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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2023 6:52:49 GMT -5
I think Secret Wars could have been more interesting if they did the same thing they'd do later with Acts of Vengeance where the heroes are matched up against villains they rarely/never fight, like Hulk vs Dr. Octopus or Spider-Man vs Molecule Man. I always liked when those oddball battles happened. SW had some of that stuff, but not enough for my tastes. Agreed, which is why I was frustrated with the likes of Lizard hanging around like a “spare part”. Did Dr. Octopus really do much, either? We could have seen Wolverine VS Lizard, or Cap VS Octopus.
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Post by MDG on Feb 25, 2023 8:23:36 GMT -5
Or had Falcon replace the Wasp. At least we would've been spared that awful scene where Jan whored herself out to gather intel from Magneto. Friggin' Shooter and his obsession with turning Marvel's ladies into sluts. On another note, I was already out of college and working in the private sector when I started collecting the Super Powers figures. It was years before I even knew there'd been a tie-in comic series. I bought 'em because they looked cool lined up on the bookshelf above my desk. I ignored the Secret Wars figures because, unlike the Super Powers set, they weren't comics-accurate (and I hadn't thought much of the series). Cei-U! Wish I still had them!
I still have a few around (and a few of the mini-comics) 'cuz my oldest son was old enough when they came out that I could buy them "for him". Unfortunately for him, I wanted to focus on the more obscure characters like Doc Fate and Martian Manhunter. We also went to a Toys R Us so we could get an autographed picture from " Batman" and "Robin," and sent in for the mail only exclusive Clark Kent figure.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2023 10:08:09 GMT -5
Perhaps particularly if you were of a certain age, the toys really were exciting for both even though the quality of the Super Powers line was much better.
Star Wars figures had changed everything in the late 70's, and for so many years I wished my other beloved franchises, Marvel and DC, had done the same. G.I. Joe and MOTU hit in 1982, and again were awesome, but still no superheroes!
And then in 1984 we obviously got both, and there was no "crossing my arms" and holding them in judgment in terms of accuracy of the figures, association with the quality of the comic book tie-ins, or anything of that nature...it was like Wolverine, yes!! Spidey, yes!! The whole core JLA, YESSSSS!!! The Batmobile was absolutely awesome, even the Tower of Doom made for a great "base of operations" to have an adventure around (it was almost like a mini-Navarone playset to me).
And of course that was the other awesome thing back then with them coming out at the same time...everything could be a crossover!! Kang could steal the Batmobile just because...Doom could team-up with Brainiac and even Skeletor.
And back to more the topic at hand with the comic books, coming perhaps a little more from the toys themselves being the real stars, I felt like the original Super Powers mini connected better with the fun of the toys. Stuff was already getting a little weird with DC at that point, you had the whole Flash murder trial thing, Aquaman's life had been on and off again trashed since the 70's, Superman and Batman were no longer best bros...Super Powers was a little last gasp of classic fun to me. No, it wasn't nearly the level of storytelling the top books were at that point like Teen Titans, Legion, or Swamp Thing, but the classic era was quickly ending and I still smile seeing the Super Powers lineup resembling something from DC's classic glory days.
The thing I find funny about Secret Wars is that a number of the "impacts" weren't first revealed in the series itself...we already knew Spidey had the black suit 7 months previously before the "origin" issue, we already knew the Thing hadn't come back, etc. Yeah, they gave the full story of what happened, but by that point I don't know that I was really amazed.
Honestly, the main thing I remember pondering as a kid was "how could the Hulk hold a mountain".
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Post by chaykinstevens on Feb 25, 2023 10:40:28 GMT -5
We could have seen Wolverine VS Lizard, or Cap VS Octopus. Shooter and Zeck had already done Cap vs Octopus in Captain America #259.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2023 10:45:24 GMT -5
We could have seen Wolverine VS Lizard, or Cap VS Octopus. Shooter and Zeck had already done Cap vs Octopus in Captain America #259. Then I need to check that one out.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2023 10:47:50 GMT -5
Super Powers was a little last gasp of classic fun to me Yes! What a great way to put it. So true!
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Post by tarkintino on Feb 25, 2023 18:09:18 GMT -5
It's hard for me to tell how I would have felt about it if I'd been an 8 or 10 or 12-year old when it came out. Some of Secret Wars' supporters were younger when the mini was released, so it seems one should have been a certain age to enjoy it. The problem with the age explanation is that SW was not specifically written for young kids, but the rest of the Marvel readers (teens & adults) too, so there must have been a creative disconnect (or failing) if the older readers felt the mini was overblown like a bad 80s cartoon.
