by Wayne Markley

This is part two of my overall review of the various Secret War miniseries. As with last time, these are brief synopsis and not in-depth reviews. The quality varies greatly as some are fantastic and some I could not get through. All of these are being collected into trades over the coming months so if something catches your fancy, you can track down the single issues or wait for the collection. Now, away we go.

Hail Hydra is a four issues series by Rick Remender and Roland Boschi, Ed Tadeo and Scott Hanna. It is the tale of Ian Rogers, the biological son of Arnim Zola and his battles with Hydra. Compared to most of Remender’s writing this is a very good book, but that said it did not do a lot for me. It is a good spy story with lots of people switching sides but just not my cup of tea.

Howard the Human was a one-shot title by Scottie Young and Jim Mahfood. Like the title suggests, this is a tale of Howard if he was a human. It reads a lot like a 70s exploitation movie with a tough PI and not the brightest crooks, and Mahfood’s art, which is not my favorite, is perfect here. There are a number of laughs and as a one shot is a lot of fun.

House of M is a four issues series written by Dennis Hopeless and Cullen Bunn with art by Ario Anindito. This is inspired by the classic House of M story where the Scarlet Witch wiped out most of the mutants. This series is basically similar in the name only. This time Magneto is in charge and is ruling with an iron fist and his grandsons, Wiccin and Speed ,work to oppose him, along with almost everybody else conspiring against him. It is a typical mutant story with nice art. The story did not leave me wanting more but it is certainly satisfying for what it is.

Future Imperfect is five issues series by Pater David, Greg Land and Jay Leisten. This was great. The story speeds along and the art is fantastic. This is Peter David revisiting some of his best creations, led by Maestro aided by Lyla Miller and others, as they face off and try to de-throne Doom. This is a great series and the end is nothing that I would have foreseen, yet it made it perfectly good sense. This was one of the best of the Secret Wars tie series and it shows why Peter David is such a great, although underrated, writer.

Planet Hulk is by Sam Humphries and Mark Laming. This could easily be my second favorite book of all of these series. This was five issues telling the story of gladiator Steve Rogers in the Greenland to take down their leader, the Red Hulk. In fact, all of the inhabitants of the Greenland are Hulks of one shape or another. Rogers is accompanied by Bucky Barnes and his faithful beast, Devil Dinosaur. This was a fun romp filled with adventure and action. Overall a very good book.

Inhumans: Attilan Rising (Battleworld) is a five issue series by Charles Soule and art by John Timms and Roberto Poggi. First off, the art is very nice in this book. The story is a battle between Queen Medusa and the leader of the rebels she is ordered to stop, Black Bolt. It is a very good story that is heavy on politics and is also filled with unexpected guest stars such as Ghost Rider and Dr. Strange and of course, Thors, who are in almost every book. Not as good as the Hulk titles, but a good read.

Infinity Gauntlet is a five issue series by Dustin Weaver and Gerry Duggan. First off, the art is this book is beautiful. This is done with the spirit of the original series but in a different way. The basic story is there is an invasion of bugs that has to be stopped by the Nova corps (well, a family of Novas), and as the fight builds others are drawn into the battle, such as Drax, Thanos, Adam Warlock, the Guardians, and many others. This series is filled with action and the story is complex where very little is what it seems. I would once again recommend this one.

M.O.D.O.K. Assassin is a four issue series by Chris Yost and David Lafuente. This is not what I would consider a great book by the standards I have rated the other titles in this column, but it is so much fun as M.O.D.O.K. spends the whole series in conflict as to whether or not to kill the women he is in love with. It is not the best, but I found the story to be very funny and entertaining.

Red Skull (Battleworld) is a three issue series that features a little of everything as there are Zombies, bounty hunters, Sentinals, bugs (again), Thors, and much more. The story is the Red Skull tries to overthrow lord Doom and is exiled outside of the shield (the barriers that protect the cities from the zombies, bugs, etc.). In exile, the Red Skull becomes a martyr and hero to the resistance movement. This was better than I would have thought but it is not great. I will say though that the end was quite a surprise.

Runaways (Battleworld) is by Noelle Stevenson with art by Sanford Green and Noelle Stevenson. I am not sure why, but this book did not work for me. It is a good book in terms of quality but the story left me cold and I had no interest in the characters or reading more about them. I am not saying this is a bad book; it just was not the book for me.

