“Yesterday’s” Comic> Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1

“Tony, have you been messing with my shield? It has a picture of me on it.”

Curious who’s going to get the caption gag. It involves toy collecting.

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1

Marvel Comics Group (May, 1984)

WRITER: Jim Shooter

PENCILER: Michael Zeck

INKER: John Beatty

COLORIST: Christie Scheele

LETTERER: Joe Rosen

EDITOR: Tom DeFalco

A group of heroes and villains both appear on space stations in some unknown galaxy, having investigated an obelisk in their own titles. They are contacted by a being calling himself the Beyonder, asking them to slay their enemies and the winners will get their hearts desire. The solar system they’re in then explodes and reforms into a giant planet. The Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four (minus Sue) and other assembled heroes are curious why Magneto is among them while the assembled villains include the reformed Molecule Man. The Avengers refuse to trust Magneto and he departs, while Doom fails to convince the other villains that someone with the power to swat Galactus as easily as Galactus swatted Ultron earlier could grant them more than their lame desires, and when he tries to reach the heroes after Kang tries to shoot him down, his inflated ego doesn’t want the heroes’ help anymore. As he leaves, however, the remaining villains attack!

What they got right: A story about the collection of heroes and villains fighting over a prize certainly has story potential. We get a good introduction to the players involved.

What they got wrong: This is all we get, though. Not much really happens. There are also some interesting continuity errors, as the Marvel Database wiki goes over. This was also meant to sell a line of action figures but this story really doesn’t fit the story the toyline went with. That seemed to take place on Earth with special shields that, when the lenticular disk was put in, either revealed the characters’ identity (which they goofed on Iron Man, who was Rhodey at the time but they used Tony Stark’s picture) or potential battle scenes for the kids. Instead we’re on an alien world and Captain America is the only one with a shield. At least they didn’t give Iron Man a hand laser.

What else is there?: I think I know why the Beyonder screwed up when it comes to Magneto and the Molecule Man. At this point Molecule Man had decided to get out of the villain game and just be Owen Reece, but he still thinks of himself by his own villain ways. Meanwhile Magneto’s ego is so huge that he might think of himself as the hero to the point that the Beyonder goofed. I guess he doesn’t know what an extremist is.

What I think overall: The story doesn’t do well on its own but as the first chapter of a larger story is seems to set up the situation well enough. I wish I had access to the rest of the miniseries though.