being said, I greatly enjoyed Secret Wars. I picked up the trade paper back in 2005 and although I wasn't impressed with the first two issues, issues 3 kicked the whole series into high gear and I was sold.There are a lot of good moments in Secret Wars to go along with the overall story. Spider-Man making the X-Men look like scrubs. Spidey taking on Titania and humbling her. Hulk holding up a 150 billion ton mountain to keep the heroes from getting crushed. And of course, who can forget Spidey's black, alien costume?
I've never read Secret Wars II, but I've been told it isn't as good as the original. Some say the tie-ins are better than the actual story and there were a lot of tie-ins to this series, making it even longer than the original Secret Wars. Of all the omnibus books Marvel could release its kinda strange that Secret Wars II is seeing the light of day before vol. 2 of the Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus.
I don't know too much about Secret Wars II, but I know a few things of particular interest. When the Beyonder turned a building into solid gold, Spidey got a gold notepad out of it. Spidey also had to teach the Beyonder how to use the restroom. I found out the later just a few days ago so if nothing else, I'll try to find that issue.
As of now, I'm still on the fence or whether I should eventually plunk down the cash for this one.
Comments
I'm not sure what I'd recommend. While it might provide some bit of education, know that the Beyonder has been retconned horribly into being an Inhuman (in the Illuminati comic), which cheapens the whole thing on a lot of levels. Depending on the cost and how curious you are, I'll let you make the call.
Regardless, the most memorable crossover issues (off the top of my head) are Daredevil #223, Amazing Spider-Man #274, The Incredible Hulk #312, and Fantastic Four #285.
The DD issue has the Beyonder giving Matt his eyesight back, while the Fantastic Four issue shows the Human Torch dealing with the fact that a kid tried to impersonate him by lighting himself on fire.
While the concept might be okay with the FF story, knowing that the Beyonder could easily heal the boy makes it a bit iffy. It could be argued it would make light of the situation, but ehhh, it would be business as usual for the Beyonder.
The Spidey story is insanely ironic due to OMD. In this story, Spidey has to save the Kingpin or else the multiverse is doomed (Spidey doesn't know this though). Mephisto is banking on Spider-Man stopping the Kingpin's assassination. The Beyonder sends in Zarathos to stop Spidey and Spidey takes Hellfire like a champ. I forget if I ever showed you the scans I did of that moment. Spidey succeeding gives the Multiverse one more day of survival.
Last, the Hulk story.
This one goes into Bruce's childhood, his abusive father, and the death of his parents. However, this story is not entirely accurate. Hulk -1 shows what really happens between Bruce and his father. Since that won't be in the omnibus, or the crossover issue itself, I'll tell you here.
When Bruce and his father are at the grave of Mrs. Banner, his father attacks him and Bruce defends himself with a kick to his father's head. However, his dad falls badly on a gravestone and dies. Due to the fear of his father's ghost, this is why the Hulk can see Dr. Strange's astral form, which is supposed to be something you normally can't see.
Shooter’s comeback was that if they didn’t sign on, they would miss out on Spidey’s new costume. Needless to say, this was such a big deal, that they immediately inked the deal. Shooter then returned to the Marvel offices, and reportedly said “We have to design a new costume for Spidey.”
Yep, Spidey’s black costume was purely a marketing ploy to sell toys. Funny stuff, eh?
Spidey black duds was just designed to sell toys? Funny!!
The Beyonder's learning trip is one of the best stories I read since my beginning of going to IronMan