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Secret Wars II (Marvel comics) August 9, 2006

Posted by Jake Chambers in : Comics, Jake Chambers, Marvel , trackback

The credits for this one go also to blondecutegirl04

Secret Wars II was a nine-issue comic book limited series and crossover published by Marvel Comics from 1985 to 1986. The series was written by Marvel’s then Editor-in-chief Jim Shooter and primarily pencilled by Al Milgrom.

The series was a sequel to 1984’s Secret Wars, though unlike its predecessor it occurred on Earth and took place simultaneously in other Marvel comic books, enabling tie-in crossover stories within multiple issues of various titles. The covers of each of these tie-in issues featured a logo in the top right hand corner which read “Secret Wars II continues in this issue” to indicate that it was a part of the story.

The broad plot of the series involves an enigmatic, all-powerful, god-like creature called the Beyonder who comes to Earth in search of enlightenment and then inevitably comes into conflict with the planets’ superhumans.

Taking a number of different human forms, eventually settling on a dark-haired version of Steve Rogers (Captain America), the character wandered in and out of the lives of various Marvel characters often challenging them in philososphical as well as physical ways. One example of this is Daredevil #223, (October, 1985) “The Price” by writers Jim Shooter and Denny O’Neil and artist David Mazzucchelli. In that story, the Beyonder encounters Daredevil’s alter ego, lawyer Matt Murdock, while seeking to legally buy up all the property on the planet. When he first meets Murdock, he notices that he is blind and restores his sight as a gift. Daredevil initially enjoys this boon, but soon begins to question whether he has lost something essential to himself.

The storyline ended on a sombre note in Secret Wars II #9 (March, 1986) as the Beyonder’s quest to understand the nature of desire is thwarted by a large group of super-heroes assembled by the Molecule Man, who view him as a threat to reality.

The last page of the final issue shows that the events of the story have resulted in the creation of a new universe. Some fans speculated that this was a reference to the New Universe line of books Shooter was launching at Marvel at the time, although he subsequently denied this.

Secret Wars II went far beyond any previous crossover by having minor and major tie-ins with nearly every other title in the Marvel Universe. Some tie-ins consisted of little more than a cameo by the Beyonder. A collector trying to own the “whole” story would need to have purchased nearly 42 comics in less than a year. Though the story could be understood by reading the main mini-series alone, the number of tie-ins was controversial at the time. Also some readers criticized the series for its meandering storyline and its perceived philosophical clumsiness [1]. The series was a big sales success however, and most comics which linked with it saw a modest rise in sales. It paved the way for subsequent large crossovers such as Inferno, and The Fall of the Mutants.

An epilogue to the story by Roger Stern and John Buscema ran in Avengers #265 and 266 (March-April, 1986). This story detailed the aftermath of the events of Secrets Wars #9 and explained what had happened afterwards to important characters such as the Molecule Man and Volcana.

Later Steve Englehart wrote a nominal sequel, “Secret Wars III” published in Fantastic Four #319 (October, 1988). This story featured the return of the Beyonder and retconned his origin, revealing him to be an evolved cosmic cube. The story ended when the character developed further into a new being - “Kosmos”.

In the years since, the covers of various Marvel Comics have occasionally featured the “Secret Wars II continues in this issue” corner box logo as a humorous reference, when their stories touch on the events of the miniseries in some way.

Secret Wars II (Marvel comics) August 9, 2006

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