Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars #12 (April 1985)

The Secret Wars finally reach their end! Over the past year, we've made a monthly visit to the mysterious patchwork planet known as Battleworld. It was there where a being known as the Beyonder transported some of Marvel's finest heroes and vilest villains to fight it out for anything they desire. We saw the characters go through triumph and tragedy, and we saw a tyrant grab power he was not intended to have...with horrific results. So, let's say goodbye to Battleworld, as the Secret Wars come to an end. Let's take a look at Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars #12!

The cover is pretty cool! A Mike Zeck piece, it depicts the unmasked (and rather handsome) Dr. Doom standing triumphant over the bodies of the heroes. The way it's colored makes Doom pop out, which is a nice detail. It basically says it all: Doom is triumphant, and Doom is supreme. It's a fantastic cover.

"...Nothing to Fear!"
Writer: Jim Shooter
Penciler: Mike Zeck
Inker: John Beatty
Colorist: Christie Scheele
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Editor: Tom DeFalco
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The story begins with what looks like the destroyed Doombase...and Captain America's Mighty Shield looking like a cosmic being mistook it for a cookie.

The former homebase for Dr. Doom's forces and later the heroes is nothing more than a smoldering wreck. A ruin, brought to this state by an unknown party. The cloud of smoke that has erupted from the crater of death is so great, the natives of Zsaji's village are able to see it. Zsaji herself fears the worst.

In Doom's big golden crystal, it's revealed Doom himself was naturally the one responsible for this. Yup, Doom will still be Doom, even with the power and omniescence of a god. Klaw asks him if he's sure they're dead. Doom is certain of this. After all, he reduced them to corpses with a blast of cosmic power. Not even the Incredible Hulk could have survived that...could they?

The scene shifts again. Floating through space millions of miles away is the domed suburb of Denver, this piece of Battleworld brought to this state by the awesome power of the Molecule Man. With nothing to do, the villains staying in Volcana's old apartment just lay around. However, one has found a way to occupy herself. The Enchantress fills up a bathtub with water and uses a spell to summon a being known as an elemental.

She wants some answers about this Beyonder guy, which the elemental provides. The Beyonder was a native to another realm. He was essentially the god of that realm. He was everything in it, and everything in it was him. However, something happened. Some event caused him to learn of Earth, and realms beyond him. For the first time in his existence, the Beyonder...grew curious. He would observe the Earth and its myriad of beings for years. However, the human concept of desire confounded the being. As such, he took beings who had great desire, like Enchantress herself, to study desire.

This point is basically to recap the miniseries so far. It does also allow the Enchantress to learn that Doom managed to get the power of the Beyonder. Remember, the villains didn't see that happen. Enchatress demands that the elemental use its rapport with water to tell her what's going on right now on Battleworld. The elemental points out she doesn't have that kind of power. Enraged, the Enchantress decides to help fix that.

And Amora wonders why Thor isn't into her...

Yeah, Amora's a jerk. Thanks to the power infusion, the Asgardian sorceress sees images of Doom killing the heroes, and making plans to invade Mephisto's realm to rescue his mother. She also learns that the Beyonder is alive. Weakened, but alive...and he's waiting to act against Doom. This leaves Amora shaken. After all, what would the Beyonder do to get his power back?

In Volcana's living room, the Wrecking Crew are having trouble with an angry Lizard, who just wants to go back to his swamp. Volcana stops the fight and tries to comfort the Lizard, assuring him that they'll be home on Earth soon. Doctor Octopus is much more cynical. After all, they have no idea where in space they are, or if the Earth still exists. For all they know, they'll spend the rest of their lives drifting in space. The Molecule Man appears and gets into an argument with the arrogant ex-scientist. Unknown to them, someone catches Volcana in a trance and commands her to come to them...well, except the Lizard. He notices she's walking away...

She heads to a nearby park...and the Enchantress. Remember back in issue 7 when Volcana made a deal with the Asgardian blonde? Well, the time has come to pay up.

Page 301, Panel 2

Enchantress sees the Beyonder as a threat, and needs to get to Asgard to warn them. Yeah, in the 80s, The Enchantress's character was evolving into being more of an "enlightened self-interest" type. She'll help the heroes against greater threats, but mainly because those threats will harm her as well. Amora's power is great, but it still has limits. She needs a bit of a boost, so she's going to draw on the lifeforce of Volcana to get it. Yeah, Volcana will die, but she's only a mortal. No great loss as far as Amora is concerned.

Doctor Octopus notices that in the sky, there are stars. But, that's impossible! The Beyonder destroyed the stars! How can there be stars if the Beyonder destroyed the stars? The Molecule Man explains that he can do anything now. He rebuilt the stars. He's also learning how to make spacewarps. With a bit of practice, they can get home. Doc Ock doesn't believe his own eyes and attacks Owen Reese in a rage. He feels like he's being made the fool, and nobody makes a fool of Doctor Octopus! Well, the Molecule Man does. Easily.

Heh heh. That's what you get for messing with a reality warper, Doc. However, Owen Reese has little time to enjoy seeing the arrogant ex-scientist get his. Volcana's in danger! He and the Lizard come to her rescue. Amora tries to flee to Battleworld, but the Lizard is caught in her teleportation spell, allowing him to attack her. He slashes her face, and she kills him.

Back to the Tower of Doom! Doom is relaxing on a chair, and Klaw approaches him, his eyes and mouth releasing an ominus glow. Doom shoots to his feet, realizing he nearly fell asleep. Remember, Doom can't afford anything that may let his control over his new power slip, including falling asleep. Sounds like that's what you get when you take power that you're not meant to have, huh Doomsie?

Klaw decides to use his powers to create sound constructs to amuse Doom. He regales the Latverian madman with a tale. A tale of a healer named Zsaji. She sees the destruction of the Doombase, and flies over to investigate on a dragon. It's there the alien woman sees the corpses of the heroes. Pushing her healing powers to the limit, she is able to restore them...somewhat to life. They're not quite dead, but they aren't exactly in fighting shape. The healer then finds the corpse of Colossus. Using the last of her power, she manages to restore him to life. However, this overtaxes her body, and drained her lifeforce. This leaves Colossus to find her dead in his arms.

The metal-skinned powerhouse is grief-stricken, but knows what he must do. He takes the body of Mr. Fantastic and puts it in a healing chamber. Doom just stares in horror as Klaw continues his story. With Richards restored to perfect health, he quickly grabs his comrades and puts them in healing chambers. Klaw suggests that Doom subconsciously caused this to happen. After all, he's practically a god now. Reality is modelling clay to him, malleable to his desires. What if there was a part of Doom that couldn't truly kill off the heroes?

Doom waves it off as madness. He did kill them! Yes, it was rather dramatic, but they couldn't have survived that blast. They couldn't have! Klaw points out that all he had to do was literally wave a hand, and they would have been dust. Doom refuses to let his mind be clouded by doubt. However, a certain event shakes the Latverian tyrant up.

Asgard Deli! You order, we crush!

Mjolnir's smashing entrance forces Doom to unleash the power, but it runs amok. Because of his mental state, he has trouble reigning in the power he has. Klaw suggests an idea, "Hey Doom, why not let me kill them? All I need is just some of your power." Doom agrees and gives the walking Wall of Sound a small fraction of his power, enough to make ten thousand stars go nova. Outside, we got a Charge of the Superhero Brigade.

Cap warns the heroes to be ready for anything, considering the power Doom has in his hands. The heroes then see a big ugly monster. And it's not the Hulk before he's had his morning coffee. Klaw marvels over his ability to create actual creatures instead of mere sound constructs. He gets the idea to send an army of such monsters after the heroes. But they'll need a commander. Eh, Ultron will do. And it leads to an epic double-page spread of the heroes battling the monsters.

Obtained from Google, because the scanning app on my iPad will not scan this.

Nothing wrong with heroes fighting monsters. Ben Grimm finds himself changing back into his human form while fighting one, and She-Hulk makes the save. He then realizes somehow he can control it. Hulk engages Ultron, who manages to break his leg with an energy blast. Iron Man, Spider-Woman, and Wolverine try to fight the mad mechanoid, but he blasts them away. During the fracas, the Wasp was able to get inside Ultron and smash up his insides.

Cap tries to get to Doom himself. Klaw blocks his way, crowing that he's too powerful for the Star-Spangled Man with a Plan. Cap's dropkick disagrees. The First Avenger races into Doom's tower. Klaw gets up and walks into the tower. It's all going to plan...

Cap makes his way to Doom's chamber, who is just chilling with some wine like the villain he is.

"Ah, hello Captain. Doom was about to enjoy some television. Every channel in the universe!"

Doom isn't worried about the Star-Spangled Avenger. He may be one of the most respected men in the Marvel Universe, but he is still merely a man. A super-soldier. Doom is a god. He has nothing to fear from a super-soldier with a shield that looks like someone mistook it for a cookie (Cap's shield has a chunk out of it). Cap points out something. If Doom really thinks that the heroes are nothing to be afraid of...why did he try to kill them? After all, they couldn't touch him. They were no threat. They knew this. Maybe...Doom was afraid.

This infuriates the man. Cap charges Doom, as Klaw watches. The Master of Sound's eyes and mouth glow, remarking how perfect this is. Doom blasts the Sentinel of Liberty, and reduces him to dust. But much to his shock, Captain America reappears in a flash of light, and continues his charge. Doom blasts him again. Cap comes back. It's like a bizarre cosmic form of Whack-A-Mole. He hits Cap, and he keeps popping back up. Doom freaks out, causing his power to run amok.

The First Avenger realizes that Doom is losing touch with reality, and needs an anchor. He pleads for Doom to let Cap help him. He offers his hand to the Latverian, but Klaw has it handled...or should I say, the Beyonder has it handled. Yeah, turns out he's Not Quite Dead. He still excited as a little sliver of energy that had been floating around, waiting to reclaim his power. And now is that exact moment. Doom is in mental torment, his will and control are at its weakest.

"SURPRISE, MOTHERTRUCKER!"

Klaw, Doom, and the repowered Beyonder vanish in a flash of light.

And with that, it's seemingly over. The other heroes defeated Klaw's monster army. Now comes the downtime. Colossus goes to bury and grieve over Zsaji. Spider-Man goes to enjoy some snacks. The heroes go to get their costumes fixed. Here, we touch on Storm and Xavier's conflict over the X-Men's leadership. Xavier concedes leadership to Storm, but will be doing more field work now that he can walk again. Spider-Man notices that the other heroes are using a different machine than the one that he got his costume from, and he asks if their costumes respond to mental commands like his does. They say it doesn't. Peter Parker finds it strange, but waves it off. Ahhh, plot-induced stupidity. Gotta love it.

Back in the medical lab, Reed Richards has fashioned a cast and crutch for the Hulk, as the gamma radiation in his body would short out the healing machines in the lab. Hulk's just going to have to let his natural healing factor fix him up. The Hulk hobbles by Hawkeye, in a foul mood. Yup, the Incredible Hulk is growing more savage...

Later, the heroes find Doctor Curt Connors, the Lizard's human identity wandering in. He woke up lying in a crater a few miles from Doombase, confused as to how he got there. He also claimed that his Lizard side is gone. Yeah, he'll be back. Nightcrawler then notices something else: Lockheed the Dragon is missing. Yeah, he hasn't been seen in a while, wonder what he got up to?

Aw look, he found a friend. Reed comes in, saying that his lab work has been going well. Yeah, tell that to Hulk, Reed. He believes that there's fallout from the battle against Doom. He discovered the planet has been charged with the residual energy left over, and it's causing a slight bit of "wish-fulfillment phenomenon." Captain America wants to test this. He gathered the shards of his broken shield. He puts them on a table, closes his eyes...

And that is that. His shield is whole again. It's time for the heroes to go home. Reed was able to figure out the construct that brought them all back to Battleworld in the first place. Colossus wants to stay behind, but Xavier convinces him that it a better way to honor Zsaji would be to embrace his life and come home. She-Hulk decides to go back with the rest of the Fantastic Four, taking Ben Grimm's place. Ben wants to stay behind on Battleworld, as he can seemingly change back to his human form there...and he wants to do a bit of self-discovery. Reed leaves him the device that he created to operate the construct that can bring the heroes home. The story ends with Ben sitting on a rock, thinking about a quote attributed to Franklin Delano Roosevelt: "There is nothing to fear, but fear itself."

This comic, like the mini-series as a whole, was alright. I felt there were plenty of things this mini-series could have done better. I wasn't a fan of the X-Men's portrayal here, I did feel the romance between Colossus and Zsaji did need more room to breathe (they could have excised her whole thing with her and the Human Torch). Also, the new characters. Volcana and Titania did get some focus (I would have liked to have seen Titania dealing with the humiliation she endured from Spider-Man more here, even though it was explored in other books later on). However, we got to meet a new Spider-Woman...and we didn't really learn much of anything about her. A shame.

One thing I did find odd was the Beyonder's wanting to study desire. But is that not desire? The Beyonder did desire something. He was capable of desire. So, why did he want to study it? Maybe it was the he didn't understand this feeling he had. That would have made more sense.

