Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Esad Ribic
Colourist: Ive Svorcina
Editor: Alanna Smith
Release Date: OUT NOW!
Price: $3.99

Although The Fantastic Four comic book ended up cancelled, at the end of Secret Wars in the long-anticipated, and late, Secret Wars #9 it’s up to the first family of comics to put everything right. With the help of the Molecule Man it comes down to a mano-a-mano confrontation between Mr. Fantastic and Dr. Doom. And so it should be.

In Secret Wars #9 long-time frenemies Victor Von Doom and Reed Richards have plenty to vent during the finale. Mr. Fantastic chides Battleworld deity Doom for his petty indulgences. “You made yourself god and the first thing you did was replace me,” says Richards. “It’s the same thing it’s always been between you and I…you think you are better than I am,” Doom responds.

Using the Infinity Gauntlet the Black Panther restores Earth and his beloved Wakanda. And with the help of the Molecule Man and Valeria and Franklin Richards, Reed recreates whole universes. And at the end even Victor Von Doom is shown kindness.

The result in Secret Wars #9 brings a lot of interesting characters into the main Marvel universe, including Spider-Man Miles Morales. It will be interesting to see the long-term repercussions.

Writer Jonathan Hickman manages to tie up all the threads with Secret Wars #9, even if the explanations are sometimes over-complicated. But the verbal battle between Doom and Richards strikes the right cords and feels real. Artist Esad Ribic’s art continues to dazzle, and helped lift the mini-series above the basic plot, and aided in the finish by Alanna Smith’s effective coloring.

Readers of Secret Wars #9 who waited for the series to end to read the entire story should be prepared to invest a lot of brainpower into understanding complexities. Secret Wars took a lot of risks which paid off in the end, and that’s what a good novel is supposed to do.

 

Reviewer: Joe Lovece
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker