{"id":185,"date":"2008-10-28T07:00:33","date_gmt":"2008-10-28T11:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/?p=185"},"modified":"2008-10-27T01:12:48","modified_gmt":"2008-10-27T05:12:48","slug":"secret-wars-ii-collected-this-is-so-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/wordpress\/2008\/10\/28\/secret-wars-ii-collected-this-is-so-wrong\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Secret Wars II’ Collected – This is So Wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first comic I bought as a collector was Secret Wars<\/em> issue #2 back in sixth grade.\u00a0 Some of you may recall I wrote a post about this experience back in June<\/a>.\u00a0 Before I begin my rant, I want to be sure you understand that Secret Wars<\/em> issue #2 should in no way to be confused with a completely separate nine-issue comic book limited series entitled Secret Wars II<\/a><\/em>.\u00a0 That’s important.\u00a0 Don’t forget that.<\/p>\n

\"Secret<\/a>The original Secret Wars<\/em> 12-issue limited series was a solid story and a huge success.\u00a0 So of course, it spawned a sequel.\u00a0 Secret Wars II<\/em> was about the entity that instigated the first Secret Wars<\/em>, the Beyonder.\u00a0 The Beyonder visits Earth in search of enlightenment and inevitably comes into conflict with Earth’s superheroes and the cosmic entities that exist in the Marvel Universe.\u00a0 It’s pretty much universally accepted by fans that Secret Wars II<\/em> was a poorly executed and poorly written series.<\/p>\n

Marvel Comics has announced that in February they will release a new hardcover — Secret Wars II Omnibus<\/em>.\u00a0 This omnibus will collect all nine issues of the Secret Wars II <\/em>mini-series, as well as several of the related crossovers.\u00a0 All told it will reprint 46 comics, be 1168 pages, and retail for $99.99.<\/p>\n

Okay, hopefully you’ve taken a second for all that to sink in.\u00a0 So I can now say…<\/p>\n

WTF, mate?!?!?<\/span><\/h1>\n

Are you serious?\u00a0 Secret Wars II<\/em> for $100?\u00a0 Are they out of their friggin’ minds?\u00a0 Seriously, dude!\u00a0 This is an abysmal comic.\u00a0 In fact, you can pick up almost every issue of Secret Wars II<\/em> in your local comic book shop for less than $1 an issue (some of the crossovers can be more expensive).<\/p>\n

The comics collected in the omnibus include: Secret Wars II <\/em>issues #1-9; New Mutants<\/em> #30 and #36-37; Captain America<\/em> #308; Uncanny X-Men<\/em> #196 and #202-203; Iron Man<\/em> #197; Fantastic Four<\/em> #282, #285, #288 and #316-319; Web of Spider-Man<\/em> #6; Amazing Spider-Man<\/em> #268 and #273-274; Daredevil<\/em> #223; Incredible Hulk<\/em> #312; Avengers<\/em> #260-261 and #265-266; Dazzler<\/em> #40; Alpha Flight<\/em> #28; Thing<\/em> #30; Doctor Strange<\/em> #74; Cloak and Dagger<\/em> #4; Power Pack<\/em> #18; Thor<\/em> #363; Power Man and Iron Fist<\/em> #121; Peter Parker, Spectacular Spider-Man<\/em> #111; Defenders<\/em> #152; Deadpool Team-Up<\/em> #1 and Quasar<\/em> #8.<\/p>\n

It’s fair to say that while the primary book Secret Wars II<\/em> was awful, some of the crossover issues were pretty good.\u00a0 There were really two categories of crossovers.\u00a0 Crossover issues that REALLY connected to the Secret Wars II<\/em> plot, and crossover issues that barely paid lip service to Secret Wars II<\/em>.\u00a0 For example, while New Mutants<\/em> #30 was a good comic, the Secret Wars II<\/em> plot point was resolved in three and a half pages.\u00a0 Obviously Secret Wars II<\/em> was not integral to the plot of this comic.<\/p>\n

\"Amazing<\/a>\"Web<\/a>Some comics that tied-in to Secret Wars II <\/em>really benefited from the connection.\u00a0 My personal favorites were Web of Spider-Man<\/em> #6 and Amazing Spider-Man<\/em> #268.\u00a0 These comics form a two-part story in which Spider-Man has to deal with the collapse of the skyscraper that the Beyonder turned into gold.\u00a0 While the Beyonder makes no appearance in these issues, the story does spin directly out of Secret Wars II<\/em> issue #2.\u00a0 There are some great moments dealing with moral issues in this one.\u00a0 The government secures the building made of gold because it’s worried about what the influx of this quantity of gold could do to the world economy.\u00a0 Spider-Man witnesses the Kingpin receiving pay-offs from government agents, while he himself is shot at for trying to help people.\u00a0 So in a moment of frustration, Spider-Man takes a golden notebook from the skyscraper.\u00a0 The moral issue becomes whether Spider-Man has the right to take the gold as compensation (especially since the Kingpin is making a profit from the government).\u00a0 It’s a well written story by Danny Fingeroth and Tom DeFalco, and is a great example of what classic Spider-Man stories should be like.<\/p>\n

A few others worth mentioning are:<\/p>\n