Secret Wars (1984) SERIES BREAKDOWN

[@JuNkBoYcaNNoN]

"Secret Wars," is one of my all-time favorites!!

[@TonyBabarino]

I have all my Marvel comics in comic book boxes from 1982 to about 1992. Including the full, original Secret Wars series. They are the largest chunk of childhood memories for me (15 to 25 yrs old during that time). 6 long, white comic book boxes that contain what is essentially a ‘time capsule’ of my childhood times and evidence to me of the few good things and good times I enjoyed.

[@alexandrefrauches132]

5:45 Actually the Beyonder putting Galactus on the villains side makes sense. As Linkara pointed out some time ago, the two group represent of good and evil as a spectrum rather than the basic concept we think about it. In the case of the heroes, they have Magneto, who is not hero, but his goals of wanting to create better world for mutantkind is noble and selfless. Meanwhile the villains have Galactus who, despite not being malicious, does put his needs (in this case his hunger for planets) above the need of the others.

[@CaptainAway]

Yes, Enchantress summons a water sprite in the final issue that argues much the same thing. It definitely does make sense that way as well, but I feel like Lizard and Molecule Man make a little less sense in that case (though I guess Lizard is villainous, he was presumably Curt Conners at the time that Beyonder grabbed him who wasn't supposed to be).

[@HandofOmega]

This was the first comics xover I followed, and it still holds a warm place in my heart! I honestly prefer it to Crisis on Infinite Earths...I always suspected the scenes "humbling" the X-Men were the writers low-key protesting the fact that they were blowing up in popularity at this time!

[@CaptainAway]

Makes sense to me! And I also prefer this one over Crisis

[@adrianrocha6844]

Same this is actually better than crisis on infinite earths

[@kevingallagher188]

In my opinion Crisis on Infinite earths was just the way a bunch of ego driven editors and writers decided would be a convenient way to get rid of a lot of less popular characters and ones they had personal distaste for. Unfortunately for them they managed to make the whole thing more confusing and frustrating for everyone. Several of the characters they disliked actually had a large cult following and had to be reintroduced.

[@adrianrocha6844]

@@kevingallagher188 yes exactly because if you look at both series on why they were being made one is about selling toys and the other is about trying to make things more accessible so people didn’t get confused on why there is more than one Superman but I don’t think anyone was complaining about that but yet In both stories Secret Wars happens because this mysterious powerful being called the beyonder pulls SuperHeroes and SuperVillains and has them battle to see which one is better whereas crisis is one guy fought an evil version of himself from another universe then another version shows up dies gets absorbed by the evil version and gets powerful then decides to destroy the universe that’s it

[@keithbrown6887]

@@adrianrocha6844 Depending on your allowance, intellect, age, and other factors at the time, one series isn't better than the other. I appreciated both, but have differing opinions on them. Just imagine if the Marvel Universe imploded and was redefined or if DC printed an epic war title to sell action figures, which I'm sure both have happened by now.

[@Insane-Howl-Cowl]

Love it! I remember seeing this as a kid, and still have many of the action figures. Although the color has faded on most of them, leaving them as solid figures of one color, which I guess Reed wouldn't be able to see and Johnny would hate.

[@jimjam51075]

Four years ago, I held up a copy of Secret Wars 9 for him to sign, shook Jim Shooter's hand and said, "Your marketing ploy worked. I kept buying Marvel comics for 12 years after this." He replied, "GOOD, that's what it was supposed to do!" The meticulous genius even used a straight-edge to sign the cover.

[@CaptainAway]

I love this story. Thanks for sharing!

[@jimjam51075]

@@CaptainAway Thanks. Wish I had gotten a picture with him.

[@TevyaSmolka]

I love this secret wars comic it’s really amazing and badass in my opinion

[@adrianrocha6844]

Secret Wars is such a good series I love it it may have its flaws but it’s absolutely perfect since it’s the 40th anniversary of it I’m reading all 12 issues of the event from my trade for the anniversary but reading one issue a month just like it was published with issue 1 in May 1984 to issue 12 in April 1985 so I’m doing the same issue 1 May 2024 to issue 12 April 2025

[@TevyaSmolka]

@@adrianrocha6844 I agree with that

[@adrianrocha6844]

@@TevyaSmolka yes I also say with full confidence that Secret Wars is better than crisis on infinite earths

[@michaelkantner6420]

I agree with you, this series got me back into comics in the 80's, and collecting again. I loved and still love this series. One of my favorite parts of this series is when Wolverine cuts off Absorbing Man's arm, and then he is freaking out about how he's going to fix it, when he just puts it back in what he believes is the right way, and then changes back to human form. And then says, "I think I'm gonna puke." So classic!

