The Four Color Media Monitor: CBR sugarcoats the history of Secret Wars

CBR wrote about the first company wide crossover, Secret Wars, and how it changed everything, but they won't admit it became a bad precedent, spawning more non-stop crossovers that have effectively ruined organic flows in mainstream writing:

In this age of constant event stories, another superhero crossover surprises no one. But when Marvel Comics announces a new "Secret Wars" by Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribić -- as the publisher did earlier this month during New York Comic Con -- it's something to take note of. The name immediately evokes memories in longtime comic fans of an event -- one of the first true "events" -- that left a lasting narrative and marketing impact on the Marvel Universe. The original "Secret Wars" taught the industry that if a company puts its biggest characters in one series, sales will follow.

Oh, that's basically admitting the product is marketed according to popularity rank of characters, and not according to story merit. So if Spider-Man's prominently featured, that's the sales draw, not Moon Knight.

..."Secret Wars" was another toy-inspired comic, but what made it unique was that the toys in question were based on Marvel's characters. Before Mattel launched its "Secret Wars" line of action figures, comics-based figures had no publishing support. "Secret Wars" was supposed to be a 22-page monthly advertisement for Mattel's new line, but what it became was a model many others would follow. Some people point to "Contest of Champions" as the first true "event" comic, but "Secret Wars" actually had lasting repercussions on the individual characters' solo titles and the Marvel Universe as a whole, a template Marvel, DC Comics and more follow to this day.

If they're saying the companies should've published series based on the toys, I don't see the need for that. Much like the comics, the toys should be marketed on their own terms too. What I don't seem to notice in this article is a note on how well the toys sold, and from what I know, they may not have sold that well at all, much like ROM: Spaceknight and Micronauts, also mentioned in the article, did not sell so well either.

Since they've brought up Contest of Champions, it's worth noting that miniseries by Bill Mantlo, one of the first of its kind from Marvel at the time, had some appalling politics featured in it. A couple of minor characters were notably featured, including Arabian Knight, who made no secret he disliked working with a Jewess, Sabra from Israel; both first appeared in two different issues of the Incredible Hulk at the time. What was annoying about that story is how Arabian Knight's apparent racial hostility - to say nothing of his polygamy (he had 3 wives named Maya, Rana and Almira) - were dealt with using kid gloves. He despises Jews/Israel, and they don't distance themselves from him, at least until he renounces the Islamic-spawned beliefs he's going by? IMO, this was a testament to how poor Mantlo's grip on reality was, ditto his research.

According to Jim Shooter, Marvel's Editor-in-Chief at the time, in addition to requesting that Dr. Doom and Iron Man have a less medieval look, Mattel wanted a comic that featured one big story with an overarching theme that the toy company could build its line around. The series didn't feature any special shields, but it did introduce a multitude of character beats that went on to impact the heroes and villains in the Marvel Universe. It was also the first standalone series which saw its storylines spill into most of the Marvel titles published at the time, both directly and indirectly. Mattel wanted big, and Shooter provided. "Secret Wars" became something far more than a book that existed to push toys on kids; it was a blueprint for a new way to brand and sell books. Lots and lots of books.

Translation: a perfect way to coax people into buying books where they may not enjoy the story inside. A perfect way to exploit everyone's wallets. And Mattel never thought about how inconsiderate this was to readers. Biggest problem: the whole strategy wasn't based on story quality per se.

I also don't get what they mean by Mattel's asking both Doctor Doom and Iron Man have less "medieval" looks. Sure, the former had something like that, but it served to make him look more sinister and mysterious. The latter's armor has been anything but antique-style.

Nowadays, after so many crossover events, fans are used to the concept of their favorite heroes gathering in one place to face a huge threat, but in the 1984, this sort of adventure was a novelty. Yes, Marvel published the "Avengers/Defenders War" in 1973, an event that served as a prototype for many future inter-title crossovers, but there was no core series connected to the event. Marvel also published "Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions" in 1982, but that storyline -- which was relatively similar to "Secret Wars" -- did not impact any of Marvel's other titles. "Secret Wars" presented a core title that fans could consume as well as crossing over into almost all of Marvel's monthly titles.

