Well, I'm finally caught up with my reviews. Not only that, there's only something like five "Secret Wars" books left for me to review -- the final two issues of the core miniseries, the last "Silver Surfer" tie-in issue, the "Secret Wars Too" parody issue and "Secret Wars: "Official Guide to the Marvel Multiverse."
For now, this set of reviews is sort of an "endings batch," though, sadly, not for the core miniseries as well.
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X-Men '92 #4 (by Chris Sims, Chad Bowers and Scott Koblish): I could pretty much just quote
my review of issue #3 here, from "glorious homage to and riff on all things X-Men of the 1990s" to "If you were a fan of the 90s X-Men, comics or cartoon -- and especially if you're a fan of both -- this is the book for you." This "Secret Wars" tie-in knew precisely what it was here to do, and it did it very well.
The conclusion wraps things up satisfactorily, and even sneaks in a twist at the end that you definitely won't see coming. It may even actually be one that enhances the story. Much like the Shadow King's possession of Cassandra Nova meant you weren't reading the story you initially expected, this ending twist means you didn't quite read the story you thought you did. It may actually mean it was a better one, even if it does mean the overall plot wasn't as simple as previously taken. Ultimately, that will probably be for those who pick up the upcoming "X-Men '92" ongoing series to decide.
In either case, at least by saving the turnabout for the very end, it can't detract from the experience up to that point, which is full of awesome. Deadpool continues to be funny for the first time in years. Bishop continues not being a sociopath. Much nostalgia is felt.
Pretty much every member of the X-Men and X-Force get a moment to do something, and most get fun or dramatic character moments. There's also a lot of excellent team work on display amid a large united cast of mutants. Even several villains are in the mix, though we see little from them.
Appropriately -- and perhaps most reflective of the understanding the writers have for the works of the 90s that they're paying tribute to here -- the crises at hand are resolved by Jubilee and big guns. These guys get it.
I may not go all in for the "X-Men '92" ongoing when it debuts, but I definitely can't wait for the
"Deadpool: Bad Blood" graphic novel that was just announced. It will be written by Sims and Bowers with Rob Liefeld -- Mr. Big Guns of the 1990s himself! -- handling illustrations. Should be ridiculous fun.
Seriously, if you were a fan of the X-Men in that decade or just appreciate smart, fun writing, do yourself a favor and read this mini. Not only is it one of the most well put together tie-ins to come out of "Secret Wars," but it feels like an absolute celebration of the characters and the fans.
So very highly recommended.
Age of Apocalypse #5 (by Fabian Nicieza and Iban Coello): Well, here we are. The concluding chapter to the "Secret Wars" tie-in that is also the 20th anniversary homage to my favorite Marvel event ever. How did it do?
Quite well. There are some issues with this issue (bad puns aren't one of them), but they aren't enough to derail anything. On the whole, Nicieza and Sandoval serve up a satisfactory conclusion.
I do wish Nicieza could have resisted the urge to write his own take on the Phoenix here, though, not least because the way Jean's story plays out is pretty similar to that awful "X-Men: Age of Apocalypse" miniseries that was done for the 10th anniversary of the crossover. It seems as though every X-writer, given the opportunity, will try making their own Phoenix story -- for Exhibit A, see the "E Is for Extinction" tie-in to "Secret Wars" written by Chris Burnham and published concurrently with this miniseries. For Exhibit B, see where even "X-Men '92" indulged that temptation a little bit -- ironically enough, involving Cassandra Nova and possession, just like "E Is for Extinction."
Whatever the case, Nicieza does deliver a high-octane showdown here with more than a few surprises. Some of them odd, in all honesty. There are several choices in the writing that are downright puzzling.
I can handle Apocalypse's Horsemen all taking unexpectedly noble turns for whatever reason and going down fighting the good fight, odd as that is, but why have Jean (as Phoenix) remove the X-Gene from all the surviving mutants after they've already been cured of the Legacy Virus? If it was what had to be done to stop the virus, fine, that works -- but it's plain silly to add that on after the cure has already been disseminated.
It's just a step too far in pushing for a happy ending to think this is going to instantly result in "we're all the same," as Cypher puts it. Again, had it been done to avoid the Legacy Virus killing any more mutants, it would have been both an interesting consequence of the virus and opened the door to asking how much removal of mutant genes would help in establishing peaceful coexistence.
As it is, it's both unnecessary for resolving the conflict at hand and somewhat embarrassing to assert that this is "the cure for everything," as though someone bound and determined to be racist (species-ist?) wouldn't just latch onto former mutancy as a mark of inferiority or superiority. Characters like Blink can't just pretend they were never mutants. One look at her reveals it.