Secret Wars Journal (Battleworld) was a five issue series where each issue featured two stories set in a different parts of Battleworld. None of these really stood out to me except for the M.O.D.O.K. story in issue one (which I though was one of the best M.O.D.O.K. stories of all time.) The gist was a number of M.O.D.O.K.s from different dimension are all gathered together due to the new world order and the combining of Universes, and all of the M.O.D.O.Ks sit around arguing who is the better M.O.D.O.K. I would recommend the collection just for this M.O.D.O.K story. It was hysterical. Nothing else in the five issues stood out to me even though all the stories added to the overall Secret Wars story.

Secret Wars: Secret Love was another one-shot anthology with four all new stories. This was a fun book with a particularly good story where Squirrel Girl wins a date with Thor. Nothing in this book is earth-shattering good, but for what it was it was fun and harmless. It was nice to see fun short stories set in the Battleworld where almost all of the other stories are battles, death and violence.

Secret Wars: Battleworld is another anthology title that ran four issues and each issue had two stories by various creators. None of these stood out to me, but none of these were bad ether. Issue four had a fun story with the Maestro and the Silver Surfer. Basically this book told stories of the Secret Wars that were not part of the main book. Nothing you can’t live without but nor is anything must reading.

Secret Wars 2099 takes place in the future and is a five part series by the always great Peter David and Will Sliney. This is a very good story where the Avengers work for a huge corporation and the Defenders are trying to get justice. This was classic Peter David and is a must for fans of his Spider-Man 2099 work. The story ends with the promise there is more to come which suggests this will continue in the current Spider-Man 2099 book. We will see. A very good book, though.

Siege (Battleworld) is a four issue series by Kieron Gillen and Filipe Andrade. Unfortunately I found this book to be a muddled. It involves SHIELD, a bunch of Scott Summers from different worlds, Kang and Thanos. There is plenty of action and it ends with obvious implications for the end of Secret Wars, but I just found myself lost. I am sure the trade would read much better.

Squadron Sinister is a four part series written by Mark Guggenheim and drawn by Carlos Pacheco and Mariano Taibo. The story is the Squadron Sinister is in charge of the world called Utopius, but they want more than that and are expanding their territory. In the process a Thor is killed and that will not be tolerated. A group of Starbrands, along with the Thors, are determined to find the killer and stop the Squadron Sinister’s expansion. This book surprised me in how good it was. It was a great story and a nice tribute to the late Mark Grunwald who is most closely associated with the characters. Well worth reading.

Spider-Island is a five part story about an island ruled by a giant spider queen and the battle to dethrone her. It is by Christos Gage and Paco Diaz. I cannot say this book did anything for me. I was not a fan of the original Spider-Island story and this is no better. There is a short back-up story in each issue with May Parker, Spider-Woman by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz. This is a nice homage to their popular Spider-Girl series from years back.

Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows is a five issue series by Dan Slott, Adam Kubert and Scott Hanna. This book was also very, very good. It is all about the Parker Family, Peter, Mary Jane and their daughter, Annie May. When you throw in the Secret Six and the concept that Peter has given up being Spider-Man as Spider-Man is a wanted man, this makes for a great read. One of the best of these miniseries.

Spider-Verse was a five issue series by Mike Costa and Andre Araujo. This series was not bad but it struck me as an excuse to continue the Spider-Verse story by from last year. The cast of characters include Spider-Gwen. Spider-Ham, Spider-Noir and many others. The overall story is fine but it left me cold. I am sure it would appeal to Spider fans but to me it was not up to the quality of the traditional Spider-Man title.

Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde (Battleworld) is a four issue series by Sam Humphries and Alto Firmansyah. This book surprised me as it was more of a romance book with the backdrop of a caper. By the time I got to the end of this book I really enjoyed it. This to me ranks up there as one of the best Secret War books. There is also very nice art and I suspect this book would appeal to a broader audience than the traditional Marvel fan.

Thors is a five issue series by Jason Aaron and art by Chris Sprouse, Goran Sudzuka, Karl Story and Dexter Vines. This might be the best of all of the Secret Wars books (along with Future Imperfect). It involves more Thors than you can shake a stick at and it is a police procedural about a murder. I loved this book but my one complaint is, and this is big, it is late. It should have wrapped up by now yet we are still waiting for the conclusion. So I would suggest waiting for the collection then run out and buy it as it is well worth reading. Having to wait multiple months for it is unforgivable.

Ultimate End was another five issue story this time by Brian Bendis and Mark Bagley. This was very, very good and it is different from the other books in it is very clear that some of these characters know that this whole Battleworld situation is not real. Plus there are more heroes per page than almost any of the other titles. A very good read.

Weirdworld is another Secret Wars book that takes the name from a classic Marvel series (recently collected into one beautiful trade) that has nothing to do with the original. It is written by Jason Aaron and has art by Mike Del Mundo. This is the tale of Arkon, and his quest to get home. Along the way he crosses paths with Man-Thing and a number of other odd creatures. Outside of the violence this was quite different from the other miniseries. Because it is different, and because of the very nice painted art, this one stands out. It is a five issue series.

Where Monsters Dwell is like Weirdworld in that it is unlike anything else. It is a five part book written by Garth Ennis who is at his best here. The art is by Russ Braun and it is also great. The basic story is the Phantom Eagle is stranded on an island of Amazons along with Clemmie Franklin-Cox who is quickly accepted by the warrior women. The Phantom Eagle thinks this is a great opportunity as he is the only man on an island filled with women. Alas, that is not so. There is a lot of cheesecake and quite a few laughs. It is mature readers due to story content and nudity. A fun book is you are old enough.

Old Man Logan is a five issue series that is set in the future long after the heroes are all gone. It is written by Brain Bendis and drawn by Andrea Sorrentino. The story is a bit slow but this is one of the few Secret Wars miniseries that has already been announced as an ongoing book. The art is very stylized and different than anything else which helps it stand out. I did not enjoy this book as much as the original miniseries by Mark Millar as I felt this whole story was laying the groundwork for a larger story which I suspect is coming in the ongoing series.

The next five books I am going to go over as a group as all five are X-Men related titles. None of these really excited me and a couple of them I really did not like. If you are an X fan, you will likely enjoy these books, but to me, as stand alone stories they were not that entertaining. All are named after classic X-Men events. E is for Extinction is four issue series by Chris Burnham, Dennis Culver and Ramon Villalobos. The story revolves around Magneto running a school for gifted youngsters but he is hiding an egg with an immense secret. Inferno was a five issue series by Dennis Hopeless Javier Garron. This one tells the story of Colossus’ yearly attempt to rescue his sister from the Inferno that is Manhattan, and the disaster it turns out to be. Years of the Future Past was another five issue series this time written by Marguerite Bennet and art by Mike Norton. It is all out mutant revolt as they struggle to free themselves from human enslavement and the rebel leader is Kitty Pride. X-Men ’92 was a four issue story by Chris Sims and Chad Bowers and art by Scott Koblish. I found this one to be a complete mess and I did not finish reading it. But I have spoken with a number of people who are fans of the X-Men from that period and loved this book. X-Tinction Agenda was four issues by Marc Guggenheim and Carmine DeGiadomenico. This is another story about Genosha but this time the villains are defeated and the spotlight of the series is on a mutant known as Warlock. Again, not one of my favorites.

All of the Secret Wars books do tie in together very loosely but it is nice that each of the miniseries can be read independently of the main series or of each other. But there are also threads that run through all of the series that tie them together if you want to put the effort into reading them all. All of the miniseries and the main title, Secret Wars, are being collected in softcover and hardcover collections over the next few months so anything you have read about here will soon be available in a collection if you do not want to track down all the single issues.

This wraps up my overview of the Secret Wars tie-ins. It is a mixed bag overall as some are great and some are not good at all. As Secret Wars still has three issues to go I will hold off on any comments on the main book until it wraps up. Everything I have written here is my opinion and in no way reflects the thoughts or opinions of Westfield Comics or their employees. Am I off base on any of my reviews? Do you agree? Disagree? I want to hear from you. I can be reached at MFBWAY@AOL.COM. Next time I will review a tale of two monsters. Till then,

Thank you.