Things have slowed down a touch around here over the last few days. In part, this is due to Real Life causing problems (thanks to a combination of the heavy snow, a local bus company, and my inadequate reaction times, I've been without a drivable car since Friday afternoon). Mainly, though, I've not been writing posts because I've been working my way through Secret Wars.
I can't do what I normally do when confronted by a long story, and just write it up issue by issue and see what happens. There's too much danger some dialogue will surface in the final issue invalidating everything that's come before due to the vagaries of the Beyonder's actions, or something. Moreover, I haven't decided yet whether each individual issue should get a post, considering how much of the storyline doesn't involve the X-Men at all.
Whilst I read the whole thing, then (for the first time since collecting the Panini stickers back in the mid '80s), and figure out my approach, I'll be sticking to X-Men vs The Micronauts, since that series is all that stands between me and a fully considered run of X-books up to the end of spring 1984, and to The Hidden Years, because I'm only six issues away from finishing that dreadful chore forever.
Hopefully once I've finished the former and gotten half way through what remains of the latter, I'll know what I want to do with Secret Wars, and I can crank that out before moving onto May '84 cover dates, and adventures with amorous dragons, apoplectic sasquatches, and an academy in Massachusetts. With luck, that'll kick off in the first week of February. Anyone wanting to skip the intermediate steps should consider themselves forgiven in advance. I'd join you if I could.
Now I feel very slightly less bad about skipping Secret Wars entirely.
ReplyDeleteDon't feel bad at all about avoiding Secret Wars II, though.
Yeah, I've heard the sequel is shit on toast. I'll still read it, obviously.
ReplyDeleteThere are a few interesting things to be said regarding Secret Wars. I'm still putting my thoughts together (though in brief: I think this series would have been far better if it had only included the villains, who's in-fighting in the first issue is the only interesting part at all), but mainly I'm struck by Magneto's presence in the heroes' space station, and how the Beyonder - a creature so amoral it destroyed an entire galaxy in order to let the heroes and villains of earth punch each other in a sufficiently varied landscape - decided to put him there.
If he'd appeared on the villain's station, that would suggest the Beyonder is just selecting from understandable, long-drawn battle-lines, and hasn't considered motive or character at all. Clearly, though, this isn't the case.
Of course, it's been so long since I read this, it's entirely possible that there's an explicit explanation coming later on.