For that matter, it's equally naive to think every mutant would be happy with losing their powers. They certainly weren't in the mainstream Marvel universe when the Scarlet Witch did her "No More Mutants" hocus pocus. Maybe Rogue likes flying. Maybe Emma likes being able to read other people's minds (more than a "maybe," I'd say). Maybe Cypher likes being able to intuitively interpret all communication on such a level that it's like reading minds without ever having to take foreign language classes.
Speaking of Cypher, his role in the plot is confusing. Not in the story, mind you -- his role there is vital, narrating for and providing insight to the reader. He serves as both our window on the world and our avatar within it. As far as his role in the plot goes, while we already knew since the first issue that Apocalypse wanted to use him to find the Legacy Virus, here we learn here that the X-Men had wanted to have him confirm that Apocalypse intended to release the virus, presumably as part of some plan to incite an overthrow against him.
How that was supposed to work, I have no idea. Doug Ramsey confirming that this is Apocalypse's intention in his own mind doesn't do a whole lot to confirm it for anyone else. The X-Men might as well have just announced that claim without ever tracking Ramsey down. Was it really worth losing four X-Men over in issue #1?
Anyway, getting back to the positive, there are plenty of small yet standout character moments in this finale, among both the X-Men and Apocalypse's former forces. It is genuinely cool seeing them all work together, and they do it well.
My favorite moments, though, involve the three Summers Brothers. You read that correctly: the
three Summers Brothers. As I suspected, Burner is confirmed here to be Adam-X, and the Third Summers Brother (or Fourth Summers Brother, if we're counting that shitstain, Vulcan; or Fifth Summers Brother if we're also counting Chris Claremont's origin for Gambit from "X-Men: The End").
I can only imagine how gratifying it must be for Nicieza to finally see Adam revealed as such in print 22 years after creating the character.
Adam's role in this issue does contribute its own oddity, though, in an issue already boasting several. The point is made early in the issue that Cyclops's optic blasts don't hurt him when the main villain of the story uses Scott's power on Burner -- but Adam dies near the end of the issue by flying into the path of an optic blast meant for Scott and Alex.
Odd, like I said, but it's such a good moment I can't hold that against it.
I probably like this issue and the miniseries as a whole more than it deserves, but I really do like it. I feel everyone was handled well, the story was paced excellently, and the plot was well-constructed even if its execution wasn't always up to par.
On the whole, this has been one of the best "Secret Wars" tie-ins I've read. I'm going to enjoy reading it again sometime.
1872 #4 (by Gerry Duggan, Nik Virella and Lee Loughridge): I'm disappointed to say that this series wasn't able to return to the greatness we enjoyed with the first two issues. The plotting of this final installment might be even more of a mess than the previous.
By the end of the story, it begins to appear that the writer encountered one of two insurmountable obstacles: Either he hadn't plotted out enough story to carry the whole issue and then resorted to filling in space with as many cameos and references as possible; or he was so eager to work in all those cameos and references that he let the main plot go by the way side.
I'm honestly not sure which I'd prefer to think happened. On the one hand, the writer found themselves with extra space available and couldn't do anything productive with it. On the other, a potentially satisfying conclusion was lost for the sake of a self-indulgent, self-congratulatory exercise that added little to the rest of the book.
Pick your poison, I guess. Either way, the story suffers markedly.
One example of this is how we finally follow up with Ben Urich at the end of this issue. It almost feels like Duggan himself only just remembered Ben at this point and felt obligated to bring him up again. At any rate, that whole subplot about him finding the resolve to print the truth again certainly amounted to nothing.
Also going nowhere is Red Wolf's act of mercy in the name of Sheriff Rogers' sense of justice. What starts as a nice direction for Red Wolf's character gets immediately sidelined by someone putting a bullet through Fisk's head -- and then nothing else coming of it.
It's almost as though Duggan was unsure what he wanted to do with the story. What did he want it to say?
Along a similar vein, the proliferation of superhuman powers toward the end of the book begs the question of just what the objective was here. By simply transferring the rise of superheroes to the 1870s from their original decade, we get away from the concept of "1872" -- and I dare say lose the appeal.
A final oddity that stands out is the implication -- nay, the explicit promise ("The Avengers of the west will return ...") -- that these characters and setting will be receiving an ongoing title a la "Weirdworld" in the "All-New, All-Different Marvel" initiative. One might even feel somewhat inclined to excuse all the jarring cameos and references toward the end of the issue were they legitimately able to perceive it all as setting up an "1872" ongoing.
