Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
adventurous
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I liked Mike Zeck’s pencils, and this is a good story for Doom. As an X-men fan, I found it frustrating. Besides some cute moments between Captain America, Wolverine, and Magneto (Wolvie becomes the first to say “Magneto was right”), the X-men get shelved except for Xavier and Colossus. Xavier is 100% a “jerk” in this book, usurping Storm and treating Cyclops like a child, forcing his will on the whole team. And Colossus, except for one moment of doubt about whether a first strike is moral (great bit) spends the series ooc swooning over a flirty cat lady who exists as a plot device to remove death stakes. I once owned all these issues as floppies, and am now glad that I sold them.
It’s pretty common for comic fans to shit all over Secret Wars these days. It was literally made just to sell toys. It’s the direct ancestor of all the mega crossovers that fans love to hate. So I went in with a “just doing some homework” expectation. But it wasn’t that bad!
Yes, some of the characters are written very out of character (Wolverine is a walking “bub"; The Lizard and Klaw are so unrecognizable I wasn’t sure if I was missing something; the Human Torch is at peak 1963 Tales of Suspense asshole kid). Yes, it’s TOTALLY SUPER SEXIST (The Wasp literally gets mad about breaking a nail; I shit you not). Yes, it’s disaster porn that sometimes makes no sense at all. Yes, the art is just functional.
But it’s totally fun! All the characters are just as confused as the reader as to why they are there and what the point of it all is. It’s great seeing different combinations of characters whoop each others asses. Magneto has a face turn; Professor X has a heel turn. Three of Marvel’s greatest villains, Doctor Doom, Galactus and Magneto are all given complex and rich stories. There are Kirby-esque kaiju. Molecule Man is made interesting.
Flaws by the ton, but what a rip roarin' tale. And it has Captain America and Doctor Doom bro-ing out, if only for a panel.
Yes, some of the characters are written very out of character (Wolverine is a walking “bub"; The Lizard and Klaw are so unrecognizable I wasn’t sure if I was missing something; the Human Torch is at peak 1963 Tales of Suspense asshole kid). Yes, it’s TOTALLY SUPER SEXIST (The Wasp literally gets mad about breaking a nail; I shit you not). Yes, it’s disaster porn that sometimes makes no sense at all. Yes, the art is just functional.
But it’s totally fun! All the characters are just as confused as the reader as to why they are there and what the point of it all is. It’s great seeing different combinations of characters whoop each others asses. Magneto has a face turn; Professor X has a heel turn. Three of Marvel’s greatest villains, Doctor Doom, Galactus and Magneto are all given complex and rich stories. There are Kirby-esque kaiju. Molecule Man is made interesting.
Flaws by the ton, but what a rip roarin' tale. And it has Captain America and Doctor Doom bro-ing out, if only for a panel.
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I meeeean, the Marvel Universe introduced THE iconic symbiote to Spider-Man, and new characters like Titania and Volcana, and also temporarily reverted Ben Grimm – The Thing – back to his human form. Soooo, kinda cool! In 1984, all this would have blown my mind! I dug it. Really fun read.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Totally just a vehicle to get people to read the regular titles.
3 stars all the way through. The story was a little disappointing. These are the best and worst Marvel heroes and villains, after all. But perhaps certain events have consequences in the individual books.
I read this in ‘85 and had the black Spider-Man suit cover for years. Great series, really ground breaking.
Recently re-read on Amazon Comixology - one of my favorite plotlines from when I was a kid, when the Beyonder set up a battle royal between Marvel heroes (Avengers, X-Men, etc.) and villains (Galactus, Dr. Doom, the Wrecking Crew, the Enchantress, etc.) on a makeshift planet. There are some interesting twists (Magneto with the heroes? X-Men not interested in working with the Avrengers? Spider-Man's new costume in the 80s?), but Room's overwhelming megalomania is the real driver of much of the endgame . . . which is some great stuff!
This is the only comic book (as opposed to a graphic novel...it's a fine line) I've ever read more than once, as well as the only straight-up superhero comic I've ever considered a five-star selection. This is a comic for non-comic types.