So, what did I like about this? Well, on paper, I love the scope of this story. We got many of Marvel's biggest heroes all fighting for the fate of the universe. That is just awesome right there. Plenty of action, and some nice character moments here and there. It was a big story, and it was really neat showing Doom struggling with the power of the Beyonder. He may be a powerful man in mind, but he was still a man. As much as he'd never admit it, even he has limits.

Secret Wars did have effects on the Marvel Universe, both major and minor. Some of those effects still are felt today:
- Most famously, it would be revealed in Amazing Spider-Man #258 (November 1984) that that black costume that Spider-Man obtained in Battleworld was a living creature. A symbiote that tries to bond with him. The symbiote would eventually bond with Eddie Brock, creating Venom.
- In Uncanny X-Men #181 (May 1984), Lockheed's dragon friend becomes a giant monster, forcing the X-Men to kill it.
- In 2015, the miniseries Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars was released. This revealed that the mercenary Deadpool was among the characters transported to Battleworld. It revealed that the Wasp used the "wish-granting" abilities of Battleworld to make everyone forget he was there in the first place. It also showed that Deadpool used those same properties to restore Zsaji to life and send her and her people somewhere they could live happily and not be harmed ever again.
- Incredible Hulk #296 (June 1984) sees Hulk ditch his leg cast and slowly revert to the savage Hulk of old.
- In Iron Man #183 (June 1984), Iron Man dumps the modifications to his suit. Those dumped components would eventually evolve into a monster that menaced Project: Pegasus in Quasar #8 (March 1990).
- Ben Grimm's adventures in Battleworld would be chronicled in Thing #11 (May 1984) - #22 (April 1985). Thing #22 would also reveal that all of his adventures in Battleworld were influenced by his subconscious mind, and he would lose the ability to shift between his human and Thing forms. He would rejoin the Fantastic Four in Fantastic Four #296 (November 1986).
- In Captain America #21-22 (September-October 1999), it was discovered that Cap's shield was not reformed as perfectly as believed. There was a small molecular flaw in the shield that grew over time as the shield took various blows. This created a "vibranium cancer" that threatened to destroy the world's supply of the sonic-absorbing metal (and blow up the planet), but Cap managed to prevent it and save his shield in the process.
- She-Hulk would be a member of the FF up until around the events of Fantastic Four #301 (April 1987). She was not shown officially departing the group, having last been seen as an FF member beforehand in Silver Surfer #1 (July 1987). She would remain a friend and ally of the imaginauts ever since.
- Doctor Doom would reappear in Fantastic Four #288 (March 1986), a tie-in to Secret Wars II.

Secret Wars is...a flawed miniseries. But it is not terrible. It has an exciting story, and it's epic in scope. It was one of the first "event" comics, and as such, I think it is an important read for historical purposes. I personally enjoyed the miniseries despite its flaws. It's the comic equivalent of a "popcorn blockbuster movie". You just sit back and enjoy. Crisis on Infinite Earths may have been the better "event", but Secret Wars paved the way for it. As such, it does deserve respect for that alone.

If you want to read this for yourself, I would recommend tracking down the 2005 trade paperback Secret Wars. It has a nice foreword from Tom Brevoort, and also provides some material that explains the set-up for the Secret Wars in various Marvel titles at the time. And it also had an epilogue that talked about some of the effects of the miniseries on various characters.

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, spread it around! Join me next time, as we look at the beginnings of the Legion of Super-Heroes...

Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars #11 (March 1985)

The Secret Wars rage on! Last time, we saw ol' Doctor Doom, the mad tyrant of Latveria, take on the Beyonder out a lust for his phenomenal cosmic powers. The armored madman appeared to be triumphant, gaining the power of a god. So, how would our heroes handle this seemingly unconquerable problem? Let's find out in Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars #11!

The cover, a Mike Zeck piece, is pretty awesome. You have Doom standing over the heroes. We don't see his face, and it makes sense. Doom's face has hardly ever been shown after donning the armor. At this point, we can assume most of the heroes on the cover have never seen it uncovered, hence their shocked reactions.

"...And Dust to Dust!"
Writer: Jim Shooter
Penciler: Mike Zeck
Inker: John Beatty
Colorist: Nelson Yomtov
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Editor: Tom DeFalco
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The story begins with...Doctor Doom removing his mask, revealing a handsome face.

"By me...I'm GORGEOUS!"

Wow. Cosmic powers can give quite the makeover, huh? Doom, being the egocentric maniac he is, claims that he is now the mightiest being in the universe. The heroes are naturally willing to take him on anyway, because you know, Doctor Doom. That's not exactly a name associated with peace and kindness. Spider-Man and Professor X think he means no harm. After all, Spider-Man's Spider-Sense would detect if Doom was to attack, and despite Xavier's inability to read Doom's mind (due to the cosmic enhancements to Doom's mind), he senses zero malice.

The villains also watch this, utterly confused. Why isn't Doom finishing the heroes off? Doctor Octopus and the Wrecking Crew think Doom is selling them out to the heroes. Some want to fight, like Absorbing Man. Enchantress, likely still a bit wine-drunk, is just amused by the whole thing. The normally arrogant and cocky Titania is very reluctant to face the heroes, especially Spider-Man. Yeah, remember issue eight?

Molecule Man, though, is furious. He believes Doom betrayed him and vows to kill him. He uses his molecule-manipulation powers to toss the heroes out of the way...alongside the chunk of the planet they were on. He starts to engage Doom, and Doom counters...with an inspiring speech?

"Owen, dude...you could make some weird stuff!"

The Latverian tyrant shows Owen Reece the fundamental forces of the universe. He points out that the Molecule Man can be the most powerful being in the universe...besides Doom himself, of course. He opens up the man's mind, removing the mental blocks that prevented him from being able to affect the molecules of living beings. You see, since his first appearance in Fantastic Four #20 (November 1963), Molecule Man's powers were ineffectual against living beings. It's revealed here it was due to his own mental issues, his self-loathing and self-doubt. Owen feels like a literal new man as Doom flies away.

He assures the other villains that it's okay. They don't need Doom, he'll take care of them. Doctor Octopus angrily challenges him, but Absorbing Man basically is like, "Shut up, Ock! This dude could kill us all!" Owen makes a ship for the villains, and they fly off. But what of the heroes?

"We well NEVER go parachuting with you again, Reed!"

They're alright. They head back to their old base, where they go lick their wounds and confer on what to do next. They recap the series so far, for those who just came in. Hulk just wants to smash stuff, as he's been losing his intellect.

So, where did the villains end up? Well, this Battleworld is a patchwork world, made from pieces of other planets. One of them was Earth, particularly a suburb of Denver, Colorado.

"The Masters of Evil got drunk again!"