[@CaptainAway]

That was a great moment! I also love how casual Wolverine was about cutting off his arm. Absorbing Man was trying to be all tough and threatening and Wolverine was just like, "Whatever, out of my way."

[@brianjohnson1867]

This was a good recap. Thank you for reminding me of the timeliness of Rhodey

[@kenb2671]

I had all of these when I was a kid and a few years ago bought them in a thick graphic novel. Best 20 bucks I ever spent.

[@garinsparks7041]

My all time favorite series

[@angelmanfredy]

Rated Very High. I very agree!!! Wonderful recap.

[@micpar2]

I really enjoyed your video very much. Have you covered the 1976-79 Nova series? And ROM Spaceknight #1-#75, 4 Annuals and a very few cross overs. The series could be reviewed in three segments. Or more if you want to break it down. In even more detail. I wish director Sam Raimi would do two trilogies of movies for the MCU. On both NOVA/Richard Rider and ROM Spaceknight. But change the crappy ending to NOVA from his series.

[@CaptainAway]

Unfortunately I haven't yet covered much classic Marvel, as I've mainly been focusing on covering DC's New 52 (which I'm still trying to get through all of for the channel!). ROM can be a bit hard to get a hold of these days but I'll see what I can do to potentially cover these series!

[@davidclark2702]

40 years?!?! Thanks for this breakdown! It was like going into a time machine and brought back memories from my golden age of comic collecting. It was a time when my greatest wish was to see realistic comic book movies. Well, that's happened. I think I wasted a wish...lol

[@joshh535]

I found this channel while looking for a recap of the X-Men "Fatal Attractions" storyline. I disagreed with your overall rating of that one, mostly because I was 7 when it came out and the fanboy in me loved all of the parts they adapted from it for X-Men '97. But I still appreciated the breakdown so decided to click on another couple videos. Thanks for the hard work to help make these classic stories accessible for people that no longer have time to read the comics themselves.

[@SuperShotoBros]

Among my first comics to have ever read... They really took toys and stories very seriously back then...

[@adrianrocha6844]

I love Secret Wars it was such a good series it was the best crossover of the 80s

[@EdsterIII]

I grew up in Milwaukee during the 70's and comic books were a big part of my childhood. We had a grocery store and a pharmacy that was across the street from our house. Whenever my Mom would head over to get groceries, prescriptions,🍺🍻beer🍻🍺 for Dad or 🚬🚬cigarettes🚬🚬 for both, I'd tag along and I'd immediately hit the magazine racks. I loved both Marvel and DC. 🕷🕸Spider-Man🕸🕷 was always close to the favorite hero, but 🇺🇸⭐Captain🇺🇸America⭐🇺🇸 & the Falcon was right up there as well. DC's🦇🦇Batman🦇🦇 was always one of the best. But Batman's villains, the 🃏🃏Joker🃏🃏, the🐧🐧Penguin🐧🐧, ,🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛Catwoman🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛, 🧊❄🧊Mr.Freeze❄🧊, ❓❓Riddler❓❓, Scarecrow, 🐊🐊Killer🐊Croc🐊🐊, and any of the others. 🕷🕸Spider-Man🕸🕷& 🦇🦇Batman🦇🦇 have the BEST Rogues gallery of any of the Superheroes ever created. While Spider-Man has the Lizard, Scorpion, Doctor Octopus, the Vulture, Sandman, 🦏🦏Rhino🦏🦏, the Jackyl, Tarantula, Kraven the Hunter, 🔮🪄Myserio🪄🔮 and other greats. The 70's was a great time for comics. They were still fairly cheap as far as prices go, and the quality was still decent for the time and what it cost. Unlike nowadays, in which nothing is remotely close to being worth what you paid for it. Ah memories!

[@newnightwing]

Somebody call the FBI on Colossus kitty price only 14 at this time.

[@kevingallagher188]

You actually forgot colossus looks older he actually was at the time. He was around sixteen working on the farm. That doesn't make him a pedo.

[@Makoto03]

Its funny how comics back then still had nuance when reflecting real world events. Not as heavy handed (and boring) as modern Marvel comics.

[@TheSkipAd]

The original run is sitting happily in my collection. Btw, any X-Men97 fans notice that at no time, in any comic, does Cyclops use his optic blast to move around or land himself in a freefall? ...just sayin

[@glitterbomb1162]

I think you glossed over the part about the shrine to Doom's mother.

[@addicted2baseballrgd21]

I really enjoyed this series as a kid. DC tried to have an equally epic series when they did Super Powers. The motive was the same (sell toys) but the comic series wasn't good at all. There was a Saturday morning cartoon of the same name, that was more successful in marketing the toys. It did bring Darkseid into the mainstream.

