Do People Still Like Secret Wars?

[Guardian17]

Secret Wars was incredible to me as a kid in the 80's.

It was like Marvel Team-Up times 100!

Secret Wars II was a disappointment.

 

[venom892]

I prefer Secret Wars and Infinity Gauntlet to most crossovers these days.

 

[Captain Useless]

I gave my nephew a hardcover for his 6th birthday.
And yesterday I asked if he had read it, he spent the next 15 minutes talking to me about the girl who was on fire with the big boobies (Volcana).
And then his mother asked what kind of book I've given him t:

 

[Guardian17]

I prefer Secret Wars and Infinity Gauntlet to most crossovers these days.

I agree, the Infinity Gauntlet was a favrite of mine as well.

 

[Captain Marvel]

I love both Secret Wars and Infinity Gauntlet. I'd certainly take either of them over Civil War or Secret Invasion any day.

 

[THANOSRULES]

I still think Annhilation I was the best event in marvel history

 

[choskins]

Secret Wars was incredible to me as a kid in the 80's.

It was like Marvel Team-Up times 100!

This about sums it up for me!

 

[DACrowe]

After hearing about this series for years, I finally spent the last few days reading the whole 12 issue Secret Wars miniseries. I mean, I wouldn't say it was explicitly bad or anything, but I was thoroughly unimpressed. The whole thing, from the basic premise, to the cherry picking of the most marketable heroes and villains, to the dialogue and the unfolding of the story came off as very "Saturday morning cartoon" to me, and not in an entertaining way. Even when stacked next to the comparable Crisis on Infinite Earths, I found it to be plodding and juvenile. Apart from some badass moments from Doom, nothing really struck me as memorable.

I'm not posting to tell anyone that they shouldn't like this series or anything, but my reaction to the series further sparked my curiosity. Is Secret Wars still considered to be one of the landmark Marvel storylines? Do most people here see it as a cheese-soaked but nostalgic classic, or do people put this on the same level as Marvels, the Dark Pheonix Saga, or other lauded Marvel stories? I honestly want to know if my opinion is unique or if many share my sentiments.

Like Civil War it's a really cool concept that was poorly handled and executed (though they didn't ruin several characters in SW: coughSpideyandStarkandSpideyagaincough). I think the idea was there, it was just too many characters and didn't gel well. You can do major event stories or stories that span most of the Marvel Universe in a satisfying way--like Marvel 1602 which I created a thread for --but, it is very, very difficult.

That story is remembered for being the first major Marvel free-for-all. But other than being the source of the symbiote/Venom and Doom trying to become a god (which somehow fit that extremely vain character without appearing too Saturday morning) and the Lizard being a good guy....I don't remember a whole lot from it. Oh well.

 

[Captain Marvel]

I still think Annhilation I was the best event in marvel history

Yeah, I still can't get over how fantastic it was. Especially since I had the TPB's for it sitting around without being read for over a year before I finally started on them, but when I did, I couldn't put them down, and hated it when I finally started getting near the end.

 

[runawayboulder]

I still think Annhilation I was the best event in marvel history

Then I want you to go read Inferno, Acts of Vengeance or Infinity Gauntlet right now. And I loved Annihilation as well but you're wrong there, bub.

 

[Captain Marvel]

I've never read Inferno all complete. I'm deeply ashamed of this fact. I definitely need to get my hands on a collection of that or something. Same for Acts of Vengeance, which I only read parts of (Although I have to say, I love the part where Loki tries to recruit Apocalypse only for Apocalypse to tell him to piss off. Apocalypse's characterization has severely gone downhill since Louise Simonson wrote him).

Infinity Gauntlet was a great one, though, and it gets points for having Adam Warlock of all people leading the heroes. That's a definite twist on the way crossovers like this usually go.

 

[Themanofbat]

Now THIS mini from 1982 was Marvel Team-Up x 1000

 

[venom892]

I've always wanted to read that.

 

[Guardian17]

Now THIS mini from 1982 was Marvel Team-Up x 1000

I totally forgot about the "Contest of Champions"

I'm gonna dig it out of storage and read it again!

 

[DACrowe]

I actually prefer the massive Marvel crossovers when they're less about "look how cool it is to have all these characters here at once" and is more of a deconstruction, satire or reimagining of the universe. Again, I loved 1602, but here are some other brilliant "crossovers" that were more about distilling the essence of these characters in a different setting that highlights what makes them so universal.

Examples:

Lots of fun.

 

[THANOSRULES]

The "uber heroe gatherings" do usually suck..1st marvel one i remember was the wedding of Reed and Sue from an Avengers Giant size i used to have, form like '68..it might have been a reprint.

 

[steintym]

I absolutely loved Secret Wars when it originally came out. I thought it was the coolest thing to have all of these heroes and villains together in one story. I reread it a few years ago and I think it holds up pretty well. I wasn't nearly as impressed with Secret Wars 2' although I did think it was enjoyable.

 

[Dark Raven]

I loved Secret Wars and still read it occasionally. I thought it was great having all these heroes working together and stranded on an alien planet battling the villains. Yes, it was a bit like Challenge of the Super Friends, but that's part of its appeal. Two things I didn't like though were the fact that Hulk was so weak and ineffective in it, and Iron Man was Rhodey instead of Stark. Actually there were a few other things I didn't like, such as certain characters being excluded (Daredevil, Silver Surfer and others). It should've been more of an all-star line up for both teams. There were a lot of second stringers in there. I don't care if some characters weren't part of the then current team line ups. The Beyonder could easily have pulled characters from different eras even if they were defunct.

I would like to see it redone today with modern artwork and a more detailed, more realistic storytelling, but with exactly the same plot. Maybe there could be more character moments where people are just sitting around so we can really get inside the character's heads and understand them.

Secret Wars II was boring and a big let down. I hated the artwork and how it wasn't self contained in a mini series but crossed over too many different titles. I wasn't about to collect all of those just to read the next installment of a story. The finale was just a big mindless piece of action.

 

[Guardian17]

It would be nice if Marvel/Disney would make an animated movie of Secret Wars and the Infinity Gauntlet.

 

[bubbadoom]

Did people EVER like Secret Wars?

I got this when it first came out - much ado about nothing!

 

[THANOSRULES]

The Toys were bad ass though

 

[runawayboulder]

I had Cap, Doom, DD, Spidey (both) Iron Man, Zemo and Wolverine. I didn't know anybody with Doc Ock, Falcon or Hobby. Who the hell is the guy behind Logan anyway. It's gotta be a repainted variant.

Iron Man and Dr. Doom were my favorites. I must have had 5 figures for the Black Costume Spidey at one point. Too bad I didn't appreciate their worthy as a child because they all ended up busted.

 

[Franklin Richards]

Secret Wars is still as awesome as it ever was. And you can't say that except for the Doom stuff and some other cherry picked things. Those things are part of it's greatness.

The single most awesome thing about the story was when it split from the Contest of Champions theme. When Doom went off script and started to tackle the real problem that's when it became great. The Beyonder VS Doom was epic.

 

[Soulgem]

oh those images are just fantastic! I'm sitting here with the secret wars trade paperback right next to me. There's so many epic moments.

This one had made an impression on me back in the day for some reason. Same issue also has Human Torch going nova on Ultron, which was a great moment.

Best moment is without a doubt when Doctor Doom denies death. It's issue 10 I believe.

Secret Wars is the reason I got into comics, and I believe there are many of us.

 

[runawayboulder]

Human Torch taking out Ultron was one of the best moments of the entire series. It was #2 right behind easily the defining moment of the series - the Hulk holding up the rock avalanche to save all the heroes.