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“I am from Beyond. Slay your enemies and all you desire shall be yours. Nothing you dream of is impossible for me to accomplish.”

Retroactive continuity or retcon - definition (from Wikipedia, by way of a piece on Dr. Who): the alteration of previously established facts in a fictional work

This column and next, Chapter Two will be indulging in a year-end blowout of a different sort, as I once again step well outside of my comfort zone to examine sequels in pop cultural contexts other than cinematic ones. This week I pick up on a thread I precariously began to unravel as a side thought last time out - my youthful falling-out with the world of comic books - as I examine a 1980s comic book sequel/maxi-series that defines the decade of excess for me, as well as any bloated unnecessary big-budget sequel ever could: Secret Wars II. I hope to find time for a little reflection on my comic book reading back then contrasted with the memories stirred up by diving back into stories I read and re-read religiously 25 years ago, but hadn’t opened up in the interim.

The only required reading for this installment of the column - in all its back-breaking 1,174 page, error-ridden (more on that towards the end) glory - is the Secret Wars II Omnibus, published by Marvel Direct Edition in 2009, to the tune of a single penny under $100. Within its pages are brought together the nine issues of Secret Wars II, originally published between July 1985 and March 1986; ALMOST (for $100, almost?) all of the 32 tie-ins to those issues scattered among various Marvel comic properties, with the lion’s share of Marvel characters and titles covered; the epilogue to the series in Avengers #266; a four-issue Fantastic Four plotline from 1988 that serves as an about-face to the epilogue; and a final nail in (what was left of) the coffin two years after that, a postscript to endnotes if you will, in Quasar #8, what the cover corner of the issue promised to be “absolutely the last Secret Wars tie-in!”

What is missing from this weighty, colorful tome? An issue of Rom, an issue of Micronauts, and Deadpool Teamup #1, from 1998, which featured the Beyonder (more on him in a minute) in a cameo meant to spoof the overabundance of crossover titles and adventures that had proliferated in the decade since Secret Wars II had come and gone. Such satire is fitting since crossover mania was part of what drove me out of the world of comic books. Amazingly, I actually own the first two on that list as Secret Wars II came out right around the beginning of the three-year stretch that reading comic books was my driving force. (As an offhand thought, this era may have had its end hastened beginning in the spring/summer of 1988 as I drifted over into music and most of my money started going towards cassettes and Rolling Stone magazine subscriptions.)

My two-box collection such as it is, is narrow, encompassing those three years (and a lot of back issues) of Uncanny X-Men, The New Mutants, Power Pack, G.I. Joe, X-Factor, Classic X-Men, Marvel Age, and any number of 2, 4, or 6-issue limited series. My favorite among these is probably Magik (Storm and Illyana), the origin story of how Colossus’ little sister winds up trapped in Limbo for seven years. An image that has always stayed with me is of her being sucked out of our world - her best friend Kitty Pryde’s hand losing touch with hers for only a few seconds (measured in our time) - and then emerging back from Limbo as a mature teenager. Then, as now, it strikes me as a very visceral metaphor for the uneasy road an adolescent can travel, facing adult responsibilities at too early an age, finding childhood to be a time hard to enjoy, and even harder to find a way back to. This is most likely why Power Pack and New Mutants spoke to me the most at the time, as I was myself in between the ages of the young protagonists. And the lamest? Well, I don’t recall having the fondest memories of the X-Men & Alpha Flight two-issue get-together in 1985. Maybe I just didn’t get Canadian superhero collectives (minor foreshadowing for the next column!)

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