We already know that's not the case, though, as Red Wolf will be getting his own self-titled series set on Earth-616 in the present day, and absolutely nothing has been announced along the lines of a "Westworld."
Even were there yet some cause to expect it, though, as discussed above, the conceit of the title is lost in the last pages of this issue. So why bother at this point?
On a positive note, the "1872" versions of Black Widow, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner were all handled very well here. Hopefully Duggan will realize that he's at his best when keeping his cast tight and the plot focused. Did this book benefit in any way from the forced inclusion of an "1872" version of Wade Wilson? As if Deadpool isn't overexposed enough already.
There's quite a lot of tragedy depicted and referenced in this "Secret Wars" tie-in, but none more so than that of a once promising series that meandered into mediocrity. Justice may have come to Timely, but it didn't come to "1872."
Where Monsters Dwell #5 (by Garth Ennis and Russell Braun): Mercifully, this miniseries is over at last, and the best thing you can say about it is that it was the "Secret Wars" tie-in furthest removed from the central concept. Outside-the-box thinking is to be appreciated, and like "X-Men '92," the series seemed to know what it wanted to do, but it still should be, you know ...
fun.
Since issue #2 ended, each subsequent issue has been less enjoyable. This is by far the worst. Literally half of the issue is spent on a plot "twist" (this probably isn't even the word for it since it doesn't fucking matter) you couldn't possibly care about being explained at gun point to one main character you couldn't possibly care about by the other, whom you almost certainly can't stand.
Aside from being a venture off the beaten path, the only other good things that can be said about this tie-in are that the art was very pretty (it deserved a much better story) and it ended exactly the way it should have.
Would I recommend it, though? Not to anyone but diehard Garth Ennis fans.
Weirdworld #5 (by Jason Aaron and Mike Del Mundo): One magical adventure comes to a close as the promise of more to come unfolds. This tie-in ends the only way it really could have, taking us along for one final, truly epic clash of sword and sorcery on the way.
Like "X-Men '92," I really can't recommend this one highly enough. It's just plain fun, and it's fucking gorgeous to boot. If picking up "X-Men '92" is doing yourself a favor, then passing on "Weirdworld" is actively doing yourself a disservice.
Just read it.
The Infinity Gauntlet #5 (by Gerry Duggan and Dustin Weaver): At the close of my review for the previous issue, I commented: "If Weaver and Duggan deliver a finale as good as this issue, they will get my award for having crafted the best tie-in series to this event."
Achievement unlocked!
It's hard not to give that recognition to some of the other strong tie-ins I've read, such as "Renew Your Vows," "Age of Apocalypse" or "X-Men '92," but in this series, Duggan and Weaver maintained the quality of both the art and writing from start to finish while a) also selling me on a story featuring a cast with several new characters; and b) doing creative things with pre-existing concepts and characters.
"Weirdworld" accomplished the same -- and might actually be more fun, in all honesty -- as did "Thors," but I have to give the edge to "The Infinity Gauntlet" for doing it across five issues rather than four (beating out "Thors") and for giving more focus to characterization across the whole series (beating out "Weirdworld").
I expected grand things from this book from the time the creative team and premise were announced -- and it has delivered on everything. Give it a try.
Thors #4 (by Jason Aaron and Chris Sprouse): With this, Aaron's odd, intriguing and oddly intriguing love letter to police procedural drama comes to an end, as does yet another "Secret Wars" tie-in -- and despite the description I assigned it earlier in this lengthy sentence, I'd argue that this story is very much a love letter to Marvel's Thor and his mythos as well.
The affection we've seen from Aaron in his "Thor: God of Thunder" and the most recent "Thor" series abounds here. There is such obvious respect and appreciation for this corner of Marvel from this writer. It shines through, perhaps most of all, in the plot device that set this murder mystery in motion, and which ultimately compels most of the Thors to take up arms (i.e. hammers) against God Emperor Doom as this tale draws to its close.
It isn't blatantly spelled out that the plot device that triggered the murder spree at the center of this story is the same plot device which ultimately sets the rebellion aflame, leading to a number of fans experiencing confusion by how quickly the Thors seem persuaded to turn on Doom. That is most definitely what's going on here, though.
Aaron's respect for Thor (all of them) also shines in the final sequence of this story, as the Thors resign themselves to going down fighting and Ultimate Thor's hammer outlives the battle at hand to land in Asgard in the new Marvel 616 universe -- where it will no doubt soon be claimed by the once-more-worthy Thor Odinson.
If that final page doesn't make you smile, particularly after Thor the Unworthy made his exit from the story commenting "Maybe next time" after looking at an orphaned hammer, then I'm just not sure you're a Thor fan.
This is both a wonderful finish for fans, and a narratively satisfying ending for the story being told. Were this the last Thor story, it would be a worthy send off. One that has, by the way, been superbly conveyed by Sprouse from beginning to end.
Sprouse knows how to competently present everything from normal conversations to battles, especially those involving hammers, lightning, beards and lots of gravitas. His beautiful efforts never failed to do justice to this story.
This title is worth your time if you're a Thor fan, if you want to read a tie-in that makes excellent use of the Battleworld setting, if you want to read a tie-in that actually ties into the core "Secret Wars" miniseries, or if you just like a good comic.
Secret Wars #7 (by Jonathan Hickman, Esad Ribic and Ive Svorcina): ... Okay, this is becoming a bit of a mess. While Hickman did, indeed, bring the action hard and fast this issue as I'd expressed hope for in my review of issue #6, there's a lot of confusion at work here. For me at least.
As a segue into that, I first want to say that what I would describe as an undue amount of time is spent on the Barons ordered to defend Castle Doom. I suppose it's a good thing for them to get some attention and exploration here in the core miniseries rather than just the tie-ins, but with a rather large cast of heroes and villains from the Earth-616 and Earth-1610 life rafts already not getting sufficient panel time, this is kind of annoying, to be honest. I just wanted Baron Sinister to die already and shut the fuck up.
Speaking of that asshole, the dynamic at work between him and Captain Marvel is thoroughly odd and confusing. More so even than it was last issue when their partnership was first revealed.
Is she under some kind of mind control, with Sinister in turn then having her order him around to his own masochistic glee? Is she just taking advantage of his enjoyment of a powerful woman telling him what to do? Is this just a clone of her that he created after she was captured and brought before him in issue #5? I have no idea, and neither does anyone else, because the comic offers nothing to help clear it up. All I know for sure is that he gets way more panel time and dialogue here than she does even though she's
right there.
Hickman didn't really clear it up when asked about it by ComicBookResources.com either.
Before moving away from the Barons, it also warrants asking just how Apocalypse and his son, Holocaust, are here. They both died in Fabian Nicieza's "Age of Apocalypse" tie-in, and this issue clearly takes place in the final moments of Battleworld's existence. The last pages of "Thors" #4, which features this very battle from "Secret Wars" #7, make that a certainty.
Since they obviously won't be skittering away to go die in "Age of Apocalypse" at this point, what gives?
When asked about it in the same CBR interview linked above, Marvel Senior Vice President of Publishing Tom Brevoort didn't really have a satisfactory answer. The best he could offer was acknowledging the confusion; attributing it to the large scale of the event, the numerous creators who participated, and the magnitude of all the moving parts involved; and leaving it to readers to decide for themselves precisely what the reason for it is within the story.
Which, to be clear, wouldn't be a problem if Brevoort knew what it is that we are to figure out. Mining a story to figure shit out is fun, like with arriving at the understanding of what allows for such a rapid revolt of the Thors. That brings with it satisfaction -- but the answer was there to be found. This conflicting placement of Apocalypse and Holocaust is just editorial failing to do its job all that well.
However, I'm going to try not to hold this particular point against "Secret Wars" too hard, because it does add to the epic scale of the battle, and because Apocalypse and his son have never looked as good as they do in this issue under Ribic and Svorcina. Just fucking gorgeous work from the two of them all throughout this issue.
I will also give kudos to Brevoort, by the way, for acknowledging the overall coordination failures of "Secret Wars" in the above-linked CBR interview. Marvel's editors have fallen far short of making this
"the most coordinated event we've ever done," as Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso claimed back in January. I can't respect being in denial about failure, but I can respect an acknowledgement of failure, so good job there.
Ironically, the original "Age of Apocalypse" storyline was probably the most coordinated event Marvel has ever done. Brian Michael Bendis has even said that he and several others at Marvel
look to it as "the standard for event storytelling."
Anyway, while still on the matter of coordination with the tie-ins, what's the deal with T'Challa needing to blow a hole in The Shield? Thanos already caused miles of it to fall in the previous issue, as was also seen in "Siege" #4. There was actually a fairly decent bit of coordination there up to this point, Thanos's holding cell having an actual door in "Secret Wars" #6 notwithstanding, so this is a head scratcher.
