1986: MARVEL SUPER HEROES SECRET WARS UK STICKER ALBUM

From 1986: The MARVEL SUPER HEROES SECRET WARS STICKER ALBUM.

Buyers of MARVEL UK's 1986 weeklies will be familiar with this one... the (empty) album came bagged with copies of SECRET WARS II issue 66, SPIDER-MAN AND ZOIDS issue 31 and TRANSFORMERS issue 81.  All cover-dated 4 October.  So, if you were a True Believer, there was a good chance you ended up with three of the things!

The following week's issues all included a packet of stickers to help fuel the addiction.

The timing of this one seemed a bit weird back-in-the-day.  MARVEL UK was deep into the sprawling SECRET WARS II saga (the weekly switched storylines, and title, from issue 32) and the original Battle World romp seemed a little like ancient history.

Secret Wars - probably because it lacked the support of an animated series (although this album did briefly spark playground rumours that one was on its way) - never became the same mass marketing event in the UK that it was in the States... but we did get some spin-off merchandising, including the Mattel action figures that sparked it all.

As for the album itself: it basically takes the Jim Shooter-created premise of the original limited series and fleshes it out with more events, as illustrated in the not-seen-in-the-comics page below.  Maybe Shooter should get more credit for creating a scenario where - in theory - the heroes and villains could encounter an unlimited number of new threats and challenges.  Much like the we're-on-a-quest SF shows of the 1970s.  Except they never seemed to last long.

The artwork is uncredited throughout.  The panels are not lifted directly from the comics so I assume they were probably done by one (or maybe a team) of jobbing artists somewhere.  It must have kept them busy for a while... which may explain the relatively late launch.

The events of the sequel are - possibly because it was something of a sprawling mess - ignored.

The giveaway didn't seem to have much of an impact on my peers.  Unlike the TRANSFORMERS album given away earlier in the year, no one I knew (including me) bothered with this one.  Maybe it's because superheroes weren't quite as cool in the mid-eighties or maybe it lacked the all-important shiney cards (a gimmick nicked from football sticker collecting).  The art - whilst cool - couldn't compete with actual animation stills as seen in the TF collection.

Marvel Productions did - btw - punt the idea of a Secret Wars animated series to the US broadcasters but couldn't find any takers.

This isn't one of the three albums I ended up with that week.  All are now long-gone.  I found a completed copy (result!) in a store and couldn't pass up the chance to finally own it.

1986: ON SALE THIS WEEK: SECRET WARS Issue 31 (Marvel UK)

On sale this week in 1986: The last UK installment of the original (and about to be revived) SECRET WARS limited series.

The British Bullpen cannily stretched the twelve American editions over thirty-one issues thanks to the time-tested method of chopping them into ever-smaller episodes.  The rest of the issues were bulked out by Alpha Flight (a strip originally pencilled-in for the pages of CAPTAIN BRITAIN monthly... before it went all-British) and, latterly, the Ice Man limited series (previously announced for the pre-reboot SPIDER-MAN weekly) and the made-in-the-UK ZOIDS strip (destined for better things in the pages of the new SPIDER-MAN AND ZOIDS).  

As the back page proudly announced... change was coming....

1987: ON SALE THIS MONTH: SECRET WARS II Issue 80 (Marvel UK)

On sale this week in 1987: the finale of SECRET WARS II from MARVEL UK.  

It seems that the British Bullpen frequently used the first few weeks of the year to chop floundering titles from their line-up and - back in '87 - it was the Beyonder's turn to face the axeman.  

This reprinted the ninth, and final, issue of the US limited series penned by Marvel's Editor-in-Chief Giant Jim Shooter.  

It wasn't really the end of everything... a coda (actually a rebadged issue of THE AVENGERS) ran for several week in SPIDER-MAN AND ZOIDS' third slot (although the days of a shared masthead after a merger were long gone).

How did the Annex of Ideas manage to eek out nine US issues into eighty British ones?  The first thirty-one issues reprinted (in ever smaller chunks) the first MARVEL SUPERHEROES SECRET WARS series (along with back-up features Alpha Flight, Zoids and Ice Man) before immediately switching to the sequel (omitting over a year of US material that appeared between the heroes and villains returning from the first Secret War and the Beyonder's fact-finding sojourn on Earth) the following issue.

