Secret Wars has a long legacy at Marvel. The first Secret Wars dropped in 1985, a twelve issue series that was made to be an advertisement for an action figure line. However, fans really enjoyed the story, and between the success of Secret Wars and DC's Crisis On Infinite Earths, the event comic was born. Since then, Secret Wars has had several sequels, but the best is easily 2015's Secret Wars, by Jonathan Hickman, Esad Ribic, Ive Svorcina, and Chris Eliopolous.
Building out of Hickman's Avengers run, Secret Wars (2015) has impressed readers since it dropped. It is the best event in Avengers history, with many factors playing a role in it reaching such a lofty position.
10 It's The Defining Marvel Multiverse Story
Secret Wars (2015) brilliantly uses Marvel's multiverse. Despite what MCU fans think, Marvel's multiverse has never actually been very important. In fact, outside the X-Men comics, the Marvel Multiverse has mostly just been fodder for single-issue What If... stories and books like Marvel Zombies. The Ultimate Universe was an exception, but even that fizzled out sooner than anyone expected.
Secret Wars (2015) was not only a blockbuster event from start to finish but found a way to incorporate the Marvel Multiverse in ways that no one expected. Marvel has put out multiple event books in the 21st century, but they are all basically the same. Secret Wars (2015) went in an entirely different direction from other Marvel events by going into the multiverse, and it was a decision that made it unique in the best possible way.
9 Jonathan Hickman Is The Best Avengers Writer In Decades
Secret Wars (2015) spun out writer Jonathan Hickman's Avengers and New Avengers. Hickman was put on the Avengers after seven years of writer Brian Michael Bendis telling more grounded, earthbound Avengers stories, ones that eschewed the cosmic bombast and massive battles for quips and long conversations about fights that readers never got to see. Hickman understood how to balance drama, character, and action, in ways that Bendis didn't, and was the best Avengers writer since Kurt Busiek left the Avengers.
Hickman's skills as a writer are apparent right from the beginning of Secret Wars (2015). Hickman does everything right in the book. There's a little bit of everything that is great about the Marvel Multiverse in Secret Wars (2015), and it's the kind of ambitious story that only a writer like Hickman could make work. It's never anything less than entertaining and at its best is among the greatest superhero comics ever.
8 The Covers And Interior Art Are Out Of This World
Writing is important to a comic, but the art is what can make or break a book. Luckily, Secret Wars (2015) has beautiful art, and that's all thanks to cover artist Alex Ross and interior artist Esad Ribic, along with colorist Ive Svorcina. Ross is a legend of the comic industry, and his covers lent the series that big book feel it needed. They're the type of covers that grab people's attention.
Ribic and Svorcina's interior art is a fitting companion to Ross's covers. Marvel's current tendency to have an A-list cover artist and then another artist do the interiors can sometimes be disappointing, but Ribic and Svorcina were able to pay off what Ross's covers made readers expect. The book's interiors are gorgeous and capture the epic feel that the story needed to soar above the rest.
7 It Has Great Tie-In Comics
Tie-in comics can annoy readers. Event comics are big business and so tie-in comics are a way to make even more money, whether it be crossovers into ongoing titles or creating themed miniseries. Secret Wars (2015) did the latter, using well-known Marvel stories like Civil War, Marvel Zombies, E Is For Extinction, Old Man Logan, and many more to create miniseries that expanded the focus of Secret Wars (2015).
Even the most beloved events have lackluster tie-ins, something that Marvel has unfortunately become known for in recent years. Secret Wars (2015) was able to buck this trend, creating tie-in miniseries that not only expanded on classic Marvel stories but also had repercussions for the future of the Marvel Universe.
6 It's The Best Marvel Comic Of Its Decade
The 21st century has seen Marvel cement their grip over the sales chart. However, not everything was hunky-dory during the 2010s. Marvel was basically completely in control of superhero comics during the decade, but the quality of the comics wasn't always the best. While there are definitely some standout books, the line wasn't as universally beloved as before, with even big franchises like The X-Men and Spider-Man feeling the crunch in sales and creative quality.
