Secret Wars #1 Review

writer: Jonathan Hickman / artist: Esad Ribic / Marvel Comics How long have we been building up to this now? YEARS, right? Jonathan Hickman has been crafting his Thesis on world building and destroying for a long time now and for the scope of it (Avengers/Avengers World/New Avengers into “Time Runs Out”), it was a beautiful thing to behold. But, all that was really just preparation for this, the Secret Wars, the actual end of the world. We’re promised 8 issues of Hickman rebuilding the universe as he sees fit, so was the first issue of this bold entry worth the hype? Ehhhh…

Secret Wars #1 starts at the beginning of the end of the universe as Earth 616 (Marvel Proper) and Earth-1610 are the last two Earths (along with their respective galaxies) in existence. We get a very brief look at Doom as he stands before the Beyonders at the top of the issue, but this is really about the battle between the Earths as they are forced into one last incursion. As you can imagine, there is a ton going here, plots, secret plots, secret-secret plots, lots of action, hero teamwork, a little bit of comedy sprinkled in and just about a line of dialogue from every major Marvel character. Which is probably the largest problem with this first issue. The problem that Hickman can’t escape with Secret Wars is that at the end of the world, everyone has to be there and therefore, everyone has to contribute. This isn’t going to be like New Avengers when he could focus on three characters having an exist…