2004?2005 Marvel Comics storyline
Secret War
is a 2004?2005 comic book storyline published by
Marvel Comics
, consisting of a central, five-issue
miniseries
written by
Brian Michael Bendis
and illustrated by
Gabriele Dell'Otto
, and a number of tie-in books. It is loosely based on classified operations told to Bendis by an anonymous high-ranking officer in the
United States Intelligence Community
during Bendis' childhood.
[1]
The storyline involves a large-scale
super-hero
crossover
featuring Marvel characters such as
Spider-Man
,
Captain America
,
Wolverine
,
Daredevil
,
Luke Cage
and
Nick Fury
fighting a wide array of supervillains who have received
hi-tech
armaments
from a mysterious benefactor.
The first issue was published in April 2004, and though intended originally as a
bimonthly
publication, it faced long delays. It was completed with issue five's publication in December 2005.
The aftermath of the series was explored in stories in
The Pulse
and Bendis has gone on to use many of the same characters in his
New Avengers
titles. This event begins an eight-year-long series of cross-over events ending with
Avengers vs. X-Men
.
The storyline in
Secret War
is unrelated to the original
Secret Wars
and
Secret Wars II
crossover limited series which Marvel published in the mid-1980s, although its title is clearly inspired by them. Those stories received their own spiritual successor in
Beyond!
, published in 2006.
Bendis has noted that
Secret War
is connected to the "
Secret Invasion
" storyline, in which Skrulls have infiltrated several institutions of Earth.
Synopsis
[
edit
]
Nick Fury
, Director of the international security force
S.H.I.E.L.D.
, uncovers a secret plot by
Latverian
Prime Minister
Lucia von Bardas
to fund a group of B-List supervillains with advanced technology, presumably that of previous Latverian dictator
Doctor Doom
(who was trapped in Hell at the time), as a means of wreaking terror on American soil. Fury immediately takes his findings to the President of the United States but is denied the authorization requested to overthrow the post-Doom Latverian government due to its sponsorship by the U.S. Government. Fury is enraged at what he sees as the same pre-9/11 security complacency inviting disaster yet again.
Writer
Brian Michael Bendis
signing a copy of the central miniseries at
Midtown Comics
in Manhattan.
Fury recruits
Captain America
,
Spider-Man
,
Daredevil
,
Black Widow
,
Luke Cage
,
Wolverine
, and superhuman S.H.I.E.L.D. agent
Daisy Johnson
in a private attempt to covertly overthrow Latveria.
A year later, a mass reprisal is unleashed across New York City, leaving Luke Cage in a coma as Fury and a cadre of NYC heroes face off against a cyborg Von Bardas and her hi-tech army. The reprisal is revealed to be a trap for New York's superheroes when Von Bardas arms a high-tech bomb linked to the technology provided to her supervillain army.
The cyborg Von Bardas is destroyed by Daisy Johnson, the bomb is disarmed, and the supervillain army is defeated and arrested. Captain America immediately demands answers from Nick Fury about what happened. They are soon joined by the X-Men and Wolverine, who attacks Fury until Johnson informs him that the man before him is a
Life Model Decoy
, and that the real Fury already departed. Through the L.M.D., Fury reveals the invasion of Latveria and the fact that the heroes (with the exceptions of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Black Widow and Daisy Johnson) were brainwashed afterward. Nick Fury then informs the heroes that this is the last time they will see him and that he hopes those involved in his plot will understand that what he did was necessary.
His replacement as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.,
Maria Hill
, discovers the particulars of the story through her interrogation of Agent Johnson in the present-day framing device of the story.
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
Cast
[
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]
Heroes
[
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]
Supervillains
[
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]
Tie-ins
[
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]
In addition to the main five-issue series, there were a few other comics that tied in with the storyline.
Secret War: From the Files of Nick Fury
was a handbook-style one-off publication that featured S.H.I.E.L.D. profiles of all the main characters, written by Mike Raicht. These profiles are presented with the five issues in the
Secret War
hardback and paperback collections, and include a list of heroes that Fury recommended be sent in if his stealth attack failed and a large-scale assault was required (
Hawkeye
,
Spider-Woman
,
Punisher
,
Ms. Marvel
,
War Machine
, the
Hulk
and the
Sentry
), and a list of heroes who Fury contemplated including in the original mission but rejected for various reasons (
Cyclops
relied on his team too much, Fury had doubts about
Doc Samson
's ability to come through in a crunch, the
Falcon
lacked the right kind of power,
Iron Man
would ask too many questions even without the issue of bringing in someone who relied that heavily on technology against the Tinkerer, the
Thing
was too visually distinctive,
Kitty Pryde
lacked the right mentality, and Fury couldn't trust
Mystique
or the
Purple Man
).
The Pulse
#6?9 featured an original storyline which runs parallel to and intersects with the main series (it was meant to last five issues but when the last two issues of the mini-series were delayed Bendis decided to remove some content from the tie-in in lieu of spoiling the main event). This storyline was collected separately in its own paperback (
The Pulse Volume 2: Secret War
). Bendis has also stated that part of the
Secret Invasion
storyline has its beginnings in the
Secret War
publications, as he had been planning that event for several years.
In other media
[
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]
The video game
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2
begins its story with the events depicted in the "Secret War" story arc of the Marvel Universe. It starts from the attack on Castle Doom to Lucia Von Bardas defeat, there are key differences however, while Fury, Captain America, Spider-Man and Wolverine are involved like in the comic,
Iron Man
appears and serves as a substitute for Daredevil and by extension Luke Cage while Black Widow only plays a communicative role guiding the heroes and aiding Fury and Daisy Johnson does not appear. From there the story follows the "
Civil War
" story arc which is also connected with Bardas' bomb attack on New York causing casualties. The Secret War costumes for Wolverine, Luke Cage and Daredevil appear as alternate costumes.
Spider-Man's Secret War costume appears as an alternate costume in
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions
and
Marvel's Spider-Man
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Bendis, Brian
(2006).
Secret War
.
Marvel Comics
. p. By Anonymous hardcover introduction.
- ^
Secret War
#1 (April 2004)
- ^
Secret War
#2
- ^
Secret War
#3
- ^
Secret War
#4
- ^
Secret War
#5 (December 2005)
Secret War
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