"Used to"? It's more like tired and bored, though there's still a portion of would-be fans out there who keep wasting their money on these tedious tripes and don't care if it's ruined self-contained storytelling.

Shooter reportedly micromanaged the creators of each of those titles, causing discontent amongst creators who were reluctant to derail their books in order to fit in the E-i-C's pet project. But Shooter was the boss, and "Secret Wars" launched as planned, featuring fantastic art by Mike Zeck and Bob Layton. Fans who wanted the whole story needed to pick up the core series as well as the ongoing titles affected by it. This sales gimmick is familiar to fans now, but in 1984, it was new and innovative, quickly spawning many clones. In fact, DC Comics looked to the "Secret Wars" template for its "Crisis on Infinite Earths," a crossover event that resulted in the entirety of the DC Universe to be rebooted. "Crisis" was much bigger in scope, but it followed the marketing plan and appeal to collectability established by "Secret Wars."

Micromanagement was exactly the problem, and has since continued to affect the Big Two very badly. Why should the creators have to yield to such a problematic idea that's since taken away their freedom in mainstream? In fairness, if it hadn't affected their titles through direct tie-ins, I'm sure plenty of people would be more forgiving, because it's not like they'd have to make hard choices whether they want to buy every single title, even if they're not interested in specific ones. But that's how Shooter went about it, and that's why I can't call it "innovative", when innovation is just what it helped destroy.

As we mentioned earlier, while it was created as a toy tie-in, "Secret Wars" actually had a very real and noticeable effect on much of the broader Marvel Universe. The biggest change was originally a cosmetic one, but it garnered mainstream attention and kicked off dozens and dozens of stories. One of the machines the Beyonder designed and placed on Battleworld was some kind of replicator device that the heroes used to replace their torn costumes. After his familiar red and blue garment was torn in battle, Peter Parker used the device to create new one. Apparently subconsciously inspired by the black suit of a new Spider-Woman (we'll get to her in a moment), Spidey ended up with a new, black suit, one that that has become iconic in its own right. But the old Parker luck was true to form as Peter actually used the wrong machine. Instead of cloth, the costume was in fact a sentient blob of black goo. This new, alien suit led to a lengthy storyline finding Spidey becoming more aggressive as the symbiote attempted to take control of Peter, eventually leading to the introduction of iconic Spider-foe Venom, a villain who became one of the most important and widely recognized aspects of Spider-Man's world.

Most of those "effects" they speak of didn't last long, not even the new Spidey costume, which lasted 3-4 years at best. To be fair, most of the "changes" stemming from Secret Wars were relatively harmless, and went away after awhile. And the miniseries' goal was not to kill off any characters. But today's crossovers and other events have led to severe lack of direction, or worse, they've come to serve as vehicles for killing off any character the editors choose, selectively or otherwise. I think DC may have suffered worse, because a large number of their crossovers featured at least one character death only for the sake of it, like Blue Devil co-star Marla Bloom's death in Underworld Unleashed, where the star implausibly chose to become a full-fledged devil-in-the-flesh, contradicting the original premise entirely. Like Zero Hour, some of these plot devices made no sense, yet this article's writer did not set out to say a word about the quality of writing. As I know, there were a handful of new characters who showed up (Julia Carpenter, Titania, Volcana), but their introductions didn't have to take place in a crossover to work.

The event also featured a temporary power upgrade for Dr. Doom, who stole the Beyonder's might during the final chapters. By having Doom stand out among the villains that went to Battleworld, Shooter further established Doom as the Marvel Universe's premier villain. Other antagonists were soldiers when compared to Doom, who dared to challenge the godlike Beyonder.

Well gee, they didn't have to do this in a crossover to establish Doom as a prime antagonist. Besides, if he lost the power increase afterwards, then I'm not sure how he could continue to be thought of as a premier villain if he lacked the full power he was given in Secret Wars.

...the X-Men's Colossus was so affected by his experiences on Battleworld that he ended his relationship with fellow X-Man Kitty Pryde. This event took both characters in new directions, as fans saw an end to one of the longest-standing romances in the Marvel Universe.

Say what? It didn't last that long; just 4 years at best. They don't mention the real reason Shooter wanted to move away from this was the problematic age difference between Colossus and Kitty in those early years. While that's understandable, I don't see how this couldn't be done in a stand-alone story back in the X-Men sans connection to the miniseries.

