Secret Wars #2 (aka Marvel Does "Game of Thrones") - Review

Written by Jonathan Hickman. Art by Esad Ribic.
Published by Marvel Comics: May 13th, 2015.
Rating: 4.5/5.

Now that Secret Wars #2 has been released we can tell where the decision to do it came from: someone over there loves Game of Thrones (and why wouldn’t they). One day they started wondering: ‘what house would Tony Stark be in if he was in Westeros?’ (ironically it’s probably Baratheon, not Stark). That thought process quickly evolved into, what if the Marvel Universe just was Westeros….. and before you knew it, (this iteration of) Secret Wars was born.

If you were left a little unsure of whether Secret Wars was going to be fun after issue #1 (I personally was scared it felt a little close to the burdeningly large scope of Infinity), this issue should assuage those fears as we’ve now set up the insanity of Battleworld. Divided into Kingdoms, this world is set up as single planet of all of Marvel.

SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT.

Let's be clear. Much of this book is spent simply setting up the insanity that is Battleworld. As such, there's actually very little "story" in this issue. But it's really the first chapter (#1 being more of a prelude) so I'm willing to forgive that. 

Like any good story in a new world, we need a character who has to be introduced to various aspects of the world so we can learn with them, and Hickman gives us a young recruit to the Thors (or Thor Corp... say it out loud, it's kind of fun). They're sort of the police of Battleworld and it's a really cool thing to see and it's revealed slowly which is nice. We see a couple familiar faces in the crowd. Old Man Thor from the recent God Butcher storyline and Beta Rey Bill. Bill may be a resident of the good ol' 616, but we don't see our Odinson or SPOILER REDACTED, our current Thor (see my Thor #8 review here for discussion on that reveal).

The SHIELD... see what they did there?

In the Game of Thrones comparison at work here, Thors are effectively a combination of Kings Guard and the Watchers on the Wall. You volunteer, pledge your allegiance to God, and are tasked with protecting the realm, which includes the protection of "the Shield" a wall that protects the kingdoms from the armies of Marvel Zombies (Deadlands), Age of Ultron bots (Perfection), and Annihlus and his forces. If I hadn't picked up the GOT vibe before this, a wall protecting us from the dead pretty much solidified it. I actually really love this reveal. If we're truly smashing together all the famous Marvel stories, it makes sense that these world consuming forces are here, but (being world consuming forces) they'd have to be contained in some way. It's fun and cool and calling it the Shield made me giggle. 

Of course, the BIG reveal is that the "God" that the Thors spoke of is in fact Victor Von Doom himself. Clad in all white, Doom has taken control over the entire Battleworld. For better or worse, he has formed this planet to his means. He protects the subjects of his world, while also crushing and killing anyone who violates his laws. This includes two Braddock brothers (aka Captain Britain's people), who accuse Baron Sinister of making moves against them. The hearing leads to a trial by combat, with Sinister winning and so Jamie Braddock (again, Marvel sees no reason to be subtle with the GOT references) is forced to reveal himself a traitor to Doom or watch his innocent brother die. This whole sequence is filled with awesome little snippits, references, and hints about the world at large: Stephen Strange is Doom's right hand man, Sue Storm is his advisor (queen?), and he has a Galactus (there could be more than one in Battleworld) guarding his palace. 

The big question surrounding Doom being in charge is whether he got that seat by taking control of a world in chaos or if it's Doom himself that crafted this world. There was a brief moment in issue #1 where we saw the Beyonders and Doom, so I'm personally assuming that he either manipulated or bargained with them. Certainly, I don't imagine we're going to make it to our New Marvel Universe without dealing with them at some point. 

Sue saddled up with Doom? Creepy.

Doom does make a brief reference to a group of "heretics and thieves" who are working to bring him down. They're gathering in something called "The Silent Chambers." I haven't the faintest idea what those are if it's a reference to something but I think it's a safe bet that those heretics are our 616 and/or Ultimate heroes. Probably 616's Reed Richards and team. 

If they're slowly making a revolution away from Doom's forces, we might be able to assume they're sort of going to fill Daenerys' or Stannis' role. The usurping army who will pull teammates from unlikely sources as they vie for the throne. 

MEANWHILE, we also get an interesting side note as a team of explorers from Castle Doom (but also from the 616 FF (I think) discover a hole in the ground that leads to the inside of the planet which has full gravity working opposite of the normal side. Here they find a ship, identical to the one the Illuminati built at the end of "Time Runs Out," only this one has the Cabal on it and Thanos emerges. (Are you out of breath and exhausted? Me too.) All cool moving pieces that will hopefully get paid off in the remaining six issues.

Oof. If that wasn't enough to digest, this book prints a non-censored version of the Battleworld map and, honestly, I could just keep staring at it. There' SO MUCH story packed into that map. We get somewhat obvious (though still intriguing) lands like "King James England" or "2099" to the more what-is-the-difference realms like Arachnia/Spider-Island and Mutopia/Westchester (being from Westchester, NY this excites me to no end). I also really want to visit New Quack City...

Secret Wars has a metric ton of tie ins. I doubt I'll be able to keep up with them all but in case anyone's curious. I'll definitely be reading Spider-Verse, Renew Your Vows, Thors, Star Lord and Kitty Pryde, Planet Hulk, 2099, Civil War, Spider-Island, Guardians of Knowhere, Howard the Human.... and maybe if I'm not broke Captain Marvel & the Carol Corps, Red Skull, Giant Size Little Marvel, and A-Force. We'll what else winds up in short box. If you want to see all of the titles coming out, this guide from How to Love Comics is pretty encompassing.

Do you think Marvel's Game of Thrones is a cool idea? Over it already? What book's are you planning on reading over the next few months? Let me know in the comments!