Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars 1984 Sales Analysis

[@Kooster69]

I think there were some positive things with the first Secret Wars: 1) It gave a whole new direction and energy for the Spider-Man creative teams to use. It gave us Venom, and all the stuff that followed. 2) Chris Claremont, I think, wrote one of the best ever issues of Colossus in The Uncanny X-Men. JRJR did some great art. If you were invested in the X-Men at the time, Secret Wars threw a huge curve ball into The Uncanny X-Men. 3) Roger Stern used tie-in issues of The Avengers to put a spotlight on Starfox, the Scarlet Witch, and the Vision. These issues also setup one of the big Vision storylines. 4) John Byrne used Secret Wars to change up the status quo for the FF by adding She-Hulk to the team. One of the post-Secret Wars FF issues was pretty heart-breaking what happened with Sue Storm. The kid in me thought it was great to have that one issue of Sue Storm. The now more adult me wished that John Byrne had done at least another issue of Sue Storm dealing with what had happened to her.

[@paulbowler5345]

The original Secret Wars is still my favourite comic book event., it was brilliant.

[@JennySparkz]

...and then Secret Wars II came along..DEAR LORD!!! that, that was NOT IT marvel, but I'd still buy the omnibus if it came out

[@powerbadpowerbad]

The art was-TRASH-tho,it looked rushed and drawn half&&&&&.

[@JungoFunko]

Disagree ​@@powerbadpowerbad

[@smithryansmith]

Secret wars was a lot more than the simple brainless brawl it could have been. Spider-man kicking x-men butt, the hulk holding up a mountain, Titania trashing She-hulk then getting trashed by Spider-man Dr Doom defeating the beyonder, the final confrontation between Doom and Cap, with Cap being relentless then trying to save Doom It was better than it had any right to be.

[@williamcobb2972]

It’s finally here! The numbers video nearly a year in the making!

[@geekynerd7346]

When I was in high school and need reading comics anymore, I saw a 60 Minutes ( the news show) piece about how First Comics had outsold DC to become the number 2 comic company ( this was in 1983 or 1984). One on the reporters asked Stan Lee what Marvel was going to do to compete. Stan said that they had this exciting story where all the heroes and villains were going to get together and fight. Looking back, Stan was talking about a secret Wars. Secret Wars was critical to Marvel’s success

[@YuriVoltre]

Oh man, KB Toys, that is a blast from the past.

[@TheMightyDerf]

Secret Wars and Spider-Man & his Amazing Friends were my real introduction to Marvel Comics as a kid. I loved the original Secret Wars and always will.

[@originalkmiller]

I started collecting comics during the Secret Wars. Great nostalgia. Looking back, it isn't the best series, but it is memorable and entertaining. Every character had a unique voice, which is different from many of today's ensemble casts. And as one of the other commenters mentioned, Shooter and the other comic writers stook the effort to tie in what was going on in the regular series, and then have the events of Secret Wars actually matter to the regular series when the heroes returned. I read it to my kids when they were young, and they love it, too. Secret Wars, Atari Force, Alien Legion, and Avengers were the 4 comic series that I used to start my first pull box.

[@Deephouse_Gent66]

The 1st SECRET WARS was definitely a FUN book to read, though even as an 18-year old reader back then, I always felt that the plot was a little hollow and contrived, but it was still fun seeing what was basically one of the first comic book event series complete with tie-in issues. (Arguably, Marvel's CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS preceded SECRET WARS and DC's SUPER POWERS). I wasn't a fan of Mike Zeck's interiors, but his cover art (especially on SW #10) was dynamic and explosive as all hell. I believe the major reason the 2016 SECRET WARS failed was because nothing that took place in that Doom-created universe (depicted in numerous tie-in miniseries) actually affected any of Marvel Continuity, except to allow the Fantastic Four to re-enter continuity. Beyond that, it was just another story of Doom gaining ultimate power only to lose it again. Overall though, this was a nice retrospective look back.

