Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Secret Wars #2 of 8
Marvel Comics
Hickman, Ribic & Svorcina
Secret Wars #2 sets up Battleworld. The comic book is a dense (forty pages) but slow read that clocks in at five bucks. The comic has nice artwork and makes use of the few action scenes to grab the reader's attention. The mini-series appears to be aimed at the readers that have followed Hickman's Marvel work over the years and is not one for the masses as Marvel has billed. I found this to be an average comic book.
As was the case with the first issue in the series, this comic book has more questions than answers. After researching a little after reading the first issue, it appears the Hickman Avenger books are required reading to really understand what's happening here. In that regard, Marvel pushing this is a mass-event is a big mistake. This is not accessible to a casual or new reader. I read roughly ten Marvel titles, but not the Avenger books and I'm lost as to what's going on in her in terms of characters, plots, phrases and a lot more. I read Thor, and this issue centers on Thor (or Thors) and I can't make heads or tails of what's going on here in terms of identities or characterizations. Marvel made a misstep with Axis as that series was really an extension of Uncanny Avengers. If this is shaping up to be the same only for the Avengers books then this event is really aimed at Hickman's readers and is doing non-Avenger readers an injustice.
The first issue ended the Marvel Universe for reasons that are not clear. This issue establishes the Battleworld with little explanation. Somehow, Doom is in charge of Battleworld with Barons running land masses and a legion of Thors acting as the police. This issue dumps a lot of information on the reader about the new status quo while presenting a dispute between Barons (Sinister and Braddock). The dispute seems to be settled (though the outcome from the sentencing of both characters occurs off panel in an odd move) but then a threat comes to Battleworld, where the characters that arrive are confused that a Universe survived the way it did.
Some of the good items in here are the ideas. The way the Battleworld's landscape is designed, the power structure and the governing body are all well crafted. However, more questions arise. Why does Doom need all this bureaucracy? What is the purpose of having everything segmented? Of course, how did the characters get there is the obvious one to ask but I assume that will be answered or hand-waved away in the coming issues.
The comic is a slow read. It seems like old-Thor just drones on and on to the new recruit. Panel after panel is spent just dumping information on the reader. This is followed immediately up with the kangaroo court that has Sinister and the Braddocks dumping more information on the reader. It feels unnatural and it is a lot to slog through with little payoff.
Ribic does a great job of assisting the world building. A lot of pages contain a lot of scenic opportunities and Ribic makes the most of those moments. The comic has some action and those scenes really bring new life to the book. Overall, the artwork helps to make this comic feel like the epic it is billed to be.
Secret Wars is aimed at the Marvel Hickman reader. If you haven't read Hickman's work you may want to sit this out. There might be tie-ins that appeal to you or this series may compel you pick up Hickman's Marvel work to get the full story. However, the reader coming into this blind will probably find more confusion than entertainment. As such, I found this to be a very bland read. Is the idea of a Battleworld cool? Yes, but so are dozens of other What If stories that have published over the decades that do not require reading 80 issues of two previous Avengers series to fully understand the content of the mini-series. This is the crowning jewel for the Hickman readers but a hollow read for the rest.
2.5 out of 5 Geek Goggles
