Tuesday, April 2, 2013

B is for Beyonder


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!


I was twelve when Secret Wars #1 hit the stands.  I was already reading G.I. Joe and Alpha Flight and beginning to learn as much as I could about Marvel and DC.

It was a heady affair to watch Magneto seduce the Wasp, Colossus betray Kitty Pryde, Captain America's shield be broken and for the X-Men to not only plot to leave the Avenger's stronghold, but for Professor X to mind wipe Spidey.

And then there was Spider-Man's Black Costume, the alien symbiote that was way too good to be true.  And Ben Grimm found a place where he could control his transformation, which paved the way for Rocky Grimm, Space Ranger and She-Hulk to join the Fantastic Four.

The pace was taut and tension bubbled up between the staunchest allies.

This was war.  And in many ways, the Marvel Age in it's purest form.  Jim Shooter knew how to tell a story and he knew what kids wanted to read.  I mean, the man was a young teenager when he started writing Legion of the Super Heroes.

Yeah, we'd already had Claremont and Byrne's X-Men, Miller's Daredevil, Simonson's Thor, Michilenie and Layton's Iron Man,  and Moench and Sienkewicz's Moon Knight.  But this was a meeting place for all of those influences and a jumping off point to explore the ramifications of the Secret War throughout the Marvel Universe.

Oh, and Doom, for at least a moment, finally won.

I even got toys out of the deal.  No, they weren't as cool as the G.I. Joe action figures, but it had been a few years since Mego had made super hero toys and I sure wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

2 comments:

Timothy S. Brannan said...

I remember this. It was the biggest thing Marvel had done in my memory, outside of the Dark Phoenix saga.

I never could get past Beyonder's disco outfit though.

Mark Means said...

I always thought this was a great series, even though some scoffed (and still do) at it. The most important thing was that it was -fun-...bottom line.

I think comics, to some extent, are missing the fun factor these days.

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