The Secret Wars Power Rankings – Final Standings

Well, it is finally over!  Ok, it was finally over back in the beginning of January, but I’ve finally finished my write ups.  With that done, after the break check out our (well, mostly my) final rankings for all the Secret Wars series.

It was a huge event and most will not be insane enough to read it all.  If you are interested in the main story, you can mostly get by with just reading the main series.  Very few of the other series tie into the main event, and those that do are recapped as needed in the lead book.

Outside of that, I’d recommend giving any of the top 15 a shot.  As for the rest, you can likely just pick and choose the series that interest you.  As said, most have no ties to the core book outside of Doom being God and the story taking place in a domain of Battleworld.  And some barely bother with that.

Let us know what’s ranked too high or too low.

Jimmy Attempts To Read All Of Secret Wars 49 (It’s Finally Over Edition)

Well, the day is finally here.  The last issue of Secret Wars is finally in our grubby little hands or sitting digitally on our computers, tablets or other electronic devices.  It’s been a long time coming.  I’ll look at the finale in all its spoiler-y glory after the cut.

Unfortunately for me (and probably for you), this is not my last Secret Wars post.  I still have some odds and ends to finish up my walkthrough, namely twenty or so issues that I haven’t covered.  (Excluding the Toys R Us exclusive giveaway Armor Wars #0.5…which I couldn’t find a copy of first or last.)

Expect Everyone Outside Of The X-Men and Fantastic Four In Avengers: Infinity War

Co-directors and gluttons for punishment The Russo Brothers have revealed they currently have 67 characters lined up to appear in the two part Avengers: Infinity War.  My immediate reaction was “Holy $#@*!”  That has got to include EVERYONE.  The MCU regulars of the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, new blood like Ant-Man, Spider-Man, Dr. Strange and Blank Panther.  Even the TV crowd most be represented.  Anyone from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Daredevil, Luke Cage and/or Jessica Jones.  The Captain Marvel movie is scheduled in between Infinity War Parts One and Two so you’d think she’d be involved somehow.  And there are sure to be characters making their debut here as well.  Sounds like a whole lot of awesome.

Joe Russo teases:

“People will not be disappointed in the amount of characters in the movie. The concept of ‘Infinity War’ is that the Marvel universe unites to battle the greatest threat to the world and universe that you’ve ever seen, and we’re going to honor that concept.”

All that said, maybe we need to keep expectations a little in check.  I’m sure we will see a lot of the crowd mentioned above.  And the TV shows do make occasional reference to the movies so they clearly take place in the same universe unlike whatever mess DC has going on.  But keep in mind the phrasing here…67 characters.  There could be villains other than Thanos that appear.  Aunt May is a character.  Night Nurse.  Agent Carter.  Pepper Potts.  The cop picking up Twinkies for his wife before heading over to Nakatomi Plaza.  That S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent with the red shirt on that Thanos kills on an away mission.  You get the point.

And it won’t be any day soon we’ll get much clarification here as Avengers: Infinity War Part One is not scheduled until May 4th, 2018.

Jimmy Attempts To Read All Of Secret Wars 43

The end is near for Secret Wars (well, there is still a month to go), but not for my write ups.  Sigh.  So much to do.  Anyway, last week finally saw the release of Secret Wars #7 Part Two aka Secret Wars #8.  I believe that only leaves the following for this long, long event:

Ultimate End #5 – December 16th
Secret Wars #9 – January 13th, 2016

After the break I’ll take a look at that penultimate Secret Wars issue as well as play some catch-up with the following books: Deadpool’s Secret Secret Wars #3, Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #3, Red Skull #2, Silver Surfer #15 and X-Men ’92 (Infinite) #6

Be sure to check out our latest Secret Wars Power Rankings, which also features links to the other parts of my read through.

Jimmy Attempts To Read All Of Secret Wars XXXVII (Infinity Gauntlet Edition)

The Secret Wars version of Infinity Gauntlet has pretty much nothing to do with the original series from 1991.  It has Thanos and Infinity Stones and multiple Infinity Gauntlets, but that is where the similarities end.  Not that that is a bad thing, just a public service message that you don’t need to read the original to read this.  (Though you should, as it is a classic.)

The Secret Wars version of Infinity Gauntlet also has pretty much nothing to do with Secret Wars.  I know Ryan, in particular, really dug the disconnected, What If?-ness of most of the tie-ins, but as a sucker for chronology, they really bugged me.  Why couldn’t this series tie into the main book?  Thanos is one of the key characters there…this book takes place South of The Shield…where Thanos is banished to at one point, etc.

