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marvel - How did Secret Wars fit into regular comics continuity?


I’ve just read Marvel’s Secret Wars series from 1984/5. (Fun!)


In it, a bunch of heroes and villains are transported to the far reaches of the universe, and (in a surprising turn of events for a comic book) fight each other a lot.


My question is: how was this tied in with the continuity of the comic series in which these heroes were regularly appearing at the time?



Secret Wars was published between May 1984 and April 1985. I’m pretty sure that, for example, Amazing Spider-Man and Fantastic Four didn’t stop publishing for a year while we saw what the heroes got up to on Battleworld. But the events of Secret Wars certainly had lasting consequences for the characters:



Spider-Man got a mysterious alien suit, and the Thing even left the Fantastic Four and stayed on the planet.



So how were these events integrated? Were the Secret Wars not referred to in the participants’ regular titles until they were over, and was there then a break in storylines in the regular titles to allow for Secret Wars to have happened? Or was Secret Wars pre-planned, meaning regular series could show post-Secret Wars events even though Secret Wars hadn’t finished publishing yet?



Answer



God bless the internet: here’s a fantastic guide that details all of the regular series issues that tie in to Secret Wars:



As mentioned in other answers, the degree of integration varied between titles. Here’s some indicative examples of how it worked:


 Spider-Man



At the end of Amazing Spider-Man #251 (April 1984), Spider-Man is drawn to Central Park in New York, from where he is transported to the galaxy where Battleworld will soon be formed. He returns in the next issue of Amazing Spider-Man (#252, May 1984) along with Curt Connors (the Lizard, who was also on Battleworld for the duration of Secret Wars) and his new black suit.


Readers didn’t see Spidey acquire the black suit until Secret Wars #8 (Dec 1984), but at least some of its abilities were shown before that, for example in Amazing Spider-Man #255 (Aug 1984).


Fantastic Four


Mr Fantastic, the Human Torch and the Thing are transported from earth at the end of The Thing #10 (Apr 1984).


The Thing #11–22 (May 1984–Apr 1985) then chronicles the Thing’s time spent on Battleworld after the end of Secret Wars, despite being released at the same time as the Secret Wars issues.


The departure of (three of) the Fantastic Four is also shown as a flashback from the Invisible Woman’s perspective in Fantastic Four #265 (April 1984), as is their return from Battleworld with the She-Hulk in place of the Thing.


The Avengers


The Avengers are transported in Avengers #242 (Apr 1984), and return in the next month’s issue.



This must have somewhat undermined the tension when the Wasp “died” in Secret Wars #7 (Nov 1984).




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