Secret Wars II Omnibus [Hardcover]

Marvel Comics (Author)

Book Description

Grade Level: P and up

He rescued the Hulk and destroyed the New Mutants, he wrestled the Thing and made a deal with Mephisto, he created Kurse and Thundersword and a tower of gold! Doctor Strange tried to teach him; Dazzler tried to romance him! The Avengers wanted to recruit him, Daredevil to sue him, and Puma and Deadpool just wanted him dead! Hero, villain, force of nature and deus ex machina all in one: the Beyonder! For good or ill, he was one of the most powerful agents of change in the eighties, and now you can see all of his work all at once! Collects Secret Wars II #1-9; New Mutants #30 and #36-37; Captain America #308; Uncanny X-Men #196 and #202-203; Iron Man #197; Fantastic Four #282, #285, #288 and #316-319; Web of Spider-Man #6; Amazing Spider-Man #268 and #273-274; Daredevil #223; Incredible Hulk #312; Avengers #260-261and #265-266; Dazzler #40; Alpha Flight #28; Thing #30; Doctor Strange #74; Cloak and Dagger #4; Power Pack #18; Thor #363; Power Man and Iron Fist #121; Peter Parker, Spectacular Spider-Man #111; Defenders #152; Deadpool Team-Up #1, and Quasar #8.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1184 pages
• Publisher: Marvel (May 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785131116
• ISBN-13: 978-0785131113
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 7.9 x 2.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #905,732 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun, Epic, Enjoyable, May 30, 2009

By 

This Reader (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Secret Wars II Omnibus (Hardcover)

This was a fun, epic feeling story. It's a bit heavy handed and melodramatc in places (as comics of it's time generally were,)and the action doesn't pack the same punch as the action in modern comics, but it held up better than I expected and was more enjoyable to read than I thought it would be. It's great getting the entire story with tie-ins in one massive volume, and the tie-ins worked better/added more to the story than I would have thought.

At nearly 1200 pages telling one story with a distinct beginning, middle, and end, the story really does feel epic. Touching on pretty much every title Marvel had in the mid 80's, it also gives a fantastic overview of the Marvel universe at the time. The reproduction quality is great as well. The only thing I would have liked to have seen is some sort of text overview of how the series was put together, how well it sold, how it was received by fans and critics at the time, and how it is looked at now, 25 years later.

Overall I'm glad I bought this. It was better than I expected and (taken as a whole) I liked it a lot. Was it as well done as most modern comics? Absolutely not -- comics have come a long way in the last 25 years, the writing, art, coloring, pacing, fight choreographay, intensity, level of sophistication, and production values are all dramatically better now -- but this was still a fun read. I read both this and the latest Green Lantern collection this weekend (Green Lantern Secret Origin,) and that just highlighted how far comics have come in the last twenty five years (and how much better they are now on so many levels,) but that didn't stop me from enjoying this as well.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Own for Marvel Fans, September 22, 2009

By 

E. Miguez - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Secret Wars II Omnibus (Hardcover)

On the fence about ordering this?

It's 1200 pages and oversized. But is it any good?

Here's the basic overview...

What if you landed in the Marvel Universe? A place full of web-swinging vigilantes, blind lawyers, Canadian government teams, family dynamics, persecuted mutants, and wealthy superheroes?

How would you react to them? By studying them closely.

Oh, and you have the power to do ANYTHING you wish.

It is the Beyonder's interactions with these heroes and the world around him that tries to corrupt him that makes this story. WHY does Daredevil, having lost his sight, continue to fight the good fight, both metahumans AND in a court room? WHY do mutants save humanity despite being hated themselves? WHY is Captain America the man he is?

The Beyonder doesn't view a street-walking prostitute as a "dirty, girl of the streets"...he sees this girl from an alien perspective and she changes him for the better. A touching esrly chapter in the story.

Get this before the price goes up. It cover all of Marvel in the 80's and will you give you a fresh perspective on your favorite characters.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Grand scale, March 28, 2011

By 

"extreme_dig_cm" (Chicago, Il USA, Amazon.com Fan!) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Secret Wars II Omnibus (Hardcover)

Maybe 3-1/2 stars. It's the mid-80's, the Beyonder's back, and craziness ensues!

I really like Al Milgrom's simplistic penciling style because I think it goes *great* with the bright & clear colors of the 80's. It's 80's comics-making on a grand scale! If these same comics were re-colored today, I probably wouldn't like the effect. Thankfully Marvel uses these bright & clear colors on this current omnibus cover.

Yes, I really like these main 9 issues, and a few of the tie-ins are definitely solid, but most of this volume is average at best. It's truly the good, the bad & the ugly of the mid-80's. New readers in particular might consider this shockingly bad. So why do I essentially rate this above average? The 1st reason is that I like to see these main 9 issues in a high quality collection. Marvel has yet to release this in trade paperback form, so this is currently the way to go. The 2nd reason is that it's simply neat to see such a sweeping storyline collected in one place, regardless of the quality. Still, I think I would prefer a nice TPB instead of this heavy omnibus. I really only recommend this for die-hard 80's fans.

P.S. I think it's great that Marvel managed to squeeze Deadpool into this. He appears on 1 page in the back of this volume, since they reference the Beyonder in Deadpool Team-Up #1. I like it.

P.P.S. My copy has the *great* John Byrne cover. An Ed McGuinness variant may also be available.

UPDATE- A new, and I believe 1st ever, Secret Wars II trade paperback printing is now being listed. A much more inexpensive way to see this series again.