Broken Frontier

This December Marvel revisits Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars, the maxiseries that arguably set the benchmark for the mega-epic super-hero event comic, when Spider-Man and the Secret Wars #1 hits the shelves. Broken Frontier chats with writer Paul Tobin about his plans for the miniseries, the War's pivotal moments and the Beyonder's disturbing lack of sartorial elegance...

BROKEN FRONTIER: Were you a reader of Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars the first time around? And, if so, how did it impact on you back then? Do you have a secret stash of Secret Wars action figures hidden away anywhere for example... ?

PAUL TOBIN: I did indeed read the Secret Wars series on the first go-round and I loved it! Loved seeing all these heroes and villains gathered together for a big huge slugfest, removed from their usual continuity and just punching each other in the face. When I was young, I was really into the fight scenes. Now that I’m older, and looking back on the series, it wasn’t really all that well done. Not as much characterization as I prefer, and everything was so based on moving from big moment to big moment that not a lot of it made much sense. I think that’s what I’m mostly trying to do with my series… give a little bit of transitional / background sense to the overall project.

And, no… didn’t have any Secret Wars action figures when I was a kid. I can remember having a bunch of army men, but lost most of them after building a dam in a stream, and then making a "village" populated by army men, and then busting the dam, cackling with glee.

BF: What is it about the original Secret Wars after all these years that still really captures the imagination and makes it such a fertile ground for revisiting?

PT: I think it was the mystery of the Beyonder, and the absolute freedom that the characters had just to FIGHT. The Beyonder was an unquestioned overlord, changing all reality at whim, and when he said, "You two groups just go ahead and beat the snot out of each other,"… that was pretty much it. That’s what was going to happen.

Also, for all its frenetic pacing, with all its huge gaps, the original series is still one of the best Dr. Doom stories of all time. Doom comes face to face with the reality of an ultimate power… a power that is all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful (excepting of course in the Beyonder’s fashion sense, which sucked) and the first thing Doom does, without missing a beat, is to go about making plans to beat this guy up and steal his power. Yeah! GO DOOM!

BF: Why was Spider-Man’s perspective on events the one that was chosen as the focus for the series?

PT: First of all, because I just plain love writing Spider-Man. And then, secondly, one reason I love writing Spider-Man is because he can fit into any story, because he’s at such a great mid-level power range. He’s okay with street level crimes, and he’s okay with cosmic powers. He just fits. And Spidey is a very human character… completely grounded in his human emotions, so other characters and events play so well off of him.

BF: The first issue extrapolates on the moment the Molecule Man dropped a mountain range on the heroes in Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars #4. The cover to that issue is one of the most memorable of the series with some equally unforgettable cover copy. When it came to making choices for story points to pick up on how close was this one to the top of the list?

PT: Absolutely number one. I would have thrown kittens off a cliff just to work with that moment in comics. I used to shove that story in the face of all my friends who ludicrously believed that anybody but the Hulk was THE coolest comic book character.

BF: How is the limited series structured? Will each issue be standalone?

PT: Yep. Pretty much stand alone. Of course it’s all in the greater context of the Secret Wars storyline, but what we really wanted to do was highlight and isolate certain events, rather than do a compete retelling, so stand alone was the best choice. And