How The Mighty Have Fallen

To get an idea of where we're headed in this post, let's first drop in on a little Power Point presentation, where the Beyonder is giving the 411 on the conceptual beings of the universe to his publicist:

Insubstantial or not, the beings the Beyonder has described certainly have banded together often enough to put up their dukes when the universe is in jeopardy. But, given the number of times they've joined forces, only to be rebuffed by whoever or whatever they're opposing, it raises a rather conceptual question:

Has the time come when these beings have jumped the universal shark?

I Am From Attilan!

Over twenty years after the events of Secret Wars II--and leap-frogging over the odd stories of "Kosmos" and "the Maker"--we're once again treated to an appearance by the Beyonder, while finally learning his true origin courtesy of writer Brian Bendis and a startling announcement by Charles Xavier:

The explanation is explored in the third issue of The New Avengers: Illuminati, where the group has assembled not merely to hear about the Beyonder, but to investigate his appearance on a planetoid in an asteroid belt. There seems to be consensus that this story is a sort of flashback, taking place after the first Secret Wars series but before the second, which frankly never occurred to me to assume. Other than an offhand reference by Reed who says he's had the FF's sensors on auto-detect for the Beyonder ever since their experience on Battleworld, there's nothing in the story that establishes this isn't taking place in the "present." But the actual point in time isn't really necessary to understand or enjoy the issue's story; and, I have to admit, I wasn't really expecting Bendis to nail it down. I don't think the man even knows what a hammer looks like.

The intriguing part of this revelation, of course, is how this news affects Black Bolt, leader of the Inhumans. Given his reaction as Xavier explains, it seems evident that he's connecting the dots from a past memory:

A memory he's not ready to either admit to or share with even these men, which perhaps explains why Namor's tactless comment seems to irritate him:

From my perspective of reading this story as if it were part of normal continuity, this Black Bolt would have been "covering" during this time, having been replaced by a Skrull and simply giving the impression he didn't recall this person as a way of not exposing his lack of knowledge of the event. Yet, reading the scene again, I prefer the more interesting drama of this being the real Black Bolt, attempting to evade the group's questions because he feels somewhat shamed at the truth. And while this now puts me on board with this being a flashback story, I'm also feeling disappointment that the feelings of Black Bolt, of all people, aren't more fully dealt with in this story. As a Skrull, that would have been understandable as part of keeping a low profile; but as Black Bolt, even his silence stands out as conspicuous.

At any rate, Xavier proposes their group make contact with the Beyonder:

Taking a captured Skrull ship from their prior encounter with that race, the group approaches Ceres. And the scene that greets them gives them an idea of the potential magnitude of the task which awaits them.

Charge Of The Dark Brigade!

The nine issues of the Secret Wars II limited series may have inadvertently proven what its first series never really had the opportunity to establish--that the Beyonder, the all-powerful being who seemed clueless about the universe and the beings who inhabited it, wasn't really sustainable as the headliner of his own title. Which may be a moot point, since the marketing draw of both series was the padding of each and every issue with a number (if not a veritable avalanche) of super-beings, who at first came into conflict with each other, and in the second series with the Beyonder "himself"--that is to say, in the human form he assumed in order to better understand the human condition.

It's not a terrible way of exploring the Beyonder character further; but, stacking the deck as it did with Marvel super-heroes en masse as well as spreading the story to many other titles (while justifying these crossovers with promises of repercussions across the board), it's probably more fair to say that the goal of Secret Wars II was to rake in the cash at the register than to craft a memorable story of the Beyonder's journey and experiences. Each story of the second series is self-contained, so that its ending could then direct the reader to other titles which would build on events just covered, while hopefully picking up some new readers for those titles in the process. It's doubtful that such groundwork was laid with the thought of making these nine stories masterpieces.

Marvel's heroes and villains tend to work better in small doses and small complements, rather than truckloads of them being dumped into a story where only lip service can be paid to their character, or motivations, or power(s), and where some are inevitably ignored altogether. Issue 7 of this second series is no different in these respects, as you can tell by its cover; yet the story at least makes an effort to justify this swarm of villains, and it does offer some focus on at least three characters. One, of course, is the Beyonder, who spends most of the issue on a Pacific island lost in thought:

Another is Ben Grimm, the Thing, also in the Pacific, who is no longer with the Fantastic Four and is turning his talents to acting:

The third is the powerful demon Mephisto, who is infuriated by and fearful of the Beyonder's presence and has crafted an all-or-nothing plan for his destruction. Mephisto really should consider becoming an engineer, given the number of variables he's depending on to pull this plan off. First is the mechanism itself, "Beyondersbane," which harnesses a fraction of the Beyonder's own power:

Then there's Mephisto's "Legion Accursed," an army of super-villains amassed through deceit, and which will act as a trigger for the mechanism:

And then, to give his plan more favorable odds, Mephisto has drafted celestial figures as additional power sources. And just look at the entity he's enlisted as his gunner:

Unfortunately, Mephisto is on a timetable, since the power within the mechanism is such that the whole thing will melt to slag unless it's used quickly. But, as any engineer knows, it only takes one glitch to render an invention inoperable:

Which brings Mephisto to the Thing, relatively close at hand, and still furious at the Beyonder whom he blames for the loss of the humanity he'd found off-world, as well as his loss of his girlfriend, Alicia Masters, to Johnny Storm in his absence. In disguise, Mephisto doesn't find it difficult to point this orange loaded gun at the Beyonder:

And so the plan is launched, and Mephisto unleashes his villainous army:

But his plan could encounter one last glitch, this time in the form of the Thing. With all the pieces of this plan finally ready to ignite, and with the Beyonder still despondent over his current state and electing not to act against the threat, the Thing's conscience could tip the scale either way:

But which way??

