The Story So Far - Marvel's SECRET WARS #2

Writer: Jonathan Hickman  -  Artist: Esad Ribic

Colorist: Ive Svorcina  -  Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos

Doom Messiah

With issue one setting the table, issue two takes us on a tour of this weird new world. Most of the book is seen through the eyes of a new recruit, and it's effective since the Thors are this world's police force. It allows us to see many landmarks of Battleworld, including Doomgard, Doomstadt, Higher Avalon, Bar Sinister, The Shield, etc. Heck, even Galactus makes an appearance.

Among the heavy dose of house politics is a glimpse at what is beyond the wall, fittingly titled The Shield. The Thors help maintain this gigantic divide and keep what is beyond it at bay, whether it be Symbiotes, zombies, the Annihilation Wave (which I love is treated as a seasonal occurrence), and even the Ultron A.I. It is not a stretch of the imagination to think that all of these seeds will come into play at some point down the line.

Aside from a brief skirmish towards the end of the book, there isn’t much action in this issue, but the lore-building that Hickman does is extensive, and he fleshes out as many nooks and crannies as he can in one issue. For the most part he pulls it off, and while you know that most of this won’t be the status-quo in a few months when this event comes to a close, it still invests the reader in their current surroundings.

Ribic and Svorcina use a variety of palettes throughout, making each destination of this patchwork world feel distinct and unto itself. It should also be noted just how fantastic Ribic’s rendition of Doom is. So iconic and powerful, it might just be my new favorite.

No real reason for this one, I just wanted to include Mr. Sinister

Issue one got us here.

Issue two shows us why we should care, and goes one step further in bringing everyone to the battlefield.

Just one more group to go.