Secret Wars (Marvel Super Heroes) [Paperback]

Jim Shooter (Author), Mike Zeck (Illustrator), Bob Layton (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 14, 2007

The first mega-crossover of its kind, Secret Wars still stands as a milestone in the comic-book industry. The fate of the entire Marvel Universe hangs in the balance as all of Earth's greatest super heroes face their deadliest foes on the mysterious planet known as Battleworld! The classic 12-issue limited series is back in print!

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Marvel (February 14, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 078511873X
• ISBN-13: 978-0785118732
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 6.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,076,575 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Great Battle, March 27, 2001

By 

David Suiter (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Secret Wars (Paperback)

This is one of those stories you can read for the pure enjoyment of reading. Secret Wars was the original 12 part mega epic comicbook tale. All of the major players from Marvel were involved from Spider-Man to Dr. Doom, from Wolverine to Galactus. All taken to a strange new world which the characters call Battleworld. The point of the story is for the Beyonder (an all powerful being) to find out which side is better good or evil. So he pits Earth's greatest heroes against the best villains. What ensues is an all-out Marvel Superhero millitary campaign. With fun developments along the way: Spider-Man's Black Costume, the introduction of a new Spider-Woman, The X-Man Colossus falling in love with one of the inhabitants of battle world. All had far reaching impact on future Marvel books.

I thrilled when I finally collected all of the original issues of this series. A very fun read for any one looking to enjoy a great super heroe adventure. I don't know why the other reviewers chose to knock this book I guess they don't like heroic epics.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars STILL BEING DEBATED 20 YEARS LATER, November 15, 2005

By 

Tim Janson (Michigan) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Secret Wars (Marvel Super Heroes) (Paperback)

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars has spurred a lot of debate in the last twenty years. Many fans dismiss it as nothing more than a year long commercial for the Mattel action figure line. Others dismiss it as a blatant attempt to rush out and upstaged DC Comics Crisis on Infinite Earths far more historical series that came out at roughly the same time. Neither of these claims can be denied and even Marvel has admitted the transparent commercialism of the series. Still, when it comes right down to it, while perhaps nothing critical to the Marvel Universe came out of the series (Other than Venom) one certainly can't deny that it was an enjoyable series to read. It was a 12 page battle royal pitting most of Marvels top heroes against their top villains on neutral territory, all for the amusement of the God-like being known as The Beyonder.

The Beyonder was an all-powerful being from beyond our universe. His origins would be explained in much more detail in Secret Wars II. But basically the Beyonder entered our universe through a pinprick in the fabric of reality and became curious as to our world, and particularly Earth. The Beyonder then created a world and plucked out a few dozen heroes and villains and basically told them to battle each other to the death to get whatever they desired. The selection of heroes was pretty solid and included Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Spider Man, The Banner Hulk, Wolverine, She-Hulk, The Fantastic Four, Cyclops, Storm, and Professor X. The villains are much more of a mixed lot which includes heavies like Dr. Doom, Kang, Magneto, and Ultron, but some curious minor leaguers like Wrecking Crew, Titania, Klaw, and The Molecule Man.

Each issue is basically a big slugfest as the two sides vie for the upper hand with Doom leading the way for the bad guys. While all of this is going on Galactus shows up on no side and with every intention of devouring the energy of the world created by the Beyonder. Doom of course can never be trusted and soon backstabs the rest of the villains by actually stealing the power of the Beyonder and becoming omnipotent. Doom would destroy all the heroes but the Beyonder restores them to life and they finally defeat Dr. Doom. As the heroes win, The Beyonder grants them whatever they desire which is just to return home. Their wish is granted and the story comes to a close.

As mentioned, perhaps the only real significant event that came out of the whole storyline was Spiderman finding the strange alien material which he took as his new, black costume. This material would turn out to be an evil alien symbiote that would eventually become Venom when it merged with Eddie Brock. Of course this happened almost four years later when Todd McFarlane was on his memorable run on Spiderman and there's no evidence that Secret Wars writer Jim Shooter ever had this in mind when he created the suit.

The art by Mike Zeck is solid if unspectacular. Zeck has done better work, notably on The Punisher. The art in some of the issues looks a bit rushed lending credence to the argument that Marvel wanted the series out before DC's "Crisis". Taken on just the merits of the story it's an enjoyable read. I've read it numerous times over the years because it really was the first such mega-series event of its kind that included almost every major hero. These cross-over event stories have become common place today, but was still monumental back in 1984. Thus while the story itself had no great historical influence it still must be considered a landmark in comics history.

Review by Tim Janson

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lots of action and great fight scenes, but loses focus, February 21, 2008

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Secret Wars (Marvel Super Heroes) (Paperback)

A strange and seemingly omnipotent being has drawn together some of the greatest heroes and villains of the Marvel universe - the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, the X-Men, Spider-Man, and the Incredible Hulk on one hand, and Galactus, Dr. Octopus, Dr. Doom, Magneto, the Wrecking Crew, Ultron, the Absorber, and Molecule Man on the other. And now the being has made them a simple offer, "Slay your enemies and all you desire shall be yours!" But, this is more than a simple battle of Good vs. Evil. There are strange alliances to be made, and the allegiance of some of the participants is hardly clear. So, who will win in this battle royale, and what will he or she claim as their deepest desires?

OK, yeah, as Tom DeFalco makes clear in the introduction to this graphic novel, this story arc was not created as a great story that needed to be told. Instead, what it was was an invention to sell a lot of action figures.

But, that said, is this a good story or not? Overall, I found it to be an interesting story with lots of action and great fight scenes. I enjoyed seeing many of the old superheroes looking just like they did when I was reading comic books as a kid. Admittedly, at times the story does seem to drag out and lose focus - I suspect that they needed a certain length of story to please the toy manufacturer.

But, I really did enjoy the story and am quite glad that I read it. I loved the old Marvel and highly recommend this fun blast-from-the-past!