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Post by badwolf on Feb 25, 2023 19:10:08 GMT -5
I forgot that Doctor Octopus was even in this series.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2023 19:39:38 GMT -5
It's hard for me to tell how I would have felt about it if I'd been an 8 or 10 or 12-year old when it came out. Some of Secret Wars' supporters were younger when the mini was released, so it seems one should have been a certain age to enjoy it. The problem with the age explanation is that SW was not specifically written for young kids, but the rest of the Marvel readers (teens & adults) too, so there must have been a creative disconnect (or failing) if the older readers felt the mini was overblown like a bad 80s cartoon. I'm not sure what an overblown bad 80's cartoon is supposed to be, but I WISH Secret Wars had been as entertaining as the cartoons I was watching during that time (G.I Joe, MOTU, Transformers, D&D). Those were so much fun. And NO, none of this "the aging readers wanted" nonsense...it was our time, our memories. Viva la 80's Gen X!!!
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Post by tarkintino on Feb 25, 2023 19:59:31 GMT -5
Some of Secret Wars' supporters were younger when the mini was released, so it seems one should have been a certain age to enjoy it. The problem with the age explanation is that SW was not specifically written for young kids, but the rest of the Marvel readers (teens & adults) too, so there must have been a creative disconnect (or failing) if the older readers felt the mini was overblown like a bad 80s cartoon. I'm not sure what an overblown bad 80's cartoon is supposed to be, but I WISH Secret Wars had been as entertaining as the cartoons I was watching during that time (G.I Joe, MOTU, Transformers, D&D). Those were so much fun. And NO, none of this "the aging readers wanted" nonsense...it was our time, our memories. Viva la 80's Gen X!!! I am among the older end of Gen X, and found SW to be overblown crap trying to be "epic" sans any story to ever give it that claim.
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Post by Calidore on Feb 25, 2023 19:59:51 GMT -5
Tried Secret Wars when a friend bought it, but lost interest pretty quick. I did enjoy Super Powers, though. Could not explain either this much later.
I remember someone saying at the time that Jim Shooter's Legion work was so acclaimed because while everyone else was writing one-dimensional characters, he gave us two-dimensional characters; but now everyone's writing three-dimensional characters, and Shooter is still doing two-dimensional characters.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Feb 25, 2023 20:34:51 GMT -5
Some of Secret Wars' supporters were younger when the mini was released, so it seems one should have been a certain age to enjoy it. The problem with the age explanation is that SW was not specifically written for young kids, but the rest of the Marvel readers (teens & adults) too, so there must have been a creative disconnect (or failing) if the older readers felt the mini was overblown like a bad 80s cartoon. I'm not sure what an overblown bad 80's cartoon is supposed to be, but I WISH Secret Wars had been as entertaining as the cartoons I was watching during that time (G.I Joe, MOTU, Transformers, D&D). Those were so much fun. And NO, none of this "the aging readers wanted" nonsense...it was our time, our memories. Viva la 80's Gen X!!! I admit I was a big fan of the G.I.Joe cartoon. And I'm a boomer, even if by one year only.
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Post by commond on Feb 25, 2023 20:58:41 GMT -5
Here's a rundown of the series if you can't be bothered reading it again: Secret WarsMan, Professor X's costume was ugly.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Feb 25, 2023 21:42:48 GMT -5
I forgot that Doctor Octopus was even in this series. And I, that Kang was there! Hardly an unforgettable series, looks like!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2023 21:42:59 GMT -5
I'm not sure what an overblown bad 80's cartoon is supposed to be, but I WISH Secret Wars had been as entertaining as the cartoons I was watching during that time (G.I Joe, MOTU, Transformers, D&D). Those were so much fun. And NO, none of this "the aging readers wanted" nonsense...it was our time, our memories. Viva la 80's Gen X!!! I am among the older end of Gen X, and found SW to be overblown crap trying to be "epic" sans any story to ever give it that claim. I tease a bit on the Gen X thing (I find some hilarity in all of the stratifications people attempt to put us in), but I do think there's a "sweeter" spot age-wise for Secret Wars even though it was not formally a young readers title to your point. But hey, if you hate it you hate it. It's all cool...you just got me thinking of 80's cartoons. I'm so glad I was a kid during that time.
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