Secret Wars #4
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Esad Ribic
Secret Wars really has been a masterclass event. It tore down the Marvel Universe, created a new one and brought new levels of depth to my favourite Marvel villain Doctor Doom. Everything about this comic has been simply fantastic except Hickman never really dived into the main conflict of the series. After 4 issues that would’ve become a problem but there’s nothing to fear because Hickman knows that. Issue #4 serves as the first issue to really set the story in motion and I love where it’s going. Despite presenting one issue of Hickman’s overarching Avengers story, Secret Wars #4 continues the streak of greatness for Marvel’s latest event.
Let’s start with the sole issue of this comic. Looking at this as a singular issue this wouldn’t be much of a problem but Hickman presents an idea that definitely hurts his overarching story. The Beyonders were built as the big bads of Hickman’s story and during their appearances, Hickman failed to develop them or make them interesting. Hickman goes into the creation of Battleworld and reveals the fate of the Beyonders in his story and they feel squandered. For the villains who were attempting to destroy the multiverse they played a phenomenally small part in this story and it was hardly exciting. Unfortunately this hurts Hickman’s story as it feels like a wasted opportunity and an important lack of development.
Now, we can get to what I absolutely loved about Secret Wars #4, which is essentially everything else. Hickman begins to reveal the main conflict for Secret Wars and it really was not what I would’ve expected. This is an astronomically large scaled comic but Hickman brings the conflict down to a rivalry between two men. This story is about Doctor Doom and his relationship with Reed Richards is an integral part of Doom’s personality. By bringing their rivalry to the forefront, Hickman is able to once again perfectly balance the large story with the human story.
After having impressively fleshed out Doom, we are able to care about his struggles, making this comic more personal. However, Hickman had yet to establish Doom’s power through action until this issue. A decent first half leads to a phenomenal confrontation between Doom and the group of survivors from the past multiverse. This scene serves the purpose of showing how imposing Doom truly is and it’s perfect. Doom’s presence brings gravitas as Hickman makes you feel like he’s a destructive force of nature. But he isn’t invincible and that is something Hickman emphasizes a lot at the end of this issue.
He’s still a man. He’s still a villain. He still fears Reed Richards.
It’s enthralling character work and Hickman deserves mountains of praise for it.
Esad Ribic truly was the perfect artist to bring on board for this series and the battle at the end of this issue proves why. He brings Doom’s gravitas and humanity to life during each scene but truly perfects it in the final battle. Ribic is an artistic visionary and continues to bring his A-game to this event.
Secret Wars is an event comic that perfectly mixes the small and the large and that’s why I think it succeeds so much. Many events tend to get lost in how epic they’re trying to be and lose the emotional core that great stories need to have. The core of Secret Wars is the struggles of Doctor Doom. And even though Doctor Doom is a god in this series, he’s never been more human because all he’s struggling with is fear and insecurity. This shows in the incredible final page of this issue that set the stage for the main plot that will drive Secret Wars forward. This is the peak of Marvel events, we couldn’t have asked for anything better than Secret Wars.
Artist: Esad Ribic
Secret Wars really has been a masterclass event. It tore down the Marvel Universe, created a new one and brought new levels of depth to my favourite Marvel villain Doctor Doom. Everything about this comic has been simply fantastic except Hickman never really dived into the main conflict of the series. After 4 issues that would’ve become a problem but there’s nothing to fear because Hickman knows that. Issue #4 serves as the first issue to really set the story in motion and I love where it’s going. Despite presenting one issue of Hickman’s overarching Avengers story, Secret Wars #4 continues the streak of greatness for Marvel’s latest event.
Let’s start with the sole issue of this comic. Looking at this as a singular issue this wouldn’t be much of a problem but Hickman presents an idea that definitely hurts his overarching story. The Beyonders were built as the big bads of Hickman’s story and during their appearances, Hickman failed to develop them or make them interesting. Hickman goes into the creation of Battleworld and reveals the fate of the Beyonders in his story and they feel squandered. For the villains who were attempting to destroy the multiverse they played a phenomenally small part in this story and it was hardly exciting. Unfortunately this hurts Hickman’s story as it feels like a wasted opportunity and an important lack of development.
Now, we can get to what I absolutely loved about Secret Wars #4, which is essentially everything else. Hickman begins to reveal the main conflict for Secret Wars and it really was not what I would’ve expected. This is an astronomically large scaled comic but Hickman brings the conflict down to a rivalry between two men. This story is about Doctor Doom and his relationship with Reed Richards is an integral part of Doom’s personality. By bringing their rivalry to the forefront, Hickman is able to once again perfectly balance the large story with the human story.
After having impressively fleshed out Doom, we are able to care about his struggles, making this comic more personal. However, Hickman had yet to establish Doom’s power through action until this issue. A decent first half leads to a phenomenal confrontation between Doom and the group of survivors from the past multiverse. This scene serves the purpose of showing how imposing Doom truly is and it’s perfect. Doom’s presence brings gravitas as Hickman makes you feel like he’s a destructive force of nature. But he isn’t invincible and that is something Hickman emphasizes a lot at the end of this issue.
He’s still a man. He’s still a villain. He still fears Reed Richards.
It’s enthralling character work and Hickman deserves mountains of praise for it.
Esad Ribic truly was the perfect artist to bring on board for this series and the battle at the end of this issue proves why. He brings Doom’s gravitas and humanity to life during each scene but truly perfects it in the final battle. Ribic is an artistic visionary and continues to bring his A-game to this event.
Secret Wars is an event comic that perfectly mixes the small and the large and that’s why I think it succeeds so much. Many events tend to get lost in how epic they’re trying to be and lose the emotional core that great stories need to have. The core of Secret Wars is the struggles of Doctor Doom. And even though Doctor Doom is a god in this series, he’s never been more human because all he’s struggling with is fear and insecurity. This shows in the incredible final page of this issue that set the stage for the main plot that will drive Secret Wars forward. This is the peak of Marvel events, we couldn’t have asked for anything better than Secret Wars.
A Look Inside