For that matter, why are these zombies here with T'Challa and Namor in the first place instead of with the rest of the horde seen at the end of "Siege"? It makes one wonder if Hickman came up with both the idea of Thanos persuading Ben Grimm to abandon The Shield as well as the idea of the Marvel Zombies being used as a distraction in the revolt against Doom -- but that perhaps Hickman didn't necessarily plan for the two ideas to be as directly linked as Kieron Gillen wrote them in "Siege."
Thanos's plan in that tie-in has him utilizing both Ben Grimm and the hordes that lay beyond The Shield as distractions, having somehow united the Marvel Zombies with the Annihilation Wave and Ultron's army, then allowing them all to stagger through the fallen wall toward Castle Doom. So far, the core miniseries only seems to be acknowledging Thanos's spurring of Ben into action.
Another coordination issue involving the siege of Castle Doom comes from "Old Man Logan" #5, where we learn that
the title character is destined to lead the charge of Battleworld's rebelling denizens right to Doom's door -- even
right to his face. Which is actually pretty cool since that seems to be the fulfillment of the prophecy Irene Adler left for Mystique earlier this year in the final pages of Charles Soule's "Wolverines" (issue #20), where she said
everything was coming to an end and
"... the world needs a Wolverine" if it's to survive.
We didn't see anything of that sort in "Secret Wars" #7 -- though, to be fair, it doesn't present us with anything that would explicitly deny it either. There's only attention given to Maximus, a.k.a. The Prophet, leading the people of Battleworld in the attack. Maybe with issue #7 as it was originally going to be presented having been
divided into an issue #7 and an issue #8 due to its length, we'll see a panel of Old Man Logan fulfilling his role next month.
Or maybe not, and we'll just have to imagine he's down there in the mix somewhere.
Despite all these hiccups, it's really hard not to just enjoy the book and be excited, because this is enjoyable, exciting stuff. It's fun, and the biggest complaint I have is that I have to wait a few weeks to see what happens next. I guess if Hickman and company have me saying that, no matter how many complaints I have stacked up, they have succeeded with this comic.
One of the aspects of this story I'm most curious about right now is whether the Siege Courageous artifact that Dr. Strange left for Namor and T'Challa to find will be instrumental in the rebirth of the multiverse and its inhabitants. Per T'Challa's description to the Marvel Zombies this issue, the item apparently has a similar function to the Siege Perilous seen in classic Marvel stories -- transforming those who pass through and giving them a new life.
One has to wonder if the whole of Battleworld's inhabitants -- maybe even entire chunks of Battleworld itself -- will be ushered through this relic by story's end, perhaps explaining
what looks to be a new continuity for Marvel and new histories for some of its longstanding characters under the "All-New, All-Different Marvel" initiative.
What I'm equally -- if not more -- curious about is if this storyline is meant to be an indictment of religion.
There may be basis in the plot of "Secret Wars" and the mythos of Thor for the Thors to quickly turn against Doom; likewise, Maximus's somewhat limited psychic abilities may explain why he was able to rather easily inspire a multitude of Battleworld's inhabitants to also raise arms against the God Emperor ... but given how Hickman doesn't take the time to explain these things, a straight reading of the story thus far sees God's worshippers -- enforcers and enforced alike -- turning on him at little more than the claim that Doom is not really Capital "G" God. Is that supposed to indicate they were ready to abandon this false deity at the first opportunity to believe he wasn't who he seemed to be?
More importantly, does it indicate that they were secretly calling bullshit on a God who allowed horrible -- no, straight-up heinous -- things to take place? Who even perpetrated them at times? A God whose existence was known beyond doubt and whose presence was felt even as suffering and exploitation were allowed to run rampant?
Were we in the real world to live in the same space with such a tyrant, or to suddenly share it with the Judaeo-Christian God, we very likely would strive to throw them down as well. The things that happen in the "Squadron Sinister" or "Siege" miniseries alone should be enough to convict such a being for dereliction of duty, to say nothing of the full scope of the atrocities taking place across Battleworld, or ours for that matter.
That's just my reading of what's going on here, of course. You may not read the same thought processes into it.
Anyway, in closing up my reviews for this installment, I have to reiterate that, despite the coordination problems, I simply can't wait for the next issue of "Secret Wars." I also have to stand by what
I said back in July: "This book remains of impeccable quality, and is already easily the best event book Marvel has put out since the original 'Age of Apocalypse' storyline in 1995."
