2.259: SMASH the Stash! 001

Greetings True Believers, Excelsior!  Actually, let's try again:  Hello friends and welcome to the first edition of a new feature that I call:  SMASH the Stash!  If you did not know, I am a novice collector of comics in digital and physical editions.  Unfortunately, I rarely make time to read any of the books I come purchase or come into possession of (thank you Marvel Digital Codes and thank you to my good friend, Billy, for sharing his codes with me), which means the backlog of items I need to read from my comic stash is formidable and long (and somewhat dated).  Anyways, with "Smash the Stash!", I am giving myself an excuse or, more accurately, a reason to read the comic books (and graphic novels) in my queue.

Let's get started with a comic book from Marvel's most recent universe-altering event: Secret Wars.

Secret Wars #6

Jonathan Hickman, Writer

Esad Ribic, Artist

Alex Ross, Cover

Before I begin, allow me to say that this will not be review in the traditional sense--I am not going to be breaking down each individual panel or trying to divine hidden meanings from the actions of characters--because most of the books I will be writing about have been out for some period of time and everything has already been spoiled. Okay, now I begin:

Personally, the most interesting thing I took away from this issue was the pairing of the survivors from the Marvel 616 and 1610 universes:  Black Panther and Namor, Reed Richards and The Maker (or 1610 Reed Richards), Thanos and The Thing (who is not actually a "survivor" but a pawn in Doom's reality from another universe in which the Fantastic Four featured Johnny's and Sue's father, Franklin Storm, instead of Reed), and Captain Marvel and Mr. Sinister (who already exists within Battleworld).  It is also intriguing to see how the eventual conflict that should resolve this event is coming together.  Oh, I should mention that Black Panther found a version of a completed Infinity Gauntlet within Stephen Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum.  Overall, it was a solid read that definitely advanced the plot though the start of the issue was a bit slower than I prefer.  Also, it may be because it has been some time since I read Issue #5, but what is up with Valeria and Black Swan?

Anyways, I am calling it here because this is an introductory column and much of the content was composed of me explaining the column and its purpose.  My plan for future columns is to cover at least three issues or one volume of a series.  Until then:  DFTBA!