Volcana has a place there, as it's her hometown. The villains come there to confer on what to do next. They generally at this point just want to go home. The Molecule Man agrees with this. So, he makes it happen by making a dome around the suburb, and taking it for a ride.

"Okay, does anyone know any David Bowie?"

The heroes discover it, but there's nothing they can do to stop it. The new Spider-Woman freaks out, because as it turns out, she's from that chunk of Earth as well. Cap suggests they hit the sack. There's nothing they can do about it, anyway.

Sleep evades the steel-skinned X-Man called Colossus. All he can think of is Zsaji. He realizes that he loves her. In the dead of night, he takes a small flying jetski-like craft to go see her. As he leaves, a streak of light races through the sky, and hits a slumbering Hulk. The light seemingly takes control of the Green Goliath, and it makes him walk towards an unknown destination. Spider-Woman notices this and tries to stop him, fearing he'll step on someone.

"Hulk is NOT eating all the food in the fridge again!"

This Spider-Woman has the power to create webs of psionic energy. Hulk proves to be too powerful, and she can't maintain the web. She tries to wake him up, but gets her head introduced to a wall for her efforts. There's a concussion right there. The light leaves Hulk and possesses her instead...for reasons. The possessed Spider-Woman heads down to Doom's old lab. There, the Monica Rambeau Captain Marvel still stands, a frozen holographic image. There also lies Klaw's head. He's made of solid sound, so being just a head won't hurt him. A light erupts, which wakes up the other heroes and frees the two heroines...but Spider-Woman has a strange buzzing in her head. Whatever this light was, it left an invitation on the wall: Doom has summoned them to his new home at dusk tomorrow. So, what is his new home?

"This is just the beginning. Doom is doing some further remodeling."

All the power of reality in his hands, and the best Doom can do is create giant gold crystal. it doesn't even look like a medieval castle or anything. You'd think that Doom, being Doom, would come up with something a bit more...grand, you know? Not to mention it would have made a cool playset. Remember, Secret Wars started as a toy line. At his big gold crystal base, Doom confers with Klaw. It's there it reveals that Doom dares not fall asleep. Again, he may have the power of a god, but Doom is still a man. And men need rest.

At Zsaji's village, Colossus comes by and gives her some flowers. He confesses his love for her, and despite the two having that big ol' language barrier (Remember, Zsaji knows neither English nor Russian and Colossus doesn't speak any...Zsaji), she does smile. Aww.

Eighteen hours later, the other X-Men finally notice that Colossus is missing. You'd think they'd keep a regular head-count. Strange unknown planet and all that. Wolverine believes that Colossus is obsessed with her because she used her healing powers on him...how do you know that, Wolverine?

The heroes gather up to meet with Doom. Thor, Wasp, and Spider-Man all admit to having bad dreams the night before. Interesting...

They arrive at Doom's gold crystal tower. The Latverian tyrant brags to them that he's all-powerful now, blah blah blah. But he's undergone some changes. You see, Doom has become a new man, in a way. He wants to make some things right. He can't undo all the villainous stuff he's done in the past because it could badly screw up the space-time continuum. But there are some recent things he can fix. One of those things is resurrecting Kang.

"Wait what's going on AGH!"

Remember when he was killed in issue 4? Well, he's back now, and on his way home. And then there's Galactus? After he was left drifting in space, his herald Nova would find him in Fantastic Four #244 (July 1982). Continuing to feel generous, Doom wants to grant boons to all the heroes there. He will grant their fondest desires. The heroes debate over this, but Captain America notices that Spider-Woman is staring intently at Klaw. Like she knows him or something.

Ultimately, the heroes decide "Yeahhh, thanks but no thanks, Doom." And Doom is all like, "Fine, get out. You come back, I'll destroy you." Looks like Doom hasn't completely changed, after all. The heroes do so, but then Cap notices Spider-Woman is missing. Despite Doom's warnings, Cap goes back in to find her. He carefully sneaks in and overhears Klaw singing. He makes his way into one of the Latverian tyrant's chambers.

"Oh, hello Cap. Doom was just relaxing."

Cap explains that he's just here to get Spider-Woman. She's gone missing, after all. Doom understands and sends Klaw to find her. Cap then notices the paintings in the room are all of a woman. He then realizes the paintings are of his mother Cynthia Von Doom. Klaw searches for Spider-Woman and gets caught in one of her psionic webs. She then seemingly collapses, and Klaw walking forward...with a strange buzzing in his head. Interesting...

Meanwhile, it turns out that Captain America and Doctor Doom had been...talking. That's literally it. They just sat down and talked to each other. Squirrel Girl would be proud, Steve. Cap learns that the spirit of Doom's mother Cynthia is trapped in the realm of Mephisto, which was established in Astonishing Tales #8 (October 1971). Doom explains that after he rescues his mother's ghost from the future eraser of Peter Parker an Mary-Jane Watson's marriage, he has no real desire to rule the universe. In fact, he needs to keep his power contained, as the slightest flick of a finger could cause a cosmic disaster.

Cap understands this, so he's just going to grab Spider-Woman and leave. Klaw returns and wonders what's going on, whatever had its hold on him releasing the Master of Sound. Doom fears it's the inevitable.

Meanwhile, Colossus and Zsaji are making out in a field. The steel-skinned Russian gets a
mental summons from Professor Xavier. It's time to meet up with the other heroes, Petey. They got stuff to discuss. Later at the Doombase, Cap leads a roundtable of all the heroes.

"Alright, everyone! What're we going to eat?"

If you ask me, they should have been doing roundtable meetings like this in the first place. What's the issue? Doom. Doom's essentially become a god thanks to his taking the power of the Beyonder. However, it causes some concern. This is Doom they're talking about. The man claims he's transcended humanity, but yet he still wants to rescue his mother from Mephisto. If he really has no human desires any longer, why would he still care about rescuing his mother? Also, one of the first things he did with his new power was fix his face.

The heroes all come to the agreement that yeah, leaving Doctor Doom alone with all this power is not the best of ideas...except for Colossus. He's unsure about this. After all, Doom hasn't done anything to the heroes since getting this power...and he may have genuinely changed. Shouldn't the heroes keep this in mind?

And then...this happens.

"We're a'splodin'!"

This comic was...alright. We finally do learn something more about the new Spider-Woman, but it's not much. The heroes' untrustworthiness of the newly-all powerful Doctor Doom does make sense, but I do feel that the Fantastic Four members in this story should have had a bigger role in making that decision to go after him. After all, he's their arch-nemesis. They're more familiar with him than any of the other heroes there.

