Marvel's Secret Wars (2015) - Issue #3

Well, things are starting to come together in Marvel's 2015 edition of the Secret Wars.  There are some revelations and developments in this issue that make the arc a bit more intriguing.  It also feels clever, though only time will tell if that's the case.  Yet it's still hard to make a favorable comparison between this crossover and the legendary event bearing the same name that hit the scene in 1984.  We're still drowning in plot and scraping by so far as action is concerned, with this issue containing less excitement than either of the issues that preceded it.  It is also starting to feel like this Secret Wars is more about setting the table for things to come than delivering the goods.  I hope to be proven wrong on that point, as fans deserve more from such an event (particularly if you're going to call it the Secret Wars, for crying out loud) than an introduction to a new landscape.  Nobody following this storyline simply wants to drown in exposition so we'll know what's happening once it's over; we'd like to get a little bang for our buck.  Hopefully there's some major shit about to go down, and I'm still praying that Marvel will blow my mind with this major event they've been promising us for quite some time before all is said and done.  So far, they're doing a pretty good job of boring me.  Putting something clever and intriguing together is fine and dandy, but this is Marvel we're talking about, and as far as I'm concerned, it's clobbering time. 

Final Grade: C

Read my review of Issue #1 of Marvel's 2015 version of the Secret Wars here.

Read my review of Issue #2 of Marvel's 2015 version of the Secret Wars here.

Marvel's Secret Wars (2015) - Issue #1

So, I just sat down to read the first issue of this epic throwdown that Marvel has been building toward for some time now, the 2015 version of the Secret Wars.  We've been told that the Marvel Universe as we know it ends here, and we're supposed to leave this event with some sort of combination of the standard Marvel universe and their Ultimates universe.  Yes, those universes will no longer exist separate from one another.  Allegedly, some of the characters we know and love won't exist at all (and could potentially--though it's unlikely--actually stay dead), and most of them will be forever changed, and so on and so forth.  If you dig comics, you've heard a similar pitch before.  Yet this crossover bears the name Secret Wars, so maybe the shit really is about to hit the fan.

Having finished the first issue, I think it's safe to say that big things are happening.  I also think it's safe to say that the big things that are happening are incredibly convoluted.  Honestly, after I read issue #1, I found myself thinking that if you took the contents of that comic book and spread it out over three or four issues, it might actually wind up being something you could read and enjoy.  Unfortunately, aside from a few key players who hung around for more than a single panel, we wound up with little more than a series of cameos.   Additionally, aside from a few crisp pages that nearly made sense, so much clunky exposition was offered up that I felt like I was reading an Alan Moore comic where he had been ordered to double up on the text.  "We need twice as much, Al, and make sure it's complicated."

Now, it's only the first issue, and I've found that many of Marvel's latest attempts at blowing our minds get off to uneven starts.  So maybe things will sort themselves out.  Unfortunately, I've also found that many of Marvel's most recent super crossovers fell well short of my expectations.  The superb Avengers vs. X-Men arc from 2012 is the only such event that I've really enjoyed since they damn near topped the original Secret Wars (which many credit with creating the crossover on an epic scale way back in 1984) with their Civil War in 2006.  So, I'm going to hope for the best, but man oh man, we are off to a rocky start. 

Final Grade: D-

What do you think?  Am I being too hard on the new Secret Wars?  Am I failing to understand this stuff because I'm reading the wrong comics?  This is possible, as Marvel and DC both quickly cancel titles after realizing that I've added them to my reading list.  Maybe you think it was even worse than I did--though, for that to be the case, you probably would have thrown that shit in the trashcan before you finished and you probably wouldn't be reading this particular blog.  Whatever your take on the 2015 Secret Wars is, feel free to clue me in.  I'm searching for answers here.

There's no topping the original Secret Wars.

Bonus Points: the original Secret Wars featured
what is probably my favorite cover of all time.