[@CaptainAway]

That series definitely didn't have the notoriety or staying power that Secret Wars had.

[@BlaqJedimaster]

LoPain - I definitely wanna see who caught that reference! LOL!

[@dublinbrummie]

First comic series I ever bought as a kid and loved it. Brought the book for my daughter a few years ago. Looking now the art for the miniature drawings are terrible like they were rushed.

[@droga5262]

Have you ever done any TMNT comic breakdowns before?

[@CaptainAway]

So far, only the three Batman/TMNT crossovers, but I definitely want to cover more!

[@PrimeMystique]

This is the real official Secret Wars. The movies should be like this. Amazing story. This new crap out now is a rip off in name.

[@micpar2]

I was in my mid-twenties almost. When SWI came out. To me it was ok, I thought it should of been only eight issues long. And nothing against Mike Zeck I like his art well enough. I bought his run on Capt.A back then and his Punisher mini-series. But I's rather seen Sal or John Buscema drew it. Or Ron Frenz with Sal's, Tom Palmer or Joe Sinnott inks on it. The toy line sadly just did ok. Or it bombed. I bought a huge overflowing barrel of the toys new. As well as the huge standee display sign. I think new they were $3 each. I paid 50 cents for each one. Because by Camp Lejune/Jacksonville, NC. They didn't sell. I had multiple black Spidey ones, DD and Wolverine & Kang. Those were the first toys of those characters. DD had one in 1966 Marx? Hard plastic and a Batman painted red Halloween mask.

[@bobsmith9804]

16:23 Johnny had a legitimate concer. But yeah, let's go with racism instead.

[@alecbrinker7268]

Loved Secret Wars. I have the original series back from when I was a kid when it came out. Shame they apparently retconned this series to utter meaningless. (with what they did to Own and the Beyonder

[@glitterbomb1162]

Mr. Rogers could have resolved this easily.

[@jonathanhorton4607]

The spider man suit was Venom

[@deeem2628]

Wow spoilers dude

[@CaptainAway]

Yes it was! I talked about the suit and what became of it in my Birth of Venom video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2XQcnSfoJ6Drqc

[@Abner_Devereaux_Jr]

Not originally.

[@iscariot666]

😂 Why do you seem so intent on promoting the idea that Johnny Storm and Reed Richards are racist against Black people? 😂

[@omoefeasiemo3601]

12:46 I wonder why no one ever brings up wasp betting the all X-Men like Spider-Man probably because Spider-Man is more popular and people just don't like seeing him lose

[@CaptainAway]

Well, Spider-Man got like a page and a half of beating down the X-Men. Wasp got like 3 panels. She really just kinda gave a quick couple of zaps and ran away. So Spidey got the more epic fight, but I think it's great that Wasp shows them all up as well.

[@lucaricciardi8253]

Series breakdown: marvel wanted to ape Crisis, this ensued

[@CaptainAway]

Secret Wars was a year before Crisis on Infinite Earths. DC was copying Marvel with Crisis

[@mcintma2]

Funny to see the woke insanity was starting in comics in ole 84. It's been a long metastasizing cancer. Anyway, Secret Wars is a huge part of my childhood (well, 13 yo) thanks for making this!

[@arctrooper999]

I know there was such a disconnect between the comic and the toy line, but seeing Thor without his cape or helmet makes me wonder if Mattel asked Shooter to lose it so they didn't have to do any extra tooling or soft goods. I'm also thinking that if they did a Thor figure for the line, he would have been armed with that double barrel Lazer gun instead of his hammer😅

[@CaptainAway]

I've always assumed Thor losing his cape and helmet were for exactly that reason!

[@bjgonz871]

As a 12 year old kid I loved the secret wars series. Just never liked Mike zecks work on it. In my opinion him and John buscema never did hero costumes good. It was weak to me. Mike zeck was better drawing military comic books like the punisher and g.i.joe and John was better doing fantasy work like Conan but sucked doing the avengers. 84 I wished they got either John Byrne or John romita jr to do secret wars.

[@CaptainAway]

Understandable, but I will say JR Jr did the art for Contest of Champions a year before this and I definitely prefer the art on this series, personally, but Jr's art on Contest was still remarkably strong.

[@erictoro6519]

The action figures were fine we weren't as spoiled as today's new Gen and it's no different than the Star Wars figures with only five points of articulations. The marvel superheroes secret war was aimed more for the family and children thanks to the Jim shooter who made sure his workers didn't do woke writing on the pages in marvel. The 80s was the best era for comics thanks to Jim shooter at marvel at the time .

[@gothamzknight0219]

Goodness, the death of marvel.... the beyonder 😂😂😂😂 I stopped collecting after that.