The revelation of a suburb of Denver being part of Battleworld does raise a lot of questions. Yes, there is precedent for Battleworld to have other residents besides the heroes and villains in the form of Zsaji's village, but it does make me wonder. What were the people in Denver doing during this whole time? Did any of them try exploring around? Did they meet other residents of Battleworld? There's a lot of untapped story potential there. Yeah, Secret Wars had to focus on the heroes and villains, but I would have liked to have seen maybe a backup tale or maybe a one-shot comic or two that focused on these other residents. A solo story focusing on Zsaji would have been pretty good, for example. You know, explore the possibilities.

I did like the small character moments in this comic. The villains wanting to go home, Colossus and Zsaji, and Cap and Doom's interaction. Those were nice. And it was also neat seeing Spider-Woman in action. I do wish that we got more exploration of her connection to Denver, though. I never understood why she gets so little focus here. Why introduce her if you're not really going to do much with her? It's kind of a shame.

I did enjoy the scene with the villains convalescing. It was kind of hilarious to see all these people who are often seen as monsters just sitting around grousing. The bolt of energy possessing Hulk, Spider-Woman, and Klaw was also interesting. It's likely that the reader may have an idea who it is, though. All in all, this is an issue best read as part of the whole miniseries instead of a standalone.

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, spread it around! Join me next time when I shed some light on a lesser known DC Comics star, man...

Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars #10 (February 1985)

The Secret Wars rage on! Last time, we saw the heroes attempt to stop Galactus from consuming the Battleworld they were on so he can temporarily satiate his endless hunger. Having succeeded, the World-Eater is forced to draw upon his own ship for the power he needed. But Dr. Doom was hoping for that. Using pieces of the being of living sound known as Klaw for lenses, Doom stole that power and used it to turn himself into a cosmic being, powerful enough to take on the Beyonder himself. So, how will that epic battle fare? Let's find out in Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars #10!

The cover is pretty awesome! A Mike Zeck and Terry Austin piece, it focuses squarely on Doctor Doom. It makes sense as he is arguably the main character of the issue. He's on one knee, but stands defiant, his armor in tatters and fists glowing with power. It shows his character rather well. It's a great cover.

"Death to the Beyonder!"
Writer: Jim Shooter
Penciller: Mike Zeck
Inker: John Beatty
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Christie Scheele
Editor: Tom DeFalco
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The story begins with the heroes watching Galactus consume his ship.

However, they also witness the energies heading for Doombase. Remember Doom's little power play in the last issue? It's coming to pass here. The heroes head towards the base to find out what is going on. As a beam of light, the Monica Rambeau Captain Marvel is able to scout ahead and discovers what the mad Latverian is up to.

"Geez, when Doom wants a tan, he goes all out!"

Doom's plan is a success. But he discovers that the power comes with a heavy price. His every whim, every stray thought can become reality.

"Richards spiked Doom's brownies!"

Doom fights to get his mind under control, to avoid a disaster. He discovers his senses have grown, and he has gained a form of empathic ability to sense the thoughts and desires of the supervillain prisoners in the Doombase. This power allows the tyrant to discover Captain Marvel spying on him. The heroes realize the Captain is in trouble. They rush off to help her, but discover something wrecked their ship. But that's no problem. Magneto is with them, and being the Master of Magnetism, he's able to get the ship going.

Captain America comments that Magneto lives up to the hype about him. Of course, Magneto has to act all snooty about it. He thinks Captain America is intimidated by his power. Magneto has clearly decided to lodge his head up his butt for the trip. Wolverine joins Magneto in the "head-up-butt" party, getting in Cap's face about how mutants live in persecution. He whips out his claws and the other heroes break it up. I'm reminded of something Spider-Man once said to the X-Men in Ultimate Spider-Man #67 (December 2004):

"God! You know why people hate you? It's not because you're mutants!! It's because you're all a bunch of @#$@#$ $@$%@ ##@$!!"

It was a pain getting that grawlix right. And the link is nothing. Don't worry about it.

Mags and Wolverine certainly are proving Ultimate Spidey right here. After that moment of pointless tension, we go back to Doom. The Latverian tyrant is doing some thinking. The Beyonder said that whoever wins the Secret Wars will be granted their fondest desire. But now Doom has the power to literally wipe the others out with a wave of his hand. What could the Beyonder possibly give him that he can't get himself? And what other challenges are left for him in this universe now? Maybe...the Beyonder himself?

Klaw advises against this, comparing the cosmic being to the biblical Goliath. Doom, however, is not the type of man to settle for being second place in anything. And Doom points out that Goliath had a David. And David defeated Goliath with a slingshot. All Doom needs his own slingshot.

Remember, Secret Wars started as a toyline. So, it makes sense that the comic would have Doom change up his look to match a toy at some point. The heroes burst into the Doombase and discover he's gone. Spider-Woman finds Monica Rambeau frozen in the form of a light statue. They also find Klaw's head. Klaw's alive, but that's because he's a being of living solid sound. He can't be killed in the conventional manner. An explosion rocks the base, and Klaw explains that the Latverian madman is using a new device he created to steal the power of the Beyonder.

Reed Richards finds a monitor, which allows him to discover that Doom and the Beyonder are in combat. It also allows him to spot the body of Galactus. Reed then comes up with a plan: bring the World-Eater to Battleworld and revitalize him. Why does he want to do this? Reed believes they need Galactus to stand a chance of stopping Doom. The Doombase gets rocked again. Reed gets pinned under the monitor, but Ben Grimm is able to get him out. Things are not looking good for our heroes. They're way outmatched, She-Hulk and Mr. Fantastic are injured, chaos is erupting, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria!

The Hulk finds another monitor, and Colossus asks him to check up on Zsaji's village. They're not doing so well, and Zsaji herself is hurt. Colossus alerts Johnny Storm, but Johnny's more worried about Reed at the moment. But another quake rocks the planet. The clash between Doom and the Beyonder is literally consuming the universe.

I bet somewhere, the Anti-Monitor is looking at this and going "Yeah, that part of the multiverse is consuming itself, I'm not needed here." Doom's attack is waning, but the armored maniac refuses to give up. There has to be a way, as far as Doom is concerned.

Thus, he appears to the heroes in the collapsing Doombase. I like that Doom spins some utter horse hockey to the heroes about him winning. Dude, we saw you getting beat like a government mule! He asks the heroes to help him take the Beyonder on. Magneto agrees, but Iron Man and Hawkeye stop him. Doom vanishes, and Hawkeye gets in the X-Men's faces about it. For Pete's sake... Captain America worries that this action just may have doomed the universe.

