I was a fan of the first Secret Wars series. Sure, the plot was all over the place, but it was fun to see so many Marvel characters sharing one big epic for the first time. So, when it was announced that the sequel would include even more characters from the Marvel Universe I was really looking forward to it. Secret Wars II was pretty wonky though, and the Beyonder himself was tough to take seriously with his Jheri Curl and disco outfits. I must say I did enjoy a lot of the ongoing comic series that had tie-ins to the event though.
I loved the Super Hero Squad parody thought. It was a one shot issue and they changed the Spidey black costume storyline for Speedball !
ReplyDelete"And, his origin is stranger than anyone could have predicted."
ReplyDeleteOK! I'll take stab at it and predict that he will turn out to be...
...the son of Batman and Zatanna from an alternate future!!
Seriously, though: I hear one of the spoilers for SECRET WARS III will involve the return of MJ Watson...as Mrs. Peter Parker!
ReplyDeleteDo my fellow commentators think it's about time? Or a case of too little/too late?
It's not a spoiler. It is one of the many mini-series that takes place on one of the lands or grids of battleworld.
ReplyDeleteI have been reading about battle world and the plot of this new secret wars. I also have read the first two installments of Convergence and a few of the tie-ins over at DC. I am less than enthused about either storyline. It seems DC just did a very similar story about 6 or 7 years ago called Arena, i think it was part of the countdown to final crisis story. Why are both major publishers doing the same story at the same time again? Alternate versions of characters at war with each other seems kinda derivative.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I think the answer is, more so DC but Marvel also, neither company is interested in comics publishing itself as their end product. Each company's character is merely a tool to be merchandised, whether for a blockbuster film series, TV, toy line, graphic novel collections, etc. More variations of characters, more potential opportunities to merchandize either for different adaptations in other media or variations of toys. Notice how both companies, especially DC have pretty much stopped TPB collections of pre 1980s stories? They are not interested in the traditional comics fan anymore, they are looking to expand to other areas.
ReplyDeleteSad but true, BERT.
ReplyDelete@BERT: Marvel has apparently stopped issuing paperback editions of their Masterworks earlier this year (after issuing one a month for five years), but are replacing them with their larger, color "Epic Collections". They're not being released in numerical order, since the earliest Marvel silver age stories are easily found used, but you should be able to find the fourth volume of THOR (with #154-174), which came out the last week in February. Also, SUPER-VILLAINS UNITE collects all the 70's SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UPs plus their crossovers and came out the first week in March. They're both almost twice the length of a typical Masterworks and in color for $35. DC is another story. They are releasing pre-Crisis New Teen Titans in paperback (previously available in Archives), but little else. One problem is that they're reprinted the best 70's artwork in every conceivable format already (Adams' Batman and Green Lantern, Simonson's Manhunter and Wrightson's Swamp Thing), but you'd think a color Metamorpho book would find an audience in any generation. Color paperbacks of JLA, B&B, 70's Kirby, 60's Ditko (there's been some, but not for a while), Grell's Warlord, etc. should be on the schedule of an organized program.
ReplyDeleteWait, you said best '70s artwork and Neal Adams in the same sentence. Take a deep breath, go back and critically evaluate Adams' "storytelling." Yeah, he is technically a good draftsman but he can't tell a story to save his life.
ReplyDelete