Secret Wars #8 Written by Jonathan Hickman Art by Esad Ribic Colors by Ive Svorcina Letters by Chris Eliopoulos Published by Marvel Comics Here it is, the penultimate chapter of Marvel’s best crossover in almost a decade, and boy does it crank everything up to 11! This is the final battle that reader’s have been waiting …
Not only is Secret Wars #7 an enjoyable issue, it gets the train back on the tracks at such a crucial point in the miniseries. Questions raised in previous installments are answered, even if readers will feel at times as if they missed something between issues #6 and #7. It is safe to say however, with the cliffhangers of this and the previous issues, and with only two more issues to go before the miniseries concludes, Secret Wars is rounding out into form and promises to end with a boisterous bang.
After an almost two month setback, Secret Wars is back with issue 6 (of 9 now). This newest issue of Marvel’s biggest event (ever!) is a mixed bag with some intriguing moments, but little explanation or exploration of the pieces being moved across the chess board.
After last month’s lethargic issue, Secret Wars is back to form with issue five as secrets are revealed and plans are set in motion for what will assuredly be one of the wildest climaxes in the 76 year history of Marvel Comics.
Overall, issue four proves to be the weakest installment thus far as it slows the plot down to a crawl and feels purely like a transitional issue meant to set up the final half of the miniseries. If this is a necessary sacrifice to ensure that the final four issues will be even better than the first three, so be it. At this point, there should be no cause for alarm as readers should trust Jonathan Hickman with his plans. After three astonishing issues, and one decent issue, Secret Wars is still on pace to be Marvel’s best event since Civil War.
The only misstep on Hickman’s part is the reveal of Doom’s face, something that should never be exposed to readers. The mystery of Doom’s scarred face should remain just that as readers should question whether his face is actually mangled and charred or if his face is only slightly scarred, but because of Doom’s own vanity he hides his imperfection completely. Overall, it’s a minor gripe in what is otherwise another exciting installment in Marvel’s most ambitious event.
On “Californication”, the Red Hot Chili Peppers observe that “destruction leads to a very rough road, but it also breeds creation”, a theory that Marvel apparently agrees with, as from the destruction of Earth-616 and Earth-1610 comes the genesis of Battleworld. Even though it’s about 30 years too late, Secret Wars is Marvel’s response to Crisis on Infinite Earths, and because of the sheer scope of the calamity at hand, this is the first time since Civil War that the actual crisis justifies a massive crossover event.
For the most part, Hickman and Ribic keep Secret Wars #1 from being too bloated with timely reaction close-ups of characters, and little jokes or insights into them, like Thanos being disgusted with humanity’s fear of death or the aforementioned Rocket joke. Esad Ribic’s storytelling makes this comic work as a pure work of superhero action with cutting panels for his sharp fight scenes. He also uses well-placed montages as the stakes continue to get higher as the comic progresses. Secret Wars #1 is a true superhero epic with wide-screen action, the occasional character insight, and real consequences even if it may be a little too expansive at times.
Avengers #41 Written by Jonathan Hickman Art by Mike Deodato Colors by Frank Martin Published by Marvel Comics With a cover that is an exact copy of Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch’s The Ultimates #1, Avengers #41 brings the good ol’ (or not so old) Ultimate Universe into Jonathan Hickman’s epic multiversal vision for the Avengers and Marvel Universe as a whole. It also deals with the …
Avengers #29-34 Written by Jonathan Hickman Pencils by Leinil Francis Yu Inks by Gerry Alanguilan Colors by Sunny Gho & Matt Milla Published by Marvel Jonathan Hickman started writing Marvel Comics’ flagship team back in 2012. Marvel was implementing their “Marvel NOW!” imprint across the board, repackaging The Avengers as a shiny new number one. …
The gradual build in quality, the most impressive aspect of which has been balancing several different point-of-view characters across multiple episodes lately, isn’t astonishing; however, it is noticeable and worth appreciating.
Infinity #6 Writer: Jonathan Hickman Art: Jim Cheung, Dustin Weaver, Mark Morales, Guillermo Ortego, Dave Meikis, and John Livesay Colorist: Justin Ponsor with Ive Svorcina Publisher: Marvel Comics The Avengers have saved the galaxy. Now it’s time to save the Earth. As writer Jonathan Hickman wraps up the Infinity event, a miniseries that has been an Avengers-centric story, …
Infinity #5 Writer: Jonathan Hickman Artists: Jerome Opeña and Dustin Weaver Colorist: Justin Ponsor Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos Infinity #5 is really the end of one event story and the beginning of another. Unfortunately with only one issue left to go, that second event story is going to get short shrifted because there’s no room left. …
Disclaimer: Alan Moore is not found or mentioned in this article. (Except for now) Wizard magazine used to be both a blessing and a curse to comics fans. It had exclusive interviews with creators and fun features, like “Casting Call” and “Top Ten Writers and Artists”, but it was also criticized for mainly focusing on Marvel …
Free Comic Book Day: Infinity Writer: Jonathan Hickman Penciler: Jim Cheung Inker: Mark Morales Colorist: Justin Ponsor Publisher: Marvel Comics In both the Avengers and New Avengers titles, Jonathan Hickman is cooking up an epic featuring characters with the ability to create and destroy life. He shows some of this world-building skill on a smaller scale in Marvel’s …
In the Marvel NOW to Infinity panel, Marvel’s creators and editors teased big events in the Avengers and Cosmic families of books leading up to their biggest August event Infinity, which will be written by Jonathan Hickman with art by Jim Cheung, Dustin Weaver, and Jerome Opena. Rick Remender teased the return of dead characters Grim …