With the Lateverian tyrant down, the Beyonder then enters Doom's mind and learns about him. He learns of Doom's youth as a Roma in Latveria, the death of his mother Cynthia (who was a local healer), his discovery of her collection of supernatural and scientific secrets, and the fated experiment that scarred his face. This is stuff that is expanded further upon in Fantastic Four #5 (July 1962), Fantastic Four Annual #2 (September 1964), Astonishing Tales #8 (October 1971), and Books of Doom #1-6 (January-June 2006).

The Beyonder finds the things Doom desires: Power, as vengeance for the cruelty of fate. Freedom, for the spirit of his mother who is trapped in Mephisto's netherworld...which he would get in Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment (July 1989). Restoration, for his ruined face. This only makes the Beyonder more curious, and he begins to pull apart Doom's body. Doom tries to fight back.

Back on Battleworld, Doombase is falling down like London Bridge. The heroes evacuate, while Captain America and Wolverine free the confined villains. But it's only a reprieve. Battleworld is shaking itself apart. This looks like the end...or is it?

The shaking stops. Everything is quiet again. It seems as if the universe was stabilized. A big burst of light comes to the heroes, and something forms within it.

DOOMZILLA!

Doc Doom's been eating his vegetables. He's also clearly in the mood to pick a fight with Godzilla. But he shrinks down to his normal size, and takes off his mask. Doom has been reborn, the Beyonder is slain. The Secret Wars are seemingly over.

Well, this issue was really cool. Doom is clearly the central character in this issue. We got to see exactly what made Doom one of the Marvel Universe's most popular supervillains: His willpower and determination, as well as his sheer ego. That was honestly the strongest part of this issue. I did wish we still got to learn more about Spider-Woman, though. The mini-series is almost over, but we barely know anything about her. Look how Crisis on Infinite Earths handled the Kimiyo Hoshi Dr. Light. We saw her origin, and she got an arc. Poor Spider-Woman is just...there.

Mike Zeck's art does its job for the issue. My favorite panel he drew in this issue is when Doom discovers the extent of his newfound cosmic power, everything warping around him to show his armored face. It's a panel that makes sense as it shows the depths of Doom's ego. Ultimately, the Latverian madman only loves and admires one man: Doom himself.

This issue really ratcheted up the fear for the heroes, as they already have to deal with the X-Men being jerks. The Beyonder may be powerful, but at least it was known that he did not seem to favor the heroes or the villains. Doom being an all-powerful cosmic being...yeah, the heroes know what kind of man he is, and that is really scary. Finally, Doom becomes a kaiju briefly, and that's just awesome.

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, spread it around! Join me next time, where in honor of Halloween, we're going to join Superman and Batman as they encounter a child of the night...

Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars #9 (January 1985)

The Secret Wars rage on! Last time, the miniseries said goodbye to 1984 as we saw She-Hulk take a superhuman beatdown, the heroes and villains had an epic brawl. The Wasp got deus ex machina'd back to life. Also, Spider-Man got a sleek new suit, one that totally will not cause him any troubles in the future. It's just a suit. It's totally not some alien symbiote or anything. It's just a suit. And nothing else.

But now, the heroes have another big problem. Galactus is hungry. Galactus eats planets. And Battleworld is presumably the only planet around. Yup. That's a problem. That is a problem right there. So, how will the heroes deal with this? Let's find out in Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars #9!

The cover is pretty awesome. It's a Mike Zeck and Bob McLeod piece that depicts the heroes jumping into battle against Galactus. The angle really gives the impression that this is going to be an epic battle. Which does make sense. Galactus is one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe, and we're seeing some of the Marvel Universe's greatest heroes taking him on. Galactus's pose there is kind of funny. I get it would not be in character for him to do a "Bring it" pose, so I can see why they'd go for a more Kirby-esque one there. It's still kind of funny.

"Assault on Galactus!"
Writer: Jim Shooter
Penciler: Mike Zeck
Inker: John Beatty
Colorist: Christie Scheele
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Editor: Tom DeFalco
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The story begins with a recovering Piotr "Colossus" Rasputin witnessing what the narrator describes as the "beginning of the end"...

"...what is he saying?! SPEAK UP, MAN!"

The steel-skinned powerhouse checks on the comatose Zsaji, lamenting that she seems to be in love with the Human Torch and not him. In a nice showing of maturity, he does say he accepts that as long as she's happy. Determined, he armors up and heads to battle.

Storm of the X-Men flies towards Galactus's machine, and tries to fry it like an egg with some lightning. It has no effect. In fact, Galactus seems to not even be the least bit bothered. The X-Men try another attack, but there are defenses ready for them. In the alien village, Hawkeye, the newly-back Wasp, and Monica Rambeau watch the battle, and a mushroom cloud erupts.

"Oh, that is going to suck..."

The other heroes fly off in an aircraft to give the X-Men some much-needed backup. We get another character moment here with Thor and Hulk. The God of Thunder tries to cheer the glum Green Goliath up by telling him that this battle is going to be epic. But Hulk's not feeling up to brawl. He fears he's losing his intellect. Ben Grimm has the opposite problem. He needs the power of the Thing, but he's stuck in his human form. He slams a console in frustration...and changes back into the Thing. Iron Man is a bit suspicious of the mysterious new Spider-Woman who has joined their ranks.

The Man in the Iron Suit does admit that he and Spider-Woman have one thing in common: They are both strangers in a strange land. James Rhodes is suspicious about people realizing that he's not Tony Stark, but it only makes him determined to prove that he's the Iron Man now. His reverie is interrupted by Spider-Man enjoying his new black duds he got in the last issue.

Reed Richards is puzzling over why these Secret Wars were started. What's in it for the Beyonder? Why this particular group of heroes and villains? However, Reed should have remembered to focus on piloting as the ship is hit by a strange tendril of energy.

"BULLSEYE! That's 500 points!"

The ship is about to crash, but someone manages to stop it.

Colossus isn't in pain from grabbing the jet, he's just REALLY hungover.

Colossus was able to pull off saving the heroes. But he paid for his awesomeness by aggravating his wounds. The heroes discover the energy tendril that hit them came from Galactus. He's using his machine to break down Battleworld into energy he can consume. The heroes engage Galactus, but Reed Richards ends up having a bit of a brainstorm. He's realized why this whole thing has gone down, and tries to get the other heroes to stop fighting Galactus.

You see, this is a chance to rid the universe of the World-Eater. If he wins these Secret Wars, then the Beyonder will grant him his fondest wish: A final end to his unceasing hunger. If that happens, Galactus will be at peace, and the universe will be safe. Yeah, one problem, Reed: EVERYONE ON BATTLEWORLD WILL BE DEAD. Before he can say much more, the stretchy scientist vanishes. And so has Galactus and his machine. So, where did they go?

"Hello, Reed. I have beer in the fridge. Help yourself."

