Secret Wars Game Plan

I decided to really jump right into the deep end with this summer’s Secret Wars event so it’ll mean buying a lot of comics and spending a lot of money.  I’m not planning on going overboard and buying all the tie-in issues, so far I’m looking to spend between 60 to 100 dollars total for the whole event out of pocket.  This means if the rest of the main series Secret Wars issues cost 3.99 just the main series will cost 34 dollars which leaves 26 to 66 dollars for tie-in issues which is approximately 9 to 22 issues.

Here is my plan of attack.  I’m going to start by picking up the new Secret Wars main series and read them as they come out.  That will give me the primary (convoluted as it is) story along with little glimpses of what is going on in the different Battle Worlds. So if they mention a Battle World that seems interesting I’ll pick up its tie-in issue.  But if a particular Battle Work seems lame or covers something I don’t care about, I won’t pick up their tie-in issues.

There are some tie-in issues I’ve pre-ordered because I liked their original story (House of M, Civil War, Old Man Logan, etc.) and are already on my pull list.

I’m going to also read the original 1985 Secret Wars as homework along with Marvel’s “True Believers” first issues of tie-in books (some I have already read but it would be a good refresher) which include (which you can get on Comixology for 99 cents here):

• Infinity Gauntlet 1
• Marvel Zombies 1
• X-Men Alpha 1
• Civil War 1
• Planet Hulk 1
• Civil War 1
• House of M 1
• Wolverine 66
• Iron Man 225
• Ultimate Comics Spider-Man (2011) 1
• Age of Ultron 1

If by the end of its first issue I like the story I’ll read the rest of that story arc, and if I really like it I will possibly pick up the new Secret Wars tie-in issues.  The new Secret Wars tie-in story arcs I am on the fence for or not interested in I’ll wait 6 months and read when they come out on Marvel Digital Unlimited.

The best way to go about reading these back issues is through Marvel Digital Unlimited, its 60 dollars a year or 10 dollars a month and has most back issues up until about 6 months ago.  Marvel Digital Unlimited is like Netflix in that its an all you can read streaming service.  There are apps for Android and iOS for the service and these apps are really the way this service is meant to be used.  Marvel Digital Unlimited has a large back catalog so it includes the complete event and tie in’s for almost every Battle World in the new Secret Wars so you aren’t breaking the bank to buy them all.

I’m also going to attempt to read some of the recent Robert Hickman issues of Avengers that he’s been doing for the last 3 years that lead up to Secret Wars.  All of these Avengers issues I’ll be reading on Marvel Digital Unlimited and so there will be a 6 month gap which I’ll just read them as they come out on MDU (Marvel Digital Unlimited).

We’ll see how this goes.  I’ll post again at the release of issue 4 of Secret Wars which will be the halfway point and see if my plan worked and how I feel about the event in general.