Was the Secret Wars crossover event hated at the time it was released?

[Hybrid]

I was reading about Secret Wars on Wikipedia, and what caught my attention was the Reception part. Today, Secret Wars is widely regarded as an all-time classic, which introduced many fans to Marvel and many Marvel readers to other parts of the company, and something many want to see adapted in the MCU. But apparently, back then in 1984-85 it wasn't so warmly received...



So was Secret Wars one of those stories where the critics were completely wrong, and in hindsight ended up being received much better than it was when it first came out? The "uninspired and juvenile content" part strikes me as odd, because at the time there was nothing like this comic that brought all these heroes and villains together to fight, yet was much more smartly written than other stories with such a premise.

For one, it was fully in the continuity, featuring characters like Monica Rambeau as Captain Marvel and James Rhodes as Iron Man, and Sue is missing from the FF due to the events of that book where she was pregnant (which, I'll admit, was doing her a bit dirty to miss out on Secret Wars but at least she wasn't inorganically forced into the story), and it helped develop Magneto's heel-face turn going on at the time. Also, for a story that bursting at the seams with characters, almost all of them were written well with them getting awesome moments while no one was favored. There was a constantly shifting status quo in the story, as new allegiances were made, different factions formed, and it all came together in the end for an epic battle. Oh, and Doctor Doom was the de facto main protagonist of the story itself, the first mega-crossover, which was almost unheard of. Really, it was kind of like a superhero D&D game, with the heroes and villains scattered on the map trying to defeat each other, and the Beyonder was like a twisted DM.

The story wasn't perfect, some writing hasn't aged well like the melodramatic delivery of a lot of lines and some fad-like quotes such as Johnny Storm singing Michael Jackson and Culture Club lyrics to woo Zsaji (I mean, you gotta wear the '80s on your sleeve, right?) and who could forget She-Hulk unironically yelling "TO THE MAX!". Also, I felt it was a bit weird that the mutant and non-mutant heroes held a natural distrust for each other, considering the non-mutant heroes aren't fantastic racists like the ones the X-Men face, while the mutant heroes had no real reason to distrust the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. Just kind of comes off as an excuse to split the characters up and generate conflict so they can come together later to win.

But overall, it was like a comic book version of a well-written summer blockbuster and an all-time classic. Bringing me back to the main point: Did people back then hate it? I mean, sure, it was made to make money and sell toys, and they wanted to undermine DC by beating them to the punch before they could get Crisis out... but we can't fault them for that. Comics are made to sell, even the best stories and events had profit in mind. It's just how the industry works. The critics calling it "uninspired" and "juvenile" doesn't feel quite right. The late Carol Kalish getting booed for announcing the sequel especially struck me, inspiring me to ask this.

So what do you guys think?

[Snoop Dogg]

secret wars
is dumb
and stupid
and okay

[Iron Maiden]

I wouldn't say so. I enjoyed it but it's hard to gauge what the general consensus of the readership would have been. There were no letters pages for that series at a time when all the ongoing ones still had a letters pages. The Comics Journal was probably the only source for critical review but I never really bought those on the newstand and I didn't find anything on their website unless you subscribe to get into the archives. There just wasn't that much out there in regards to critical review. I guess the voting was done by your wallet and since it was a success financially it must have found an audience. And if something is a success then a sequel follows. Now that one was a mixed bag and I don't think the Disco Beyonder was a fan fave.

[davew128]

Well for one thing it wasn't a crossover. The only "crossover" you saw was in the ongoing series for the heroes when they enter the Beyonder's device in Central Park and next month when they returned.
I enjoyed it. I still enjoy it. It was well written. As for X-men and non-mutant hero mistrust, bear in mind that Magneto was with the X-men and it wasn't that long ago that he sank a Russian sub with all hands on board. That was even raised as an issue in the book. As for the rest, Xavier made the decision to leave and act as a third party force. They weren't forced out. And let's not forget that Xavier forcibly erased Spider-Man's memory so they could do it too.

[CaptCleghorn]

I don't think anyone really looks at Secret Wars as being any kind of deep, thoughtful work. It was a bunch of heroes and villains trying to beat each other up. But it certainly wasn't bad and it wasn't "crap". Jim Shooter touched on a couple of issues that could have been handled less blatantly and trivially, but it was a comic book super-hero story with a huge cast. The cast was the point.

[DrNewGod]

I can only speak for myself. At the time, I thought it Tres Cool, even though I had a hard time fitting it into what was going on in the monthlies.

In retrospect, it was brilliant. This mini-series was going on for a year, divorced from the monthlies, setting up all the changes that would hit when the mini-series ended (She-Hulk replacing The Thing, Spider-Man's costume, breaking the [problematic] Colossus/Shadowcat relationship etc.).

Also, understand. At that point, there was no truly epic Marvel superhero/villain brawl on paper. There were there the various Masters of Evil v. Avengers conflicts (4-5 bad guys at best), or Frightful Four stories, but nothing like this. In the time between this and The Avengers' "Under Siege," there had never been a Marvel version of The Challenge Of The Superfriends .

So this thing hit me like a bomb!

[Hybrid]

I don't think anyone really looks at Secret Wars as being any kind of deep, thoughtful work. It was a bunch of heroes and villains trying to beat each other up. But it certainly wasn't bad and it wasn't "crap". Jim Shooter touched on a couple of issues that could have been handled less blatantly and trivially, but it was a comic book super-hero story with a huge cast. The cast was the point.

Of course, it wasn't a story where you learn the meaning of life. However, for the premise that it had, it was pretty well-written as opposed to just being an excuse to get fights going. Plus, as we all know, it had long term effects all across the continuity, which meant it had purpose. I just wonder if, for an audience not used to big crossovers, wasn't as well-liked then as it is now.

[Hybrid]

Well for one thing it wasn't a crossover. The only "crossover" you saw was in the ongoing series for the heroes when they enter the Beyonder's device in Central Park and next month when they returned.

Dude, Marvel themselves call it the first mega-crossover of its kind. It's just unorthodox in how the story worked by having a mini not interrupting the books but also explaining why things change (though honestly I wish they'd try it again).

[davew128]

Dude, Marvel themselves call it the first mega-crossover of its kind. It's just unorthodox in how the story worked by having a mini not interrupting the books but also explaining why things change (though honestly I wish they'd try it again).

Dude. It. Wasn't. A. Crossover. Nothing in any other book had any relevance to the series.