The first SW series had been fairly self-contained, with only the after effects rippling out into the wider MCU.  The sequel was constructed to crossover into as many other Marvel series as possible (only some - but not even all - of the licensed books escaped the official crossover corner flash) to build a sense of event... and also ensure strong sales.  Marvel UK duly reprinted the bulk of those crossovers but, to make them make sense, also had to reprint the issues surrounding them.  Just for laughs, the British Bullpen also threw in strips that had bugger-all to do with the Beyonder.  Marvel may have been testing the appeal of certain characters... or they may have simply been padding-out the run.  

This issue was cover-dated 10 January 1987.  

1986: SECRET WARS II UK - PART TWO

This is the second (and final) part of Slow Robot's SECRET WARS II UK cover gallery.

OCO = Official Crossover as defined by house-ads and cover splash.

ISSUE 51

21 June 1986

Reprints US DAREDEVIL 223 (October 1985) [OCO]

ISSUE 52

28 June 1986

Reprints the first half of US IRON MAN 200 (November 1985)

ISSUE 53

5 July 1986

Reprints the cover and second half of US IRON MAN 200 (November 1985)

ISSUE 54

12 July 1986

Cover and contents reprinted from (the classic) US FANTASTIC FOUR (December 1985).  This appears earlier in the UK continuity than the US.

ISSUE 55

19 July 1986

Reprinted from US FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL 19 part one.

ISSUE 56

26 July 1986

Reprinted from US FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL 19 part two.

Continued in SECRET WARS II SPECIAL Number two.

ISSUE 57

2 August 1986

Cover and contents reprinted from US SECRET WARS II 4 (October 1985)

ISSUE 58

9 August 1986

Reprints US DAZZLER 40 (November 1985) [OCO]

ISSUE 59

16 August 1986

Reprints cover and contents from US THE AVENGERS 261 (November 1985) [OCO]

AWOL: 

US ALPHA FLIGHT 28 (November 1985) [OCO]

US ROM 72 (November 1985) [OCO]

ISSUE 60

23 August 1986

ISSUE 61

BACK COVER

Reprints US SECRET WARS II issue 5 (November 1985)

The wrap-around cover, originally created for US MARVEL AGE ANNUAL 1 (1985) by Kerry Gammill and Tom Morgan, was part of Marvel UK's celebration of Marvel's 25th anniversary.

ISSUE 62

30 August 1986

Reprints US THE THING 30 (December 1985)

The framing device used on the cover also appeared on US Marvel books dated November 1986 (therefore on-sale Summer 1986).  Captain Britain and Megan were added to the design in the space left blank to accommodate the UPC barcode box on US books.  The Thing artwork is from the cover of US FANTASTIC FOUR 296 (November 1986).

ISSUE 62

6 September 1986

Reprints US DOCTOR STRANGE 74 (December 1985) [OCO]

ISSUE 63

13 September 1986

Reprints cover and contents from US CLOAK AND DAGGER 4 (January 1986)

AWOL: US THE INCREDIBLE HULK 312 (October 1985) [OCO]

ISSUE 64

20 September 1986

Reprints cover and contents from US SECRET WARS II 6 (December 1985)

The free gift was one of the sticker badges originally given away with the first eleven issues. Different copies of the same issue apparently featured different character badges.

ISSUE 65

27 September 1986

Cover and contents reprinted from US POWER PACK 18 (January 1986) [OCO]

The free gift was another cover-mounted sticker badges.  Remaining stocks were apparently applied randomly with different copies featuring different badges.

This Power Pack story, key to the team's continuity, had already recently appeared in RETURN OF THE JEDI weekly 129 (7 December 1985) -132, making it a relatively recent reprint of a reprint.  ROTJ did not run the second part of the story, originally published in US THOR.

ISSUE 66

4 October 1986

Cover and contents reprinted from US THE MIGHTY THOR 363 (January 1986)

The concluding part of the two-part Power Pack/ Thor story.

The polybagged free gift was the Panini-published SECRET WARS STICKER ALBUM, based on the first Shooter/ Zeck limited series but created by neither (writers and artists are uncredited).  The bag also included a pack of starter stickers with more the following week.

Copies of the album and stickers were also given away with SPIDER-MAN AND ZOIDS and THE TRANSFORMERS dated 4 October 1986.

ISSUE 67

11 October 1986

Cover and contents reprinted from US POWER MAN AND IRON FIST 121 (January 1986)

Free gift: More Panini Secret Wars stickers.