Welcome to Galactus's humble home. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, indoor Jacuzzi and pool, even has a mancave. Or cosmic being cave. Galactus breaks the ice with Reed by showing him an image of Sue and Franklin Richards on Earth. So, why did Galactus being Reed to his home? Well, it wasn't because he wanted to show off his new minibar. But before we can learn what the Big G has to say, the scene shifts to the former Doombase.

There, Doctor Doom sits still as a statue, but then...he has a Eureka Moment. He realizes he has to return to Galactus's ship. He activates a hidden backup battery in his armor, and uses it to blast his way out of his cell. The other villains call for him to free them, but Doom refuses. There is only one other person here he needs: Klaw. Klaw spent time as energy coursing through the walls of Galactus's ship, so Doom is going to dissect him. Like a frog.

Colossus is nearby, digging for the other X-Men, but he didn't need to worry.

"Oh thank goodness, I think I have full-on internal bleeding now."

They're alright. Banged up, but alright. Magneto created a thick layer of Earth to protect them from the explosion. Huh, didn't know Magneto was a geokinetic. With that, the X-Men rejoin the other heroes at Zsaji's village. And on happier news, Zsaji herself has woke up, and ran to Johnny. The heroes debate about what to do next about Galactus. Reed Richards returns and explains what Galactus told him.

Evidently, according to the World-Eater, Reed Richards is a "force of the universe" much like Galactus is. In fact, the two are sort of opposites. Reed is a champion of life, whereas Galactus is an instrument of death. Yeah...Reed is one of the Marvel Universe's premier minds, and he is the member of the team that ushered in the Modern Age of Heroes in the Marvel Universe...but I would not be that quick to say he's some important cosmic being. Anyway, this has convinced Reed that the heroes should let Galactus just eat Battleworld. Sure, everyone on it will die, but Galactus may get his wish for his hunger to end, and trillions more lives will be saved.

Naturally, this causes some dissent among the heroes as Galactus returns to the mountain with his machine. Captain America decides that he's going to take on the Eater of Worlds, and if anyone wants to join him, they're welcome to help.

Back in Doombase, Doom himself is playing observer. He notices the Beyonder has activated a portal in space, right near Galactus's ship. He sees his opportunity, but must work fast. He had been dissecting Klaw to learn more about Galactus's ship. And since Klaw is a being of solid sound, instead of looking like a gory mess, he looks like sliced up bread or deli meat.

"Welcome to Doom's Deli! We have a special on Klaw Bologna this week!"

Now I want a sandwich. Mmm, sandwich...

Where was I? Oh, yeah. The heroes are taking the fight to the World-Eater. He's a bit low on energy, as it took a lot out of him to bring his ship here, and he likely hasn't eaten a planet in months. Despite that, Galactus is still incredibly powerful, and is able to take everything the heroes throw at him...and hurl it right back at them. Reed joins the battle. The stretchy scientist is still unsure that what he's doing is right...but he has a family back home, and he wants to see them.

The heroes eventually turn the tables on Galactus and trash his machine. Reed tells them to get Galactus himself, as his machine is unimportant. The Big G manages to get away, much to Reed's frustration. You see, the machine isn't the thing that allows Galactus to eat planets. It just allows him to eat them more efficiently. Instead, he turns on eating his own ship for power. This is Doom's turn to strike. He has fashioned some lenses from Klaw's body. The story ends with Doom preparing to use those lenses to channel the power of Galactus's ship directly into Doom himself.

This was...not the best issue of the miniseries. I felt the whole thing with Galactus and Reed was pretty pointless. This would have made a lot more sense if Galactus did this in an attempt to keep the heroes off-center so he could eat Battleworld in peace, but...yeah. I did get a good chuckle out of Doom making Klaw into sliced sonic bread. It's so bizarre. I also wish we got to learn a little more about the new Spider-Woman. The scene in the  I can't really think of anything to say about the art, I think it's alright.

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, spread it around! Join me next time, as we check out a fun little team-up between an Avengers stalwart, and a newbie superhero...

Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars #8 (December 1984)

The Secret Wars rage on! Last time, we saw the debut of an all-new Spider-Woman, we saw Volcana make a devil's bargain, and the She-Hulk got the mother of all beatdowns! So, where are we going next with this? Will we learn more about our mysterious new heroine? Will Volcana end up regretting her deal with the Enchantress? Can the other heroes save She-Hulk? Will I stop asking stupid questions and get to the comic already? Can do! This is Marvel Super-Heroes: Secret Wars #8!

The cover of the comic, a Mike Zeck piece, has become pretty iconic. Front-and-center is the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, with his fancy new costume. It's kind of a funny cover to me because right behind him, you see the heroes and the villains of the story brawling in the background. It's like he's so distracted with admiring his new suit that he doesn't even notice the battle behind him. It's really funny. But seriously, it is a great cover.

"Invasion!"
Writer: Jim Shooter
Penciler: Mike Zeck
Inkers: John Beatty, Jack Abel, Mike Esposito
Colorist: Christie Scheele
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Editor: Tom DeFalco
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The story begins with the heroes flying into action.

"Here they come to save the dayyyyy!"

They arrive at the Doombase, but Reed Richards is suspicious. Surely, Doctor Doom would have noticed there were there by now. Why hasn't he sent a force to intercept them? The other heroes don't care, they just want to fight.

Inside the Fortress, the Enchantress is basically drinking herself senseless. She laments how she wasn't able to get Thor to kiss her in issues 3 and 4, which would have gotten him under her power. Yeah, Amora is rather obsessed with Thor. She hears the din of the heroes charging in, but she's too plastered to really do anything. Man, that Asgardian mead must pack a punch. Volcana is watching over the injured Molecule Man while he recovers from the wounds Wolverine gave him in issue 6.

She also hears the sound of battle, and Volcana vows to make sure no one can get to him, especially Wolverine. Good luck, lady. You're a rookie supervillain, and he's got a century of combat experience. In Doombase's dungeon, Klaw frees the Lizard. He can't stand seeing him cooped up, as he was trapped once in a ship, and it made him a bit crazy.

Elsewhere, She-Hulk is taking a heck of a beating, but Absorbing Man picks up the sound of Thor's hammer. They go to engage, but not before Doctor Octopus seemingly finishes off She-Hulk.

"BAH GAWD ALMIGHTY! THAT KILLED HER! AS GAWD AS MAH WITNESS, SHE IS BROKEN IN HALF!"