Secret Wars (2015) was Marvel's best in the 2010s. Everything about the book was amazing, and readers and critics agreed that it was the best thing going. The Avengers have been a part of some big-time events in the 21st century—Civil War, House Of M, Secret Invasion, Dark Reign—but none of them were able to reach the heights of Secret Wars (2015).
5 The Stakes Were Bigger Than Any Other Avengers Event
Secret Wars (2015)'s multiversal focus made it unique among Marvel events. Since birthing the event cycle (an unending loop of the build-up to events, the events themselves, a status quo change, and then starting the build-up to the next one), Marvel's events had all been set on Earth or its surrounding environs. Outliers like House Of M took readers to an alternate Earth and Fear Itself journeyed into the realms of Asgard, but were still all about threats to the Earth.
Infinity, also written by Hickman, took readers into space for a massive intergalactic war, but that was pretty much it as far as event comics taking things beyond the Earth. Hickman took the stakes of that story —that is, the end of all life in the 616 universe —and multiplied it by the multiverse for Secret Wars (2015). The stakes were much bigger than any Avengers event up to this point and the book delivered.
4 Secret Wars (2015) Closed Out The Biggest Avengers Epic Ever
Secret Wars (2015)'s journey into the multiverse wasn't just because it was the big yearly Marvel event. Secret Wars (2015), despite starring characters from the Fantastic Four in more prominent positions than Avengers, was the culmination of the biggest Avengers epic ever. Jonathan Hickman became a writer of the Avengers books (Avengers and New Avengers) in 2012 and immediately created the biggest and most powerful team of Avengers to deal with the end of the multiverse.
Avengers stories up to this point had been epic. Stories like The Kree-Skrull War, The Korvac Saga, Ragnarök Now, Avenge The Earth, The Gatherers Saga, Operation: Galactic Storm, and many more have shown that the Avengers were Marvel's best franchise for epic stories. However, none of them pit the Avengers against the encroaching end of the Multiverse, an inexorable tide of destruction that left the team wondering what to do. Secret Wars (2015) gave readers the ending of what is not only the Avengers' biggest saga but also Marvel's.
3 Secret Wars (2015) Ended The Ultimate Universe
Throughout the early '00s, the Ultimate Universe was the hottest thing in comics. This rebooted Marvel Universe, curated by A-list writers and artists like Mark Millar, Brian Michael Bendis, Adam Kubert, Mark Bagley, and Bryan Hitch, sold like gangbusters. Things started to cool off as the first decade of the 21st century went on, and then everything went down the tubes with Ultimatum.
The Ultimate Universe shambled on from 2009 to Secret Wars (2015). Despite being nowhere near as popular as it once was, the Ultimate Universe was still an important part of Marvel history. The fact that it ended in Secret Wars (2015) is a big feather in that book's cap.
2 It Wrought Actual Change
Marvel's event cycle made the status quo change a yearly thing. Readers knew that very few changes were actually going to last, especially those that came out of an event book. It's a rather cynical way to run a comic universe, but Marvel has ridden it to the bank. However, sometimes, events are able to make lasting changes. Secret Wars (2015) shook up the status quo in ways that are still being felt today.
The destruction of the Ultimate Universe was the beginning, but there's more. The book brought Miles Morales, the Maker, and Old Man Logan to the 616 universe from their respective alternate universes. It sent the Richards family away, ending any hope of a relaunched Fantastic Four book. It also wrought some changes in its main character, Doctor Doom, that made him even greater.
1 Secret Wars (2015) Reminded Everyone Why Doctor Doom Is The Most Complex Villain In The Marvel Universe
Secret Wars (2015) highlights Doctor Doom's greatest victory. As the Avengers futilely battled the Builders and other enemies, and the Illuminati destroyed alternate Earths during the Incursions, Doctor Doom was solving the problem, working with Namor, Doctor Strange, and the Molecule Man to steal the power of the Beyonders. Using this power, Doom was able to become God Emperor Doom and create a patchwork multiverse out of surviving parts of other universes, keeping creation going.
Secret Wars (2015) was as much a Doctor Doom story as anything else, as he struggles with finally having everything he wants. Doom's journey throughout the book is what truly makes it special and shows off just how much of a multi-faceted character he is. It takes a cool Avengers epic and brings it to the next level.