Secret Wars # 1 REVIEW

What’s a Geek reviews the phenomenal and amazing Secret Wars # 1 from Marvel Comics. It’s written by Jonathan Hickman with art by Esad Ribic.

So everything has built up to this point, the annihilation of the 616 Marvel Universe and a new miniseries that could may well be the start of a new universe altogether. But we’re really jumping to conclusions. Allow this writer to talk about the finer points about the title.

First, as early as now, we’re saying go get it. It’s not a waste of money.

Esad Ribic’s art is perfect for this miniseries as he captures both widescreen action scenes as well as street level character panels. Paired with great colors from Ive Svorcina. It’s actually surprising because I was expecting a somewhat lower quality but, I’m glad I was wrong.

I have to warn you though, to really get a good grasp of what’s going on in the prelude and the ending you have to invest some time in reading past trades and issues which was handled by Hickman; otherwise you’d be stuck reading a book with nice pictures and text which confound.

If, however, you’re a fan and an avid reader, you’ll fit right in as we’ve got Hickman concepts like Beyonders and Incursions and even the evil Reed Richards.

I apologize for making a comparison to DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths for some unknown reason but Secret Wars really feels like that. What’s even interesting is that it’s only the beginning and hopefully we get to see HUGE character developments and a lot more action.

Now the biggest factor that really hinders is the overarching plot. I mean Secret Wars # 1 will sell like pancakes but it could alienate new readers. How would you feel if you buy this amazing book and two, three or four pages out and you read this exposition from a kid wearing a weird helmet and is in cahoots with Avengers: Age of Ultron mid-credit star Thanos? Lost much? Yeah, we figure.

Not saying the book is a tough read, I’m just saying that it could pose as a problem because you have to sift through a lot of information to get a good grasp of what’s going on.

I did like some cool character moments though like that page involving Wilson Fisk and the Punisher or that tussle between Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers) and Ultimate Iron Man.

Either way, take our word for it and go get SECRET WARS # 1

5/5