Doctor Doom stumbles out of his quarters, looking a bit worse for wear. Well, he did barge into Galactus's ship uninvited, so no surprise he'd get a cosmic boot out of the ship. Monica Rambeau goes to search for the She-Hulk, as she can take the form of a beam of light, which will allow her to cover the area much faster. The Wrecker tries to bash Iron Man with his enchanted crowbar, but ends up getting a repulsor to the face. The heroes and villains brawl in the Doombase, where the new Spider-Woman gets to show her stuff.

"Judo THROW!"

Hawkeye is able to wound Piledriver by firing an arrow at close range. Hulk bursts through a wall like a gamma radiation-powered Kool-Aid Man to find the Enchantress. Evidently she's sobered up quick as she uses her seductive powers to knock the Jade Giant cold. She tries the same trick on Captain America, but ends up getting a faceful of his Mighty Shield.

Titania tries to shove a 40-ton metal beam down on the heroes' heads, but is stopped by Spider-Man. She tries to attack him, while ranting about how she used to be the one who got picked on, but now can do the beating up. Yeah, basically Titania is your victim of bullying who ends up becoming a bully themselves. Hawkeye and Ben Grimm (who turned back into his human form during the battle), encounter Klaw and the Lizard.

Mister Fantastic and Iron Man, accompanied by Thor and Spider-Woman, find Molecule Man and Volcana. Volcana tries to blast them, but Iron Man is able to power everyone through...heavily damaging his armor in the process. Molecule Man creates a transparent air shield to protect himself and Volcana. However, Monica Rambeau is able to go through it in the form of light (The shield is transparent, so light can get through it).

The energy transformer has Molecule Man in a headlock, which makes Volcana freak out. She agrees to surrender. Meanwhile, Titania is not doing so well against Spider-Man. Remember, Titania may have the wall-crawler beat on raw power, but Spider-Man has been fighting supervillains since he was a teenager. His speed, agility, and Spider-Sense allow him to dodge the powerhouse, as well as lay some quick blows of his own. The entire time, he also taunts Titania about how she still is the "whining little wimpette" she always was. The battle ends with Spidey tossing her out of Doombase.

"This ain't faiiiiiiiir...!"

This would have an effect on Titania for a while afterwards, as future stories established this battle gave her a phobia of Spider-Man that would last for a long time. Cap and the Human Torch encounter Ultron. Torch tries to melt him, but he can't generate enough heat to melt the mad machine's adamantium body. Cap encourages Torch to use his Nova Flame (a giant blast of heat that tends to weaken the Torch). Desptie the power of the Nova Flame, it didn't damage Ultron's body. It did manage to damage his circuitry, so it wasn't a failure. Cap finds Doctor Doom, but the Latverian tyrant is clearly really out of it.

"Ugh, why does Doom keep falling for drinking contests with Richards?!"

"Why does Doom keep falling for drinking contests with Richards?" Mr. Fantastic, Spider-Man, and the Hulk manage to find Ben Grimm and Hawkeye. Thankfully, they were able to pacify the two villains...by playing patty-cake with the looney Klaw. It's hilarious. Monica finds She-Hulk, battered and bleeding. With the battle over, and the Doombase taken, Reed Richards takes the wounded to the infirmary. It was lucky that Monica found the Gamma Glamazon when she did. Much longer, and She-Hulk would have been dead...like the Wasp. The uninjured villains are locked in the dungeon.

Back in Zsaji's village, Colossus is carrying her to her home. She's very weak, like the life was drained right out of her. The Russian mutant spots the bottle of mind-linking vapors that Johnny Storm had used in an earlier issue. He uses the vapors, and he's able to discover why Zsaji is in such bad shape...she used her healing power to wake the Wasp up. Turns out she wasn't quite dead. Just in a sort of stasis...that Zsaji got her out of. Okay.

Yeah, she took a laser blast to the chest. How do you end up in STASIS from that?! It was shown, ON-PANEL, that she was BLASTED IN THE CHEST! Also, did the heroes just leave Colossus behind? I know he was injured and all, but they at the very least tell him where they were going and they would pick him up later? Anyway, she wakes up in the Doombase (Monica and Hawkeye had retrieved her body earlier so they could give it a proper burial), and she has her priorities in order.

Janet van Dyne is a believer in the phrase "Leave a good-looking corpse."

"Janet Van Dyne is a real believer in the phrase 'leave a good-looking corpse'" That's our Janet. Elsewhere, the X-Men and Magneto are monitoring Galactus. The Master of Magnetism believes that maybe Galactus is not actually going to eat the planet, but has something else in mind. They don't get a lot of time to debate this, as Cyclops spots something.

Meanwhile, Reed Richards is repairing Iron Man's armor, and discovers that it's not Tony Stark underneath the suit. Yeah, retcons can actually explain this. New Avengers: Illuminati #1 (May 2006) revealed that Reed had known about Tony Stark being the original Iron Man. Iron Man: Legacy #6 (November 2010) revealed that the other members were well aware of Stark's struggles with the bottle at the time, so it was likely Reed was already aware Jim Rhodes had taken up the suit.

Elsewhere, Spider-Man spots Thor and the Hulk emerging from a room, Thor's costume repaired. Spidey's suit got torn up during the brawl with the villains, so he needs some repairs. He goes to one of the devices, concentrates...and a strange black ball appears. He picks up the ball...and it flows over him.

Yup, this is the first appearance of what would be known as "The Black Costume". It would also become half of Venom in the future. Spidey is a bit confused by the design, but figures he was subconsciously thinking of the new Spider-Woman who just showed up. He then feels an earthquake. The story ends with Professor Xavier telepathically alerting the heroes: Galactus has begun his consumption of Battleworld.

This comic was...alright. I would have liked to have learned a bit more about the new Spider-Woman in this issue, like where she came from or how she got her powers. Yes, those would be revealed in future stories, but a bit of hinting here would have been nice. Also, it would have been nice to see Hulk lament the condition of She-Hulk. They are family, after all. Wasp's return from the grave was also kind of ridiculous. We saw her get blasted in the chest. How was she in stasis from that?!

The big positive was the action. There was plenty of it in this comic. It was a big ol' brawl, and I enjoyed that. I got a good chuckle from how Ben Grimm and Hawkeye dealt with Lizard and Klaw. That was pretty funny. So was drunk Enchantress. Also, Spider-Man's black costume is really neat and slick, even though Julia Carpenter used the design first. I can't imagine that anyone in 1984 thought that the costume would eventually end up becoming one of Spider-Man's most popular villains/anti-hero allies ever. And speaking of Spider-Man, his battle with Titania was awesome, too. I like how it was shown that his experience, speed, and agility (as well as his knack for running his mouth) was able to overcome Titania's raw power.

It's an action-packed issue, and I did enjoy it, despite the deus ex machina with the Wasp. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, please spread it around! Join me next time, as Daredevil battles Ultron...