Senseless Battle

"I am from beyond! Slay your enemies and all you desire shall be yours! Nothing you dream of is impossible for me to accomplish!"

That quote from "the Beyonder" heralded Marvel's 12-issue series in the mid-'80s which pulled a number of heroes and villains together in battle for Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars. Why were they "secret," you may wonder? It depends on your cynicism.

Reportedly, this series was the result of a proposed licensing deal between Mattel Toys and Marvel--and Mattel's focus groups "indicated that kids reacted positively to the words 'wars' and 'secret'," according to Jim Shooter, who was at the time Editor-in-Chief of Marvel. Fine, if he says so. I'm not quite swallowing that. Because while the "secrecy" of these "wars" works out well in terms of marketing the series (i.e., none of the characters involved will talk about their mysterious disappearance from Earth, which means that buying this series is the only way to learn about what happened), it's not really clear why these battles should be such a big secret. When everyone on the "battleworld" is getting ready to return to Earth, there's no discussion at all about any necessity for keeping the events that went on there private.

And that's because there's no need to.

To readers of the crossover books--the titles that featured characters who suddenly went missing--they had more teasing clues tossed their way when the characters returned, just in case the absence itself wasn't enough. Spider-Man returned in a black costume that seemed almost alive. The Hulk was limping with a leg brace and a crutch. Iron Man's armor had been altered. The She-Hulk had replaced the Thing in the Fantastic Four. But if readers were looking for explanations--shhhhhhh. Sorry, it's a secret. Which isn't really accurate. The characters are just being coy with the reader--they make mention of their experience, but they don't go into detail. Instead, life pretty much goes on as usual, once they pick up where they've left off.

As for the series itself, I ended up buying and reading it well after the fact, because it held no real interest outside of the scope of the conflict. The "Beyonder" is some all-powerful being that pits the heroes and villains against each other--a series of battles (apparently they're "wars") that see-saw one way or the other, since we have twelve issues to fill up with them. The X-Men, at the peak of their popularity at the time, are dealt in as a third group so that they don't get shuffled in and lost with the "heroes" group. The villains are used pretty much as cannon fodder by Dr. Doom, who seeks greater power behind the scenes--first from Galactus, whose presence seems completely out of place, and then from the Beyonder himself. And the heroes, led by Captain America (these are "wars," after all), are in battle and/or are spotlighted in different "team-up" combinations that we don't normally see in their own books.

So for the bulk of the series, at least until the main clashes between heroes and villains were dealt with, you saw a lot of exchanges like this one:

I actually found Doom's machinations the most interesting part of the series. The Beyonder's proclamation is only the means to an end for him, manipulating events and characters like chess pieces as his plans take shape. Shooter, the series scripter, writes him well; in fact, he does a good job in capturing the essence of just about all the characters. The trouble is that there are so many characters--they can be dealt in, but not really doted on. He can only acknowledge characterizations that we're already familiar with--there's no time to linger, and he doesn't have the luxury to expand on them. His hands are tied in that respect--because when the characters return to their regular books, there can only be ripples of any effects from their off-world battles, not full-fledged consequences. This was all a "secret," right?

As for the art--well, you tell me. Artist Mike Zeck does a good job with all the characters, and there are certainly plenty to worry about. Everyone is recognizable. The story and action are easy and interesting to follow. But to me, everyone tends to blur together. The only characters who really stand out to any degree are Captain America, as the leader who battle-readies his "troops" and charges them into action; and Dr. Doom, who is given a great deal of separate attention. But to make the others distinctive, they need to be detailed much more than they are--and Zeck's art, combined with John Beatty's inks, just aren't doing that when the characters are en masse. I just see a lot of flailing figures--and small ones at that, because so many are being featured in a panel at any one time. Picture this story with, say, John Buscema and Tom Palmer on art--or a dynamic combo like John Romita Sr. and Joe Sinnott. You wouldn't need manipulative marketing to make those issues fly off the shelves.

We never do learn anything substantive about the Beyonder by the series' end--and since he (it?) was the instigator of this conflict, everyone simply heading back to Earth sort of takes the wind out of our sails. We've all heard the phrase "senseless battle" at one time or another, given in more profound context--but in the literal sense, it applies almost perfectly to this series. What was accomplished here? One big battle scenario with Marvel's major heroes and villains--that about sums it up. And the heroes only confront the Beyonder in the form of Doom, who has usurped his power (for all the good it does him). Shooter provides some good dialog to keep us interested throughout--but for these "wars," perhaps less time should have been spent on secrecy and more on their raison d'être.