While there ARE several Secret Wars series that feature dinosaurs, some that have appeared as recently as last week, and some that will be released only the next, it's like nobody got the memo at Marvel: THIS WEEK is DINOSAUR WEEK. Come on, guys! You missed the Kronosaurus on this one!
And I don't know if that's why, but it happens to be the WEAKEST week of Secret Wars to date. Before we get into the week's review, then, let's remember why we're here, with a rundown of where the Dino Wars are actually being fought...
Where Monsters Dwell has
Enemy Ace Phantom Eagle accidentally fly to the Savage Land while escaping a girl he got pregnant.
In Planet Hulk, Captain America rides Devil Dinosaur into battle, which is just about the best thing about that particular series.
And in Weirdworld, there are most definitely dinosaurs, even if some of them have been teched out or been turned into "dragons". Dino-busting Skull the Slayer is referenced and should appear.
So what's wrong with Week 7 aside from the lack of saurian friends? Well, there are fewer Secret Wars books, for one thing - only 6 and 2 Last Days tie-ins - and several use the same elements. Armor Wars' story is a murder mystery, so is Thors', and it's also a part of Squadron Sinister's (where the killing looks just like the one in Armor Wars, without there being a connection). So the variety's not quite there.
I definitely prefer it when Battleworld gets whimsical, so the comedy of Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars (not all THAT funny this time around, but it has its moments), seeing Throg the Frog of Thunder in Thors, Ms. Marvel's Last Days, and the high school shenanigans of the Runaways are immensely preferable to savage murders, rotting bodies and Old Man Logan slashing at everything (though Sorrentino's art on that is gorgeous). Squadron Sinister, to discuss what is perhaps the most egregious example, is very obviously meant to take a shot at DC's New 52, with not very altruistic versions of the Justice League fighting versions of themselves, and the Superman and Wonder Woman analogs having rough sex, it's not even funny. Subtle, it ain't. But had there been more tie-ins, the dreary ones would have been lost in the pile.
I can't believe I'm advocating for MORE tie-ins during a crossover event. I'm sorry.
Anyway... My 4 Favorite Moments of the Week? (Can't quite get to 5.)...
4. It doesn't matter of Groot is a Thor. Groot is Groot.
3. When super-powered teens are caught fighting by the hall monitor. Runaways makes me miss Avengers Academy.
2. Spider-Ma finding the shields that came with the Secret Wars action figures! Remember those?!
1. Ms. Marvel facing a Crisis while struggling with a broken heart. There's a reason this is my favorite series currently being published by Marvel.
Did any of this week's releases tug at YOUR heart strings?
Comments
I'm not sure why Ennis' new book should've even been forced to "tie-in" with SW since it clearly barely ties in at all with the main event. Should've just been allowed to stand on its own.....which it does.
It gives Ennis an excuse to send Enemy Ace to Dinosaur Island is all.