[@drewtheunspoken3988]

The mid 80s were a big boom for comics. A lot of people think of Watchmen or Dark Knight Returns but it was also things like Secret Wars and Crisis on Infinite Earths. I personally got into comics because of the 1989 Batman movie (yes, I'm old, shut up!) but I could see Secret Wars having a similar effect. Especially since comics were ubiquitous at the time. Even if you couldn't find the Secret Wars comics you could find those characters in their own comics. So, basically, the newsstand way a very expensive marketing tool.

[@above.average.gaming.natio3026]

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[@g041583]

For me it was Crisis on the Infinite Earths that brought me to comics. Didn’t get to read Secret Wars until the early 2000s

[@Improbi]

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars during the time I bought comics during the late spinner rack era in convenience stores & magazine shops. Comic shops for me only existed in ads of comics at that point. I only bought the four Spidey books at that time & this series help entrench me into the Marvel universe as only guest appearances in Spidey titles & Marvel Team Up would draw some interest but not enough to follow another title. Buying this title in regular stores was frustrating as availability was spotty in the second half of the series & I had to find issues 8, 9, 10 & 12 years later when I found LCS in my area. Still have my Tower of Doom & Turbo Copter with a bunch of figures from the toy line. I laugh every time when I see comments of people who look down on this series. It's fun read during a time when a "big event" didn't happen every month which made it special. Only gripe would be issues 8-12 where Zeck's artwork looked a bit rushed or his inker rush the job on those books. All in all top 10 favorite series on my personal list.

[@77jonsan]

I was one of the fans buying these issues straight off the spinner rack at the gas station. I loved those action figures, as well, but those got lost in my mom's great toy purge. I miss those guys. Still got the comics, luckily.

[@drewtheunspoken3988]

I remember skipping past those Secret Wars toys for Masters of the Universe figures instead. I had no idea who most of them even were at the time.

[@nicodemous52]

I've said before, and I'll say again, Battle Damage He-Man was peak action figures, it's all been down hill since then.

[@drewtheunspoken3988]

@@LTNetjak I got into G.I. Joe shortly after and then lost interest when I got into comic books. And girls.

[@nicodemous52]

It's kind of weird to contrast old and new covers. Yeah, new covers do typically have "objectively better art", but they also usually lack any kind of energy, and they serve as kind of a lie. Old comic covers usually give you a good idea what the art inside will be like, and, they are usually dynamic and interesting. As opposed to a prettier picture of a figure just in a static pose.

[@drewtheunspoken3988]

New covers look good, but those old covers pop.

[@nicodemous52]

@@drewtheunspoken3988 That's a great way to put it.

[@benevolentremnant2949]

Yup. Very applicable to a lot of Momoko covers and those Alex Ross headshot variants. They're each excellent in their own way. But this is comics, dang it--characters need to move and jump and punch and fly through the air!

[@overlord6993]

Old covers pop and are way moee dynamic

[@billybarnett2846]

Somebody brought this in one day in junior high. Secret Wars wasn't as crappy as people make it out to be. A lot of people got inyo gomics cause of this series. I remember seeing the action figures in Wards around Christmas.

[@adamfox9651]

While Secret Wars may have turned young kids on to Marvel, it turned me, who had already started high school by that time and had been a True Believer since about 3rd or 4th grade, off; not just to Marvel, but superhero comics in general, for a very long time. On a positive note, though, it inspired me to look for more alternative forms of comics. When some classmate of mine hipped me to Heavy Metal, I was like, "Holy crap! You can show that stuff in comics?"

[@rocketraccoon1976]

00:14 Magneto wasn't part of Doom's team. Uninspired?!? It was great! Lots of action, lots of emotion, lots of memorable moments! Memorable moment: Piledriver, of the Wrecking Crew, tries to bully Owen Reece & Volcana. Then when Piledriver asks for help from the rest of the Crew + Absorbing Man, suddenly they're all talking about the weather, trying to stay out of the confrontation. 😂😂😂 "No sir, Mr. Molecule Man, sir!!"

[@JennySparkz]

".....At this range an arrow hits harder than a bullet".....Laughter.....then tears. Decades later that still makes me laugh.

[@rammisalami]

That is crazy to see a number one being outsold by a later issue in the event. I would also be interested to know if Shooter, Zeck or Layton got royalties from those toys.

[@devinthunderstrike]

Don't forget Contest of Champions was before this

[@kevtheobald]

This was a series I bought when new. As a kid, it was amazing and I still have the floppies from back then. I recently bought the hardcover collected edition for this. I have not read the edition yet, but the nostalgia is high on this. Secret Wars could been a What If series event.

[@benevolentremnant2949]

Someting to ponder in the age of ratio variants: there are, in theory, around a half million Black Suit Spiderman / Secret Wars 8 issues floating around out there. But a VG copy will still probably set you back $100. (And I could listen to that guy from the commercial saying "Secret Warrrrss!" on a loop. SECRET WARRRRRSS!!!)

[@BainesMkII]

I remember so often the news stands simply skipping random issues of series. It was obvious the books weren't selling out (because the issues before and after would sit on the shelf for the full month, the missing issues simply were never stocked. It's why I ended up subscribing to series that I wanted to follow. I also remember always seeing tons of coverless comics at flea markets.

[@sazmurph540]

I loved Secret Wars as a kid. I couldn't afford to get every comic series out there so this was a great way to get all of the biggest heroes and villains in one monthly comic. And the introduction of the alien costume alone is still impacting comics today while events since then are largely forgotten with no lasting impacts.

[@Siddarable]

I loved secret wars at age 14. I never heard any of criticism of it back then. But then I remember only buying like three issues of secret war II for probably same reason you said of being it was to kids focused.

[@christophercrockett2972]

Well, I got into comics because of the old re-run of 60’s Marvel and DC cartoons. I definitely appreciate Secret Wars tho.👍

[@nicodemous52]

"Because all the characters were in one place" And now we are like, yeah, never mind. Can you like, separate them again please, for the love of God?

[@CayoHern]

Have you done Crisis on Infinite Earth's or Watchmen?

[@belgiumcomics2537]

I liked Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars.

[@klaushenna6778]

I still hate the fact Hickman’s Secret Wars is called Secret Wars and not Secret Wars III. Jesus Christ Marvel maintain some continuity

[@Jackfromshack]

Original Marvel ended somewhere in 1998. There is no continuity after that, as I heard

[@AL-ws5yi]

I know you say these are underviewed but I appreciate them. The problem is I just need time to sit and absorb it. It won’t do to have it playing in the background.

[@joshuaingobo1559]

0:30 Nice new intro.

[@toddblackwood129]

In my estimation, another ‘secret’ success of this series was it introduced a new generation to new characters by putting them astride with characters everyone already knew. And by that, I mean it was a jumping on point for new readers to XMen. Secret Wars was written very simply (meaning easy for kids to understand). As great as the XMen book was at this time, I can speak from personal experience that the XMen were a little confusing, and despite lacking Claremont’s writing it was easy to digest, so it was an excellent jumping on point. Or put another way, I bought it for Spiderman, but I stayed for the XMen, which I became a life long fan of!

[@haterdave1]

The doom roller was pretty cool. You could steamroll some figures and by taking the car out and putting the wheel on it's side you had a nice little jail to keep the heroes in check

[@badmojo7825]

I liked the story it WAS fun. I remember seeing the comic (I don't remember which issue) when I was a kid. And I bought the Secret Wars Omnibus a few months ago.

[@andrewb8789]

13:45 [sobs] $3.49 for a Ninja Turtle? I paid eBay scalpers $20 a pop for the re-issued Storage Shell Turtles a while back, which I think were still $10 if you could find them at Target. Every time I am reminded of this, it blows my mind what I took for granted as a kid. And that's KayBee prices, which were typically higher than Wal-Mart prices. [sobs] So old...so old...

