It took a few months longer than originally planned, but the final issue of Secret Wars is here. And regardless of all the marketing hype and the delays and the fact that the rest of the Marvel Universe has already moved beyond Secret Wars, this issue delivers a fantastic finish for Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic's massive story. This issue works as a fitting conclusion not just to Secret Wars itself, but to Hickman's entire Avengers saga and even his Fantastic Four run. It's a love letter to the Marvel Universe that was and the new universe that rises from its ashes.
For a comic featuring an entire planet at war and a titanic battle between two godlike opponents, it's remarkable how intimate this issue really is. Secret Wars and the stories that preceded it have delivered plenty of shock and spectacle. Without a strong emotional core to this issue, the entire house of cards would collapse. Thankfully, this isn't a problem. This entire conflict really boils down to the decades-old feud between Reed Richards and Doctor Doom. Here Reed has one last, desperate chance to challenge Doom's reign, reclaim his family and redeem the whole of existence in the process. As he's demonstrated many times in the past, Hickman writes Reed, Doom and their complicated relationship better than just about anyone who's had a hand in the Fantastic Four franchise. Hickman is no longer writing God Emperor Doom, but the scared, pathological Victor von Doom.
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For a comic featuring an entire planet at war and a titanic battle between two godlike opponents, it's remarkable how intimate this issue really is. Secret Wars and the stories that preceded it have delivered plenty of shock and spectacle. Without a strong emotional core to this issue, the entire house of cards would collapse. Thankfully, this isn't a problem. This entire conflict really boils down to the decades-old feud between Reed Richards and Doctor Doom. Here Reed has one last, desperate chance to challenge Doom's reign, reclaim his family and redeem the whole of existence in the process. As he's demonstrated many times in the past, Hickman writes Reed, Doom and their complicated relationship better than just about anyone who's had a hand in the Fantastic Four franchise. Hickman is no longer writing God Emperor Doom, but the scared, pathological Victor von Doom.
Continue reading…
Continue reading...