Fans had been dreaming about it for years, but it was ultimately the call for a toy line that would finally give life to the biggest team-up Marvel Comics could put together in 1984. Secret Wars was a commercial opportunity and became an industry-altering event that forever changed comics. No matter what people think about Jim Shooter’s tenure as Marvel editor-in-chief, this is his legacy.
Secret Wars (1984): The Original Battleworld
It was 1984, and toy manufacturer Kenner was about to launch its DC Comics-inspired line of action figures, Super Powers. At Mattel Toys, it was necessary not to let the comic book market go to the competition. That’s what led to a collaboration with Marvel Comics. Jim Shooter was all in and proposed to produce a story to promote the new line of Marvel action figures, “Cosmic Champions.” The title would eventually change, but the idea would stay the same: to provide a showcase of marketable superheroes and supervillains.
Following focus group tests, the twelve-issue limited series became “Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars.” The story starts with an omnipotent being called the Beyonder abducting dozens of characters to a patchwork planet named Battleworld. There, he announced, “I am from beyond! Slay your enemies and all that you desire shall be yours! Nothing you dream of is impossible for me to accomplish!” What follows is constant action, alliances, twists, and lasting developments that impacted the Marvel Universe.
Mattel’s line was made of only eight characters: Captain America, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Wolverine, Dr. Octopus, Dr. Doom, Magneto, and Kang. It’s only a portion of the series lineup that also includes Captain Marvel, Hawkeye, She-Hulk, Thor, the Wasp, the Hulk, Human Torch, Mister Fantastic, the Thing, Spider-Woman, Colossus, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Professor X, Rogue, Storm, Wolverine, Lockheed the Dragon, Absorbing Man, the Enchantress, Klaw, the Lizard, the Molecule Man, Titania, Ultron, Volcana, and the Wrecking Crew.
When it came to finding a writer, Jim Shooter had a lot of criteria in mind. The 1984 Secret Wars was a unique opportunity at the time, the possibility to write the first story featuring most of Marvel’s heavy-hitters that could shape the rest of the comics universe. This could create some jealousy problems in the “bullpen,” and Shooter, who also needed someone who was up-to-date with everything that was going on with all the characters involved, decided to take up the task by himself. For the art duties, he recruited penciller Mike Zeck and inker John Beatty, who were working at the time on Captain America.
The real extent of Mattel’s influence on the comics has never been revealed, but everything points toward a serious lack of communication between the toy company and Marvel Comics. Shooter only had to make it big to satisfy Mattel’s need, and he went really big, almost too big for Mike Zeck, who was not used to working on cosmic stories. It certainly worked out well as, at one point, Secret Wars hit 800,000 issues sold monthly. The story had found a life on its own, leaving its marketing purposes behind as the toy line fumbled.
When Secret Wars ended, it was not only an undeniable commercial hit. It also introduced massive changes. After all, it was on the Battleworld that Spider‑Man acquired a black alien costume that would later evolve into Venom. In the end, She‑Hulk replaced the Thing on the Fantastic Four; Kitty Pride and Colossus broke up; and Doctor Doom discovers what it feels like to have god‑like power.
Secret Wars II (1985): The Forgettable Sequel
With Secret Wars selling more comics than anything else in the previous two decades, Jim Shooter, who claimed to have planned a sequel from the start, didn’t wait to launch Secret Wars II. This time, Sal Buscema was asked to pencil the book, but things didn’t turn out as expected, as the artist felt restricted by the instructions he got from Shooter. Ultimately, Al Milgrom took over the core series with inker Steve Leialoha, and the first issue was out only three months after the previous event ended.
To avoid repetition, this time the all‑powerful Beyonder decided he must experience life on Earth firsthand. He fashioned for himself a human body and materialized in Manhattan, where he began to treat the world as a laboratory. Each experiment showed him a different facet of human striving, yet left him emptier. Sensing the existential threat, Earth’s heroes staged a desperate intervention to save every life in the universe.
Unlike the original Secret Wars, the story was not contained in a limited series. Secret Wars II is a massive crossover event that included a 9-issue miniseries and more than 20 tie-in comics. At the time, it was economically demanding for the readers, but the sales were very good for Marvel Comics. However, plagued by errors stemming from the rushed production, the critical reception was negative, and the story eventually didn’t make a lasting impression. Ultimately, the comic book event of 1985 was DC Comics’ Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Secret Wars (2015): Jonathan Hickman’s Battleworld
Presented at the time as a Crisis-type event destined to reboot the Marvel Comics continuity, the 2015 miniseries Secret Wars from writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Esad Ribić was the catalyst for change on a scale never seen before at the House of Ideas.
Picking up where the Avengers/New Avengers “Time Runs Out” storyline ended, Secret Wars was not a rush event, but something that was planned well in advance, as much as a way to answer a narrative need for Hickman as to capitalize on the 30th‑anniversary of the 1984 classic maxiseries.
The multiverse was reducing as alternate universes were being erased. Hickman’s long “Incursions” arc ends with the last two universes (the mainstream Marvel Earth‑616 and the Ultimate Universe) colliding. Every attempt to avert disaster fails, and both Earths are destroyed. Moments before the End, Doctor Doom, Doctor Strange, and Molecule Man execute a secret plan: they attack the extra‑dimensional Beyonders (the architects of the Incursions), siphon their omnipotence into Molecule Man as a living bomb, and let Doom wield it. Using that power, Doom salvages scraps of countless realities and fuses them into a brand‑new patchwork planet: Battleworld.
Battleworld is divided into walled domains, each a fragment of a former Marvel timeline or “What If…?” scenario. Doom crowns himself God Emperor, with a healed face, white armor, and absolute rule. Doctor Strange becomes his sheriff. A Thor Corps, an army of hammer‑wielders from many timelines, enforces order. Two “life rafts” built before the final Incursion have preserved notable heroes and villains in stasis. Eight years into Doom’s reign, Strange frees the heroes, triggering civil war across Battleworld.
Naturally, it all ends with an infinite multiverse being created. It was a new beginning for Marvel with the launch of the All‑New, All‑Different era, a fresh jumping‑on point for new and old readers alike, one that came without a need for a hard continuity reboot. In scope, it was comparable to DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths, but the history of the Marvel Comics Universe was not rewritten in the end.
One of the most notable changes introduced then was the full integration of Miles Morales into Earth‑616. Also, Doom became the Infamous Iron Man (2016), trying his hand at heroism in an Iron Man armor. And there were no new Fantastic Four books for a while until 2018, as the Richards were busy “rebuilding reality.”
From a failed toy line to an event that redefined the industry, Secret Wars is one of the most important contributions that Jim Shooter made to comics. It was the ultimate superhero team-up and the first of its kind. The series’s success inspired more ambitious events and crossovers, such as the 2015 Secret Wars series. Like the original, this one was as much an homage and a marketing project as it was an illustration of the changes that have occurred in the last thirty years with regard to ambitious, large-scale storytelling in comic books.
*
Note: You can read about the history of the first two Secret Wars with interviews of some of the people who made them in Back Issue #82.