Secret Wars Battle Report, Week Thirty-Two
By Matt Conner
This week sees the penultimate issue of Secret Wars! Almost there! Ultimate End is finishing up next week, with the final Secret Wars issue to come in early January. Bam Smack Pow has walked you through eight months of coverage of the crossover action, and we’re not giving up until the last page gets printed.
Secret Wars #8
What happened: So much. As the cover suggests, a giant Ben Grimm fights Franklin Richards, who is using the corpse of Galactus as a grisly mech suit. When Ben finds out Franklin believes he’s the son of Doom, he gives up and lets his nephew kill him, but their battle also claims the lives of the Maestro and Terrax. Valeria sneaks her mother out to the Molecule Man’s hideout where they finally reunite with Reed Richards. Doom stares down Thanos and yanks his spine out of his body like some Mortal Kombat finishing move. Black Swan has pinned Star-Lord up against the portion of the world tree, Yggdrasil, but Peter Quill pulls out a splinter and stabs it into the trunk and the whole stinkin’ tree of the universe becomes a giant Groot, which probably kills Star-Lord and the Swan in the process. And on the final splash page, Black Panther storms onto the battlefield waving an Infinity Gauntlet and proclaiming, “Your reign is over, and it ends with us.”
Was it good: Best issue of the series so far, stacking so many thrills and surprises. Hickman’s story has been well-constructed, and the battles feel earned.
Is it necessary: Yes (although several of the character deaths are already inconsistent with the current Marvel publishing line, so we may see most of this issue swept into a reboot).
Should you buy it: Yes. This is a great issue of a great crossover, and you should tell Marvel you want many more like this.
Essential Reading:
Really, just Secret Wars. Well done, Marvel.
Recommended Tie-ins:
A-Force, Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, Captain Marvel And The Carol Corps, House Of M, Inferno, Inhumans: Attilan Rising, Marvel Zombies, Old Man Logan, Star-Lord & Kitty Pryde, Thors, X-Men ’92 (digital version), and Ms. Marvel or Silk (Last Days).
Good Books That Just Don’t Make Top-Tier:
1602 Witch Hunter Angela, 1872, Age Of Ultron Vs. Marvel Zombies, Captain Britain And The Mighty Defenders, Civil War, Deadpool’s Secret Secret Wars, Ghost Racers, Giant-Size Little Marvel: AVX, Hank Johnson, Agent Of Hydra, Howard The Human, Infinity Gauntlet, Korvac Saga, Master Of Kung Fu, M.O.D.O.K. Assassin, Red Skull, Runaways, Secret Wars 2099, Secret Wars: Battleworld, Secret Wars Journal, Secret Wars: Secret Love (for two stories), Secret Wars Too, Siege, Spider Island, Spider-Verse, Squadron Sinister, Weirdworld, Where Monsters Dwell, X-Men ’92 (print version), and X-Tinction Agenda.
Books To Skip:
Age Of Apocalypse, Armor Wars, E Is For Extinction, Future Imperfect, Guardians Of Knowhere, Hail Hydra, Mrs. Deadpool And The Howling Commandos, Planet Hulk, Ultimate End, Years Of Future Past, and any of the Last Days titles you weren’t already reading.
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