BATTLEWORLD BATTLEWORLD
BATTLEWORLDBATTLEWORLD
ROUND 1, BATTLE 7
SECRET WARS 2099 #1
VS
SECRET WARS JOURNAL #1
In this battle, we once again have 2 books playing in parallel sandboxes. With Secret Wars 2099, David and party are expanding the 2099 universe in scope and characters from what we saw in its initial run the 90s and the more recent return. In Secret Wars Journal, Shen et al. are riffing on the Marvel 1602 vibe with a character we never saw in that’s original outing. So both are taking what people know of alternate universes, and adding to them. Bold move in such a finely tuned crossover machine. Why should readers care about these new versions of characters in alternate realities that don’t matter to the main story? Two answers: Readers loving seeing the familiar turned upside down, and quality of individual issues aside, it’s a breath of fresh air for an event series to let “extraneous†stories breathe and grow in their own natural pace.
So it’s a shame to say that both of these books are among the weakest that have come out in #Battleworld so far. While it’s fun to see 2099 versions of the Avengers (which Marvel keeps pimping out as NEVER SEEN BEFORE!), this issue doesn’t give itself time to make us care about these Avengers. They’re just visual riffs and changes on the current core Avengers (read: movie version). Hawkeye 2099 is actually part-bird. Captain America 2099 is a blonde woman who may not know she’s Captain America (probably the most interesting thing in the book). Iron Man and Black Widow 2099s, are just a different dude in armor and different lady in Black Widow leather (and a stupid multi-eyed mask when she’s suited up). And Hercules is still just Hercules. So they couldn’t even think of more than two major changes to characters.
Shockingly not from X-Men the Animated Series.
There’s an inherent problem with the very concept of 2099, and that is it hasn’t left it’s 90s roots. Everything is still supposed to be big, and extreme, and sticking it to the corporate man. Except now we’ve seem comics go bigger and extremer while also adding nuance and insight to character work, and the sticking it to the man is pretty tired and fangless. On top of that, there isn’t much story to dig into in this first issue–neither Secret Wars over-arcing story, nor self-contained momentum. There are seeds planted about Captain America’s identity, about the nefariousness of corporations (duh), and about how date-rapey Hercules can be, but none of them really grab you. The whole thing is a relic from a past that isn’t far enough to have relics; it’s a What If tale where the creators for got to ask, Why Does It Matter?
Never ignore the roadsigns.
Secret Wars Journal suffers from the same, “wouldn’t it be neat†momentum as 2099, the difference is, it IS neat. At least more neat. Kate Bishop (Lady Hawkeye) as a Robin Hood figure is a fun story, and if the issues aren’t going to “matterâ€, they should at least be entertaining. And this issue was entertaining (at least the first 1/2). The story wasn’t exceptionally original but there was a swiftness to the pacing that lined up with the art to keep the pages turning. What this story absolutely nailed, is having a competent, badass, unsexualized female hero saving the shit out of her two male sidekicks. It’s not trying to shove a message down your throat, it just effortlessly shows how easy it is to have a well-rounded female character… and in less than 10 pages. And since Journal is another anthology/one shot series, writers and artists can keep jumping around and digging into various parts of Battleworld that won’t see a lot of play in the main story. Just so you know, I’m straight up avoiding talking about the second story in this issue, a convoluted story about the X-Mens in Egypt fighting a Moon Goddess. So if anything, come for the fun minutiae learning about this new universe. Secret Wars Journal moves on! -MG