Battle Royale

Ahead of the 2027 Avengers movie, Marvel’s classic crossover Secret Wars celebrates its 40th anniversary

STEPHEN JEWELL

SET TO BE THE BASIS of 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars, Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars made comic book history when it was first published in 1984. Written by Marvel’s then editor-in-chief Jim Shooter and illustrated by Mike Zeck and Bob Layton, the 12-issue maxi-series was the first universe-wide superhero crossover, predating DC Comics’ Crisis On Infinite Earths by almost a year. However, it was actually conceived as a tie-in with Mattel’s new line of action figures and playsets, which didn’t find favour with Marvel’s leading scripters at the time. “Jim and I offered Secret Wars to a few of our top writers, but no one was interested in writing a ‘toy’ book,” recalls Secret Wars editor Tom De Falco, who also recently wrote the retro series Secret Wars: Battleworld. “After…

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SFX (Digital) - 1 Issue, July 2024

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