[@timogul]

I didn't read comics at the time, but remember I had some of the toys. Even at the time I knew that it was stupid for anyone other than Cap to have a shield. I'm not sure which I had then and which I got later from yardsales, but I think over the years I had Cap, Iron Man, Doom, Magneto, Wolverine, black Spider-Man, and maybe also Doc Ock, not confident on that one. Maybe also Kang, seem tp remember Kang. I also had some toy cars that were mostly just generic cars with Marvel characters slapped on them, like the "Doc Ock van" or something.

[@batandjoefan8108]

Secret Wars was not nearly as good as Crisis on Infinite Earths (which unfortunately has been retconned 100 times) I enjoyed the battle of Dr Doom vs the Beyonder. Even though he was a villain Dr Doom was badass as hell.

[@powerbadpowerbad]

George Perez's art was nice on that series too,plus he did the covers also.

[@aaronwood8012]

Loved these figures - still have a lot of them

[@TheOnslaught616]

Really enjoy these sales analysis videos

[@AceLM92]

I recently read Secret Wars 1984 and while it didn't blow my mind I will say it was good fun. The villains could have been better, specifically Kang and Ultron, but other than that it's a competent story

[@HERITAGE12]

"uninspired and meant for kids" translation : made for it's audience. 😂😂😂 Seems jim shooter was having to deal with morons on a daily basis.

[@mrclutch8775]

I think it still reads ok enough as a re-read today.

[@cliffwoodbury5319]

Great Video

[@jimgillespie6109]

Wasn't a fan. Shooter had written better tales before and has written better ones since. Zeck needed more time to pencil the book, but that didn't happen, so the very least Marvel should have done was to give him a strong inker whose work complimented his style.

[@skytowergnome4664]

Snazzy new opening, I like it. I think modern publishers would kill for numbers like this today. I too liked Secret Wars, though I didn't get any of the toys. Is there even a national toy store chain in existence now? Kay Bee went the way of Childworld didn't it?

[@deadpilled2942]

Atari Force once sold better than Superman and Batman.

[@mikewilson858]

I remember working at book store and an issue of Wolverine came out where a misprint had Wolverine call Sabertooth an anti-Semitic slur and got recalled. Me and my buddy knew that these issues would be worth a lot more down the line but the dumb old bitch that ran the place made us rip the covers off all of them and toss the remains. So pissed. Like just tell the company we lost like 6 of 30 copies. Take a write up if they even cared.

[@tammydj9941]

The events, events, events! Unlike today's events (greed driven) with the 1st secret wars or 1st crisis oie, these two events are loved and appreciated by comic book fans. The black goo that would become venom, debut of volcana and titania, fisty cuffs between heroes and villains. The Beyonder. Nuff said. Mabuhay!

[@clonegeek3317]

The numbers still sound way too low then what could be sold

[@Markus465]

Great video! I love stuff like this!

[@atomichound1868]

crisis on infinite earths >>> secret wars

[@holdingpattern245]

wouldn't we expect the situation with newsstand sales and returns to be really bad though, considering that it would eventually be abandoned, there must have been a reason for that

[@rumpleforeskin1275]

Somethings going on with your microphone. The sound is going in and out when listening to it with headphones on

[@rscarf1]

I never bought Johan Hex. I didn't buy Jonah Hex either.

[@kennytodd7192]

Secret Wars was a great marketing campaign. Dazzler however....not so much...😊

[@klaushenna6778]

IMO I think Secret Wars was rlly fun but I read it like 7 years ago when I was 13, so maybe it won’t hold up ??

[@taker68]

I'll tke 80s Secret Wars over 20teens one any day. I think it was a good series. Changed some status quos in the MU and was action packed. Not that interested in sales.

[@StoryboardsbyStuffPOP]

Yeah, but how much money did the toys make ??

[@mrclutch8775]

Most !!!s in a mini series ever.

[@comicbookshopofdoom8160]

My favorite comic book series of all time.