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 48

It’s like looking into a mirror of insanity as I feel the same way Magneto while trying to finish this up.

No theme to this post, just trying to clue up some odds and ends.  After the cut I will take a look at series final issues: Red Skull #3, Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #4-5, Captain Marvel And The Carol Corps #3-4 and Deadpool’s Secret Secret Wars #4 

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 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.

Slightly Misplaced Comic Book Heroes Case Files #43: Hauptmann Deutschland

This panel is the most popular one of this character on Google Images. No lie!

The late Marvel Comics writer Mark Gruenwald had a rare talent:  an encyclopedic knowledge of old comics.  Gruenwald was apparently the only man who could beat Mark Waid in a comic book trivia contest about the Justice League…which, of course, was published by DC, not the company Gruenwald actually worked on.

As a result of this, Gruenwald, during long runs on series like Captain America and Quasar, would much prefer to resurrect long forgotten characters for story lines rather than create new ones.  He even did the most mature Justice League story ever when he used the Marvel knock-offs versions to tell what many consider the first mature readers comic book storyline with the fantastic Squadron Supreme mini-series, a story showing the Squadron taking over their Earth as benevolent dictators, unmasking in public, and all the eventually horrible repercussions that came with that.  Not only does this story predate Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns, but Gruenwald told a story with mature themes without anything that would have gotten the book censored by the Comics Code.  That’s right, folks:  his mature story had no nudity, sex, or swearwords.

But he did create a few characters too, and into that mess came the unfortunate example of Hauptmann Deutschland.

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.

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!

The Secret Wars Power Rankings – October 9, 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!

Awesome Cosplay Of The Day: RED SKULL

Who’s the baddest of the bad? Who’s the worst of the worst? Who’s the creepiest Marvel villain out there? That’s right….The Red Skull. Brought to you by Kimberly Mazyck and her amazing talents. Check out more Hail Hydra after the break!