Secret Wars #7 Review

Slowly but surely we’re getting closer to the end of Secret Wars.  Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic’s epic, previously eight, now nine part event heats up with Secret Wars #7, and Major Spoilers has your review!

SECRET WARS #7
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Esad Ribic
Colorist: Ive Svorcina
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Editor: Tom Brevoort, Wil Moss
Publisher: Marvel
Cover Price: $3.99

Previously in Secret Wars:  God Doom is losing control of his world.  The survivors of the final collision of Earth-616 and Earth-1610 are scattered, some working together to bring Doom down, some just seemingly causing chaos.  Thor has gone to show God Doom’s army the truth, Thanos convinced Ben Grimm to finally separate himself from the S.H.I.E.L.D. wall and march his giant rocky hide to Doom’s front door and a mysterious man calling himself the Prophet is leading an army to Castle Doom to wage war on God.

GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT

In my review of Secret Wars #6, I took issue with the fact that the character of the Prophet seemingly sprung up out of nowhere, with little explanation of who he was or where he was from and I thought that he may have been from a tie-in.  Turns out he wasn’t in any other book and if I was patient enough all my questions would be answered within the first three pages of Secret Wars #7.  While that puts some of my mind at ease, it still confirms some previous concerns with Hickman’s story.  SPOILERS:  The Prophet turns out to be Maximus, who if you may have forgotten like many people, was one of the survivors of the Cabal on Thanos’s ship. END SPOILERS.  It seems to me that Hickman has so much going on and is juggling so many plates that he barely has enough space for it all.  We barely saw the character before he suddenly appeared as the Prophet last issue, and while the big reveal made sense, it also seemed like Hickman making sure he covered everything, no matter how brief.  With the series now stretched to nine issues, I wouldn’t be surprised if it is so Hickman’s story has some more air to breath.

This whole issue is one hell of a battle, with many of the characters converging at Castle Doom in all out war.  There are some terrific moments like the Worldbreakers diving out of a Helicarrier to protect their God, Black Panther taking control of an army of the dead at the broken S.H.I.E.L.D., and my personal favorite: a bunch of Thors beating each other to a pulp in the Great Hall.  They’re epic moments and certainly what you would expect from an event comic at this point in the story.  This issue is certainly a bit more fun than some previous as it is wall to wall action.  Again, Hickman is juggling so much that some characters don’t make an appearance at all, leaving us to wonder where they are when this important event is taking place.  The two Spider-Men for example?  Last we saw they were talking to Owen Reece.  And what has happened to Thanos now that he’s freed Ben Grimm?  It could be another case of my need for answers getting the best of me but I’ve always felt Hickman’s stories get overloaded.  Once again I’m lost on some things, possibly due to not reading New Avengers, but why is Black Panther suddenly “King of the Dead”?  It seems like an important story point to not explain, especially if he’s going to lead an army of zombies, but feel free to yell at me in the comments section below.  Overall, this issue really ramped things up and injected some much-needed adrenaline into the story and has me pumped to see the conclusion in the next two issues.

…WHAT ELSE DO I WRITE?

Having reviewed each issue of Secret Wars since number three, I’m almost out of things to say about Mr. Ribic’s artwork.  It continues to be the same, which is good and bad.  It is visually stunning and breathtaking at times and I’m amazed that the man is able to pull off some of the things he does.  The Helicarrier in this issue is a sight to behold and it’s detail, perspective and sense of scale is fantastic.  But, the problems I’ve had continue and that again lies within some facial features and expressions.  There’s a particularly frightening and unnatural looking one on Sue Storm’s face as she talks to Doom about the people uprising.  As before, these are few and far between and more than worth it as you also get to see an army of Thors flying toward you, multiple Hulk “Worldbreakers” slamming to the ground and a zombie Captain Britain.  Well played Ribic.

BOTTOM LINE: THE FIRE’S STARTING

Secret Wars #7 is where the event has really kicked it into high gear.  It seems like it has come a bit late into the story but events are reaching epic proportions quickly.  I’m glad we got answers concerning the Prophet this issue but my concerns with Hickman writing overly dense and crowded stories continues.  Esad Ribic’s artwork keeps the standards of previous issues and is a joy to look at.  Secret Wars #7 was the welcome shot in the arm the event needed, regardless how late in the game it may be.