Secret Wars #1

Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Esad Ribic
Color Artist: Ive Svorcina
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos

The Marvel Universe
1961-2015

The Ultimate Universe
2000-2015

The end of the Marvel and Ultimate Universes is finally here. It seems as though Jonathan Hickman has been building to this since he first started his run on Fantastic Four back in 2009, laying the groundwork for the multiverse. The stakes were raised when the incursions began in New Avengers and Avengers. The issue starts out with a somber scene between Doctor Doom, Doctor Strange, and Molecule man and after that it is almost non-stop action. And for a first issue of an event, I’m glad that it does not let up pacing-wise. It keeps building until the end and narrows down the key players, while the heroes of the Marvel Universe take on the heroes of the Ultimate Universe.

One thing that confused me is the return of the Phoenix Force. I may have missed something but last I knew, it was destroyed during Avengers vs. X-Men. I feel like with an event this scale, and especially with the nature of it, the phoenix Force was bound to return. This book features a large cast, but the characters all seem to have at least a scene or two. It also does a nice job of setting up some of the characters arcs for their respective Secret Wars tie in’s under the Battleworld, Last Days, and Warzones banners.

The art is wonderful. It is fitting that Esad Ribic is joining Jonathan Hickman for this book because they launched the most recent volume of Avengers together. The action sequences are big and exciting while the scenes with Doom and his crew are dark and foreboding and the artwork does a great job of capturing this. The artwork pairs nicely with the story and I am looking forward to what happens next. As a side note, there are so many great looking variant covers for this issue. I couldn’t help but pick up multiple issues. One of them was a retailer exclusive to my comic shop: BuyMeToys.com by Dale Keown!

Rating: 6 (Out of 7)