Secret Wars II Omnibus Hardcover – May 12, 2009

These omnibus editions are very cool, and I love these marvel epics wherein they tried to tell an epic over multiple issues. The problem here is the story isn't as compelling as Secret Wars original which was actually pretty good. The story here just doesn't seem like a very inspired one, which is too bad, because if Marvel was doing epics that had great stories on the level of Stan Lee, John Byrne, early Chris Claremont or Alan Moore- then they would be selling a lot more than they have.With these comics its clearly the talent of the writer and artists that really make them and here the writing is ok but not great and the art is hit or miss, with the Byrne issues being the best along with the Claremont stuff....so only buy if you are a hardcore fan.I still hope marvel puts out omnibus editions of all the best stuff from the 60's thru present- including all Stan Lee written early issues, all John Byrne issues, etc, etc..The spine was not glued very well so pay attention to that it seems marvel has skimped on this but lets hope they make these really well in which case these omnibuses are great.

I read the original story when it was first published and, as a kid, I enjoyed it a great deal. This is one of those times when I wished I could have my childhood memories restored because what I read really wasn't nearly as good as I remember it to be.There were some standout stories that did make it worth the read. I found all the Spider-man tie in really fun to read and I found the Thing story, where he wrestles the Beyonder, well done. I also did find the last two issues of the Secret War II books very compelling and I wished the entire run was that well done.I guess one of the problems with writing a stories like this, where you have a god who can do anything, are the stakes are so low you wonder why they even bother. You know any character killed will be brought back by the end. You know all the events will be rendered pointless and that makes it not as much fun to read as it should be. I'd wanted to see some consequences for the Beyonder's actions instead of having each issue reset what happened at the end.It was kind of neat to see all the characters in their old worlds but in the end if you have good memories of Secret Wars II from when you were a kid don't bother reading them as an adult. The Arwen

On the fence about ordering this?It's 1200 pages and oversized. But is it any good?Here's the basic overview...What if you landed in the Marvel Universe? A place full of web-swinging vigilantes, blind lawyers, Canadian government teams, family dynamics, persecuted mutants, and wealthy superheroes?How would you react to them? By studying them closely.Oh, and you have the power to do ANYTHING you wish.It is the Beyonder's interactions with these heroes and the world around him that tries to corrupt him that makes this story. WHY does Daredevil, having lost his sight, continue to fight the good fight, both metahumans AND in a court room? WHY do mutants save humanity despite being hated themselves? WHY is Captain America the man he is?The Beyonder doesn't view a street-walking prostitute as a "dirty, girl of the streets"...he sees this girl from an alien perspective and she changes him for the better. A touching esrly chapter in the story.Get this before the price goes up. It cover all of Marvel in the 80's and will you give you a fresh perspective on your favorite characters.

This book brought back memories and cleared up some stuff I did not know. I'm not giving it 5 stars because there was a problem with the binding.

One of Marvel's best event, featuring most of its heroes. The quality of the book is awesome and it's something I would recomend every Marvel fan buying.

Great book... Clean, crisp, and arrived in its original shrink wrap. A little pricey, but a good value for a hard to find collection.

Maybe 3-1/2 stars. It's the mid-80's, the Beyonder's back, and craziness ensues!I really like Al Milgrom's simplistic penciling style because I think it goes *great* with the bright & clear colors of the 80's. It's 80's comics-making on a grand scale! If these same comics were re-colored today, I probably wouldn't like the effect. Thankfully Marvel uses these bright & clear colors on this current omnibus cover.Yes, I really like these main 9 issues, and a few of the tie-ins are definitely solid, but most of this volume is average at best. It's truly the good, the bad & the ugly of the mid-80's. New readers in particular might consider this shockingly bad. So why do I essentially rate this above average? The 1st reason is that I like to see these main 9 issues in a high quality collection. Marvel has yet to release this in trade paperback form, so this is currently the way to go. The 2nd reason is that it's simply neat to see such a sweeping storyline collected in one place, regardless of the quality. Still, I think I would prefer a nice TPB instead of this heavy omnibus. I really only recommend this for die-hard 80's fans.P.S. I think it's great that Marvel managed to squeeze Deadpool into this. He appears on 1 page in the back of this volume, since they reference the Beyonder in Deadpool Team-Up #1. I like it.P.P.S. My copy has the *great* John Byrne cover. An Ed McGuinness variant may also be available.UPDATE- A new, and I believe 1st ever,  Secret Wars II  trade paperback printing is now being listed. A much more inexpensive way to see this series again.

This one has it all, I remember I was in high school when this came out and the excitment of getting these issues to get the whole scpe of the story is one of my most cherished memories. Total nostalgia on this but still some of thebmaterial aged quite well, so well in fact that marvel is planning to reboot their universe based on sw1 and this volume. Not all of the stories get a five star rating but there is some amazing stuff to igth here, including the excelent John Byrne cover. Total nostalgia trip

Secret Wars II Omnibus HC McGuinness Cover This was my very first Omnibus book - so although i was expecting it to be very big, surprised,(pleasently), just how big it was.I would recommend this as a table top read though - unless you're a weight lifter!So, being so large - this volume obviously includes all the related titles to the main story - so all your Marvel favourites are here:- Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Spider-Man, Hulk etcFollowing on from the Secret Wars - the Beyonder comes to Earth to understand his role in the Universe - so how do you teach an omnipotent god the meaning of life?This also includes the Avengers epilogue, with the Silver Surfer - so this really does include the complete story.Recommended read - ideal present for the Marvel fan.(Now to see which other Omnibus to get - for the other arm...)CheersSteve O Secret Wars II Omnibus HC McGuinness Cover

Great storyline