All of these character beats were important to the overall tapestry of the Marvel Universe, but it was in marketing where "Secret Wars" biggest impact was felt. The major comic companies and retailers now knew the power of branding. Fans everywhere had experienced a comic storyline in a way that they never had before, and if sales were any indication, they liked it.

But no longer. With the audience for superhero comics drastically reduced, it should be a lot more obvious today they've experienced "event fatigue", and while the sequel to Secret Wars may have sold well enough, it got a much more negative response. At the end of the article, CBR's writer says:

By the time the "Secret Wars" toys were on clearance at toy stores, the comic book market had been forever altered. As we head towards the new "Secret Wars," it's important to remember what the initial event meant to the industry, the direct market and the characters of the Marvel Universe.

And all this is told without specifying how well the toys sold. Were they blockbusters? I'm not sure. Come to think of it, what were the sales receipts on Secret Wars? If they didn't sell a million per copy, it may not be as successful as they say it was. Worse is the writer's disinterest in noting the bad impact Secret Wars had on creative freedom, and may have alienated quite a few writers from Marvel at the time. If they went over to DC though, that's weird, since they went right along and set up their own crossovers, and may have gone farther overboard than Marvel did. This is just the kind of reporting that's ruining comicdom and proving why CBR's one of the most unreliable news sites on the web.

Labels: crossoverloading, dc comics, golden calf of death, islam and jihad, licensed products, marvel comics, misogyny and racism, politics

Very late here, but here's a brutal review of everything involved with this thing:

LEAD-INS
Fantastic Four - Jonathan Hickman's run can be summed up by comparing it to a store-bought pinata: completely empty and thus rather boring (of course with the pinata you can fill it up, not so with this run)
Future Foundation - Hickman's run was boring and Matt Fraction's run not only felt like there was no real danger involved, it also wasn't true to the spirits of some of the villains involved like Doom or Kang
Avengers - Hickman does make the team and the threats bigger, but there is no real excitement to be found here, just people going through the motions like a paint-by-numbers book
New Avengers - See my answer for Avengers, only with the Illuminati involved that makes it even worse
Avengers World - Little better than the two main titles, but not enough
Ultimate Universe - The less said about this painful experiment by the brain trust running Marvel the better
Ant-Man - Another case of being disrespectful to the spirit of the character
Black Widow - Feels more like an Ultimate Universe version of Back Widow rather than the one I know
Might Avengers - Al Ewing has a lot of ideas, but often they fall flat on their faces when put under close examination
Loki: Agent of Asgard - So thanks to Kieron Gillen and Ewing, we've lost one of Thor's archenemies in favor of this? Not to mention all that meta-textual nonsense that the average person has to endure thanks to this unnecessary Heel-Face Turn...
Magneto - He should've stayed dead, no real reason to keep him around now that Prof. X is dead as a door knob
Ms. Marvel - I think G. Willow Wilson is trying too hard to win me over with Ms. Marvel (though it could be that I'm not the intended target audience for this comic book) and that goes double for Kelly Sue DeConnick with Carol Danvers
The Punisher - No matter the run, it's always been hit or miss with me
Silk - ...I don't like Dan Slott's take on Spider-Man, let's just leave it at that
Silver Surfer - I don't think Slott gets Silver Surfer at all, it reads more like a deranged cross between the worst elements of both Red Dwarf and Doctor Who with some Star Trek thrown in for good measure
Spider-Woman - Why they got rid of the two good ones and put Jessica Drew back in I'll never know...
Secret Wars Too - Humor comic, without the humor

MAIN SERIES
Secret Wars itself seems less like an actual story and more like a bizarre ritual of self-congratulations towards each other (the creators) and being high-and-mighty when it comes to everything else

Posted by Anonymous | 8:38 PM

Part 2:

SECRET WARS: BATTLEWORLD
Age of Ultron vs. Marvel Zombies - I didn't like either of these two events when they were separate, now that they're together, it's even more painful to process when you read it
Ghost Racers - Boring crossover between Ghost Rider, Mad Max, and Death Race
Inhumans: Attilan Rising - More unnecesary pushing by Marvel to try to force the Inhumans into the spotlight
Marvel Zombies - Nice to see an old friend again (Elsa Bloodstone), but still a slog to read through
Master of Kung Fu - One of those decompression jobs that should've been a one-shot instead of a mini-series
Red Skull - At least this one is more true to the spirit of the main character involved
Runaways - I always felt like the original series should've worked better as an indie feature for many reasons (like how can the Pride operate in a city like Los Angeles that, while not as overrun with superhumans as New York, has seen supers coming and going at semi-regular intervals?), this team while composed of characters from the regular Marvel universe isn't all that exciting and the Battle Royale plot-point doesn't work all that well (see Avengers Arena)
Secret Wars Journal - Variable levels of talent, variable levels of story output
Secret Wars: Battleworld - See Secret Wars Journal
Secret Wars: Secret Love - Not another dopey comic about romance...
Siege - Some high-class concepts, low-class execution
Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde - Who the hell thought up this paring and thought it was a good idea?
Thors - More Thors than you can shake a stick at acting as cops, what could go wrong? (A lot apparently)
Ultimate End - More nonsense involving the Ultimate Universe

SECRET WARS: WARZONES
1602: Witch Hunter Angela - Why was Angela brought over to the Marvel Universe again?
1872 - Cute story, seems like something that should've been done back when seeing What-Ifs and Elseworlds was in vogue
A-Force - Another story that's really all style and no substance; wouldn't last a day back in the 70s through 90s really, it's only the unrelenting force of dumb bloggers and tweeters that keep books like this going past their expiration dates
The Age of Apocalypse - Nice to see a story that had class and action once more, seems like the closest to capturing the essence of the original story that it was copied from
Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows - Why is it that companies nowadays like to tease people by waving the good stuff right in front of your face while sucker-punching you with the bad stuff when your not looking?
Armor Wars - Picking up the wrong lessons from past series yet again
Captain Britain and the Mighty Defenders - Not only does it read like one of those afterschool specials you were forced to watch every now and then, but it brought back that lame rip-off of Mega-City One from the last Thunderbolts volume
Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps - See my comment on Ms. Marvel for my unchanged opinion on this mini-series
Civil War - SLIGHTLY better than the original, but not by much
Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars - It does help straighten up a few glitches in the original Secret Wars, but seeing how I didn't like the first one...
E Is for Extinction - Not more Grant Morrison nuttiness!

Posted by Anonymous | 8:39 PM

Part 3:

Future Imperfect - How come Cable and Rachel never teamed-up before? Would have made a better story than this..
Giant-Size Little Marvel: AvX - Why these baby copies of Marvel characters keep coming back I'll never know...
Guardians of Knowhere - Give me the good old days when the Guardians of the Galaxy were actually good!
Hail Hydra - Boring retelling from one of the later Captain America volumes
Hank Johnson, Agent of Hydra - There are times when I think Marvel has finally lost its marbles, this is one of them...
House of M - Not this mess again...
Howard the Human - Tries to invoke the feel of the original stories, but doesn't make it
Inferno - Had the focus on the wrong character to me
Infinity Gauntlet - Here we go again, Thanos has a better performance this time around but still trips at the final yardline
Korvac Saga - Different, in a good way, but not a good retelling
M.O.D.O.K. Assassin - Should've been half a comic book instead of 5 issues
Mrs. Deadpool and the Howling Commandos - More of the same-old from Duggan and Posehn
Old Man Logan - Never liked the original story, not much of an improvement for this one
Planet Hulk - Better storyline to copy this time around, but it wasn't enjoyable to read really
Secret Wars 2099 - 2099 had its swan song already, let it rest in peace
Secret Wars Agents of Atlas - Trying to get more mileage out of a past concept that doesn't work
Spider-Island - Goody, more of the non-sense from Slott...
Spider-Verse - Too many Spider-Men for one universe, should've kept them all separate
Squadron Sinister - Both versions of the Squadron at the same time? No thanks, one is, barely, enough for me
Weirdworld - Straddles the line between "insult" and "praise" for many of the elements combed from Marvel's past
Where Monsters Dwell - More character assassination by a hack writer
X-Men '92 - good effort, but get a different set of writers
X-Tinction Agenda - Almost made it but not quite...
Years of Future Past - Boring retread of the original boring story