Ah well, I need to let it go.  That said, this is a great stand alone little mini-series.  I previously looked at issues #1 and #2, so after the cut I will finish my look at this series with Infinity Gauntlet #3, Infinity Gauntlet #4 and Infinity Gauntlet #5.

Be sure to check out our latest Secret Wars Power Rankings, which also features links to the other parts of my read through.

The Secret Wars Power Rankings – November 12, 2015

 

It was a big week for Secret Wars.  Probably the last one, with the release of Secret Wars #7 and the conclusions of Thors, Squadron Sinister and Infinity Gauntlet.  The only books left now I believe are Secret Wars #8 and #9, Hail Hydra #4 and Ultimate End #5, which is long delayed, I’m guessing because it ties into the conclusion of the main series.

I’ve heard rumors that when Secret Wars was expanded to 9 issues, the actual page count remained the same for the series.  That they basically split an issue that was supposed to be oversized in two to give the creative team more time.  It sure felt that way this week as issue 7 felt like half an issue.  The endings of Thors and Squadron Sinister were ok but had their problems.

Infinity Gauntlet finished strong and has a big jump up the rankings.  Moving from #16 to #9.  While it still annoys me that this series doesn’t tie into the main story, as a self-contained work it is quite good and manages to deliver on the ending, which many of the Secret Wars tie-ins have failed to do.

After the break, this weeks rankings…

The Secret Wars Power Rankings – November 3, 2015

There’s not much Secret Wars left to talk about these days.  Most series are over and the new Marvel Universe has already launched.  Last week saw the conclusions of House of M and Where Monsters Dwell.  This week, for the first time since May, there are no Secret Wars books scheduled.

Since there aren’t many issues, there aren’t really any big movers and shakers.  Monsters dropped slightly as I wonder if this had anything to do at all with Secret Wars or Marvel just used it as an excuse to hype a tame Garth Ennis book?  I don’t think there is one reference to Battleworld in the story.  House of M moved up a bit with a mediocre finale, jumping over a couple of other mediocre books.

After the break, this weeks rankings…

The Secret Wars Power Rankings – October 26, 2015

I thought I would mix up the intro a bit this week.  If you’re like me you don’t read it and skip over it anyway since it hasn’t changed in months.  It also has been a while since we’ve done a “Secret Wars Power Rankings Reaction” style column where Ryan and Tom tell me I’m crazy.

So after the cut I will incorporate some of that into the beginning of this weeks rankings.  Not a lot changes these days as Secret Wars is supposed to be over now, but due to delays, it is still pushing out a few titles a week even though the new Marvel Universe launched on schedule a couple of weeks ago.  We even have a new title this week, Secret Wars Agents of Atlas.

Jimmy Attempts To Read All Of Secret Wars XXX (Siege Edition)

I’ve never read the 2009/2010 Siege from Marvel.  Which really doesn’t matter since that Norman Osborn/Loki/Asgard story has nothing to do with the current Secret Wars mini-series of the same name.  While many other series have only “borrowed” the name of a previous event, they are at least usually related in some way.  Infinity Gauntlet for example.  But in this case, Siege is the story about the men and women who defend Battleworld from the horrors on the other side of The Shield.

After the cut I will look at the excellent series containing Siege #1, Siege #2, Siege #3 and Siege #4.  If you are only reading the main series or are picky about the tie-ins you are reading because only an insane person would read them all, I’d recommend moving Siege onto your buy list.  It is one of the few that is heavily integrated into the main story, and you will get a lot more out of Secret Wars #6 in particular after reading this series.  (Note, I kinda spoil the end of Inferno, so if you care, make sure you are finished that as well.)

(And I’m sure there is a Watson joke in the title of this post somewhere…)

Related links:
Secret Wars Power Rankings
Tom’s Road To Secret Wars: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,7.
Other parts of this series: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29

The Secret Wars Power Rankings – October 19, 2015

The best part of Marvel’s Secret Wars is that virtually every facet of the massive event starts with an issue #1.  This presents 49 different jumping on points.  Some stories may be based on characters you know, some series may be from another event or world you’ve read about, but all of them are different enough that you can pick up the series and start reading.  With that in mind, we’ve harnessed the powers of Jimmy Impossible (who’s actually reading the entire event) to power rank every single Secret Wars series.  Each week the rankings will change as new issues come out, so come take a look at the latest power rankings after the break!