It’s the end of the worlds as we know it…
Creative Staff:
Story: Jonathan Hickman
Art: Esad Ribic
What They Say:
The final incursion is happening! The Marvel Universe is colliding with the Ultimate Universe, and neither will survive!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
After quite a long time in the planning and setup, Secret Wars has arrived with its first issue and it brings to a close, well, everything. While the basic idea has been well known for awhile, the events here bring to an end the two remaining universes that exist as the various Incursions have gone on the last few years. We were left with the main universe and the Ultimates universe. Having grown up with the main universe and enjoying a lot of alternate timelines over the years, the whole thing has given me a lot of joy. I did try to get into the Ultimate universe a few times, but it could never connect with me simply because it felt too grim and too connected to the real world, not providing enough escapism. So seeing that universe here end doesn’t do much for me, as I have no investment in it, but I did like the way it was all handled.
With the first of eight issues here, a lot of what we get is basically the start of everything ending. With it down to the final two, as Richards makes clear is true, we get the final fight setup where the Ultimate side is looking to destroy the main side and that has them launching a massive attack with all sorts of large ships to do what they can to stop those in the main universe from winning. What’s interesting is that the main universe is so over populated with heroes and powered individuals, that the sheer numbers and abilities provide an “easy” pushback. That doesn’t mean the Ultimates don’t get their time to shine, but it’s more of a grim understanding of the realities as we see Richards and his team looking to get their life raft out in time in order to restart humanity in whatever comes next. It’s something that we know is happening on both sides, as we saw part of that in the zero issue from Free Comic Book Day, but here it’s the Ultimates Richards that takes center stage with his plans.
While we get the bookended structure that has Doom and those he’s with seeing the end of everything from a different perspective and bringing it all to finality in a way that is pure doom, the bulk of the book are action sequences, small “victories” against each side and a whole lot of pain and struggle. There are some great moments with the characters that populates each world and seeing them face a struggle that does bring an end to it all, and to see them cope with what they’re facing, most really do stand tall and intend to go out in the best way possible. There’s a nice little nod to the villains, which has the Punisher making a smart looking cameo for a moment, but other teases come along the way such as Miles Morales connecting up with the life raft situation and generally just seeing some of the minor character interactions, including a fun fastball special with Colossus and the Hulk. It’s big on action and it delivers what you want from something like this.
In Summary:
Ribic has a huge job here in bringing this to reality and he pulls it off beautifully with the artwork and designs as both universes feel unique and distinct but similar. The range of characters, differences and the way it’s all laid out makes it a very engaging read, one that has you poring over the artwork details. Hickman’s script is exactly what I expected here, with the minor philosophical moments tied to Doom and the bookend sequences, which gives it all proper weight. Doom feels like the right character to close all of this out with his dialogue. While there were a few areas where I lost track of which side someone was from, mostly due to my lack of familiarity with the Ultimates, Hickman keeps it all moving along but with more than enough to make it all feel weighty and meaty with what he’s trying to bring across as the architect of this game changing plan for the Marvel Universe. This is a solid first issue that focuses on the action, but also brings the reality of the situation to the forefront with the emotion. Solid all around.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: May 6th, 2015
MSRP: $4,99