Secret Wars (2015) #6

Previously in Secret Wars #5

The facade Doom’s been holding in place with an iron fist is beginning to crumble. His own daughter doubts his stories, Stephen Strange continues to oppose him from the grave, and a rebellion marches closer to Doomstadt.

It’s been three weeks since Valeria was tasked with finding the people responsible for Stephen Strange’s death. Though she suspects her father, Doom, isn’t telling her everything, it’s not clear whether she believes he’s the actual murderer.

He is. He totally is.

And though they’ve caught three from the Cabal (Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive are prisoners and Black Swan just snitching), Valeria doesn’t anticipate they’ll find the rest.

What she’s not telling her father is that she’s found drones believed to belong to the people they’re looking for, and she’s mapping out possible hideouts based on where they were located.

Meanwhile, Mr. Fantastic and The Maker debate what should be done once they’ve figured out a way to stop Doom. The Maker votes for complete annihilation, but Reed isn’t willing to risk tearing apart Battleworld and killing innocent people. He believes there’s a possibility Doom’s demise might mean the end of this patchwork world.

Spider-Man Peter Parker and Spider-Man Miles Morales have found the source of Doom’s power, but so has Valeria. She’s not going to stop them from investigating further and she doesn’t want to join them - she’s already feeling like she might in over her head, and hey, finding out your father is a lying god is a lot for a little girl to handle. She does ask them point blank if anyone from their life raft killed Strange. They deny it and she believes them.

On Strange’s private island, T’Challa and Namor find a message from Strange. In the event of his death, he has left them with a powerful weapon: an Infinity Gauntlet.

And just in case you thought shit hadn’t gotten real enough, Thanos has found Ben Grimm and told him all the details around Battleworld being a complete fabrication. Doom didn’t just make Johnny Storm the sun to keep the world filled with light. He did it to keep him out of the way and from ever finding out the truth. And if he did that to Johnny, what do you think he did with a giant rock of a man?

Overall Thoughts:

• Fantastic issue! The best of the series so far - lots of movement and a few twists. Not sure which development shocked/thrilled me the most: an Infinity Gauntlet coming into play or Ben as The Shield, the giant wall that protects the realms from the Deadlands. Just thought of something: Ben Grimm is The Shield in Battleworld, and Michael Chiklis played Ben Grimm in the Fantastic Four movies and he used to star on The Shield tv show. Marvelception!
• The writing here is so good. Valeria’s very keeping-it-real attitude to her situation and her frustration at Reed’s tech she’s been finding all over were some highlights. The very old cheeseburger gag with the Spiders after they found Owen was hilarious.
• Still not loving the art, but everything isn’t for everyone. I’m most disturbed - as I’ve mentioned in past reviews - by the facial expressions when people are surprised, upset, animated, etc. It reminds me of the faces on blow-up dolls.
• Another happening of note: Captain Marvel teaming up with Baron Sinister to instigate this rebellion (guessing this is brewed up in a tie-in I’m not reading) heading towards Doomstadt.