AWOL: US THE MICRONAUTS: THE NEW VOYAGES 16 (January 1986) [OCO]

AWOL: US THE NEW DEFENDERS 151 (January 1986) [OCO]

ISSUE 68

18 October 1986

Reprints US FANTASTIC FOUR 287 (February 1986)

ISSUE 69

25 October 1986

Reprints US FANTASTIC FOUR 288 (March 1986) [OCO]

Is this a rare example of a naked man's arse appearing on the cover of a British comic?

ISSUE 70

1 November 1986

Reprints cover and contents from US SECRET WARS II 7 (January 1986)

ISSUE 71

8 November 1986

Reprints US PETER PARKER THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN 111 (February 1986)

This continues the storyline from SPIDER-MAN AND ZOIDS 33-36.

ISSUE 72

15 November 1986

Reprints US THE UNCANNY X-MEN 202 (February 1986) [OCO]

ISSUE 73

22 November 1986

Cover and contents reprinted from US SECRET WARS II 8 (February 1986)

ISSUE 74

29 November 1986

Cover and contents reprinted from US THE NEW MUTANTS 36 (February 1986) [OCO]

ISSUE 75

6 December 1986

Cover and contents reprinted from US THE NEW MUTANTS 37 (March 1986) [OCO]

ISSUE 76

13 December 1986

Reprints US THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 274 (March 1986). 

Reprint continues in SPIDER-MAN AND ZOIDS 41.

The cover art is from the back cover pin-up/ advert from US ASM 274.

ISSUE 77

20 December 1986

Cover and contents reprinted from US THE AVENGERS 265 (March 1986) [OCO]

ISSUE 78

27 December 1986

Cover and contents from US THE UNCANNY X-MEN 203 (March 1986) [OCO]

ISSUE 79

3 January 1987

Reprints the first half on US SECRET WARS II 8 (March 1986)

ISSUE 80

10 January 1987

Reprints the second half on US SECRET WARS II 8 (March 1986)

Final issue.

Secret Wars II merges with SPIDER-MAN AND ZOIDS from the following week, reprinting the SWII epilogue from THE AVENGERS 265 (April 1986).

1984: SECRET WARS EXTRA 1

COMICS FEATURE 29

Cover dated: May 1984

At the end of 2011, Marvel issued (yet another) collected edition of MARVEL SUPERHERO SECRET WARS (written by Marvel's Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter with art, mostly, by Mike Zeck).  As with the previous trade paperbacks, it collects the full 12-issue limited series.  This version also includes more detailed accounts of how the various participants gathered at the Beyonder's Central Park 'fly trap' and several text features.

The best of these extras is a detailed article on the Mattel Secret Wars action figure line, the licensing deal that kick-started the comic book.  Briefly: Mattel's arch-rival Kenner signed a deal with DC Comics (whose characters had a far higher mainstream profile, thanks to movies and TV) to create the (superior) SUPER POWERS COLLECTION and Mattel, fearing that it was missing the next best thing, turned up at Marvel's Park Avenue South door.  Unfortunately, Mattel's efforts were so poor that failure was assured from the start and the toy line shuttered after two releases (with the final figures dumped onto the European market... to the benefit of local collectors).

The new edition also reprints the (familiar... yet different) cover and article from MARVEL AGE MAGAZINE 12 (March 1984).  But, there was a lot of other interviews and coverage in the fan press at the time... and Slow Robot has it!

Marvel also (finally) released Shooter's shoddy sequel SECRET WARS II (albeit the core 9-issue limited series and none of the boggling number of official and unofficial tie-ins) in an affordable trade paperback format (the full saga is available in a hefty shelf-busting hardback volume).  Which gives Slow Robot an excuse to run some SW II material in future too!

COMICS FEATURE ran for 57 issues, beginning in 1980, published by New Media Publishing.  It also spawned six specials.

Marvel UK, after a slight delay, also published SECRET WARS, followed by the sequel, as a fortnightly/ weekly.  Reprints of the first limited series (along with ALPHA FLIGHT, the ICE MAN limited series and the first regular home for the UK-originated ZOIDS strip) filled the first 31 issues before switching to SECRET WARS II (and sundry tie-in's and unrelated reprints) for the remaining of its 80 issues.  The UK also saw a hardback annual and three specials.