Secret wars 9.... About to read it... What kinda comics people been scooping up lately?
Lately i've been collecting older comics that I didn't have in my collection. Both Marvel and DC have been releasing plenty of Omnibus and Absolute editions over the past few years of classic storylines. DC especially has been collecting a lot of Batman stories from specific writers and artists. Just ordered one yesterday by Doug Moench, who probably stands as one of my favorite writers to have worked on the Dark Knight.
Secret Wars was straight. Actually, that's probably underestimating it to some extent. It was very good overall. The thing about it is that it's not the typical Marvel event, in that it's not even a little bit self-contained. To understand what's going on you have to have been following Hickman's Avengers and New Avengers run from start to finish. And if there's one big problem with the event its that the Avengers as a whole are kind of just there. This isn't really an Avengers event. Its an Illuminati + Dr. Doom event. And the list of Illuminati that matter kind of decreases over time, because you've got Captain America and Iron Man dying before Secret Wars starts, at the literal end of the universe. Touching on that point however, that final scene of them still fighting was epic as ******* hell in every way, shape, and form. Might very well go down as one of my favorite moments/images in Marvel history. But that being said, this entire run has been terrible to some extent in terms of how amazingly idiotic the Illuminati have been by not telling anyone else what was going on.
Doesn't make a single bit of sense. Back to the event itself however its just very strange how there were a lot of big name people like Spider-Man and Thor allowed to make it onto Battleworld but they then didn't play a major role. Hell, Reed Richards, the guy who "fixes" everything at the end and Doom's biggest enemy is just nowhere to be found for half of it. Just some strange decisions Hickman made along the way. All of that being said however, this is easily the best event that Marvel's put out in years. Leagues beyond Original Sin, Fear Itself, Civil War, AvX, Axis, etc. And I really think it's partially because it is the culmination of such a long run. Just like the Captain America vs Iron Man image will stick with me I think that the finale of Secret Wars, Dr. Doom and Mr. Fantastic duking it out with each other one last time before the universe is rebooted is...well fantastic lol.
So overall, were there problems I had with this event and Hickman's run as a whole? Absolutely. But it was still a very good event. I really won't be surprised if a few years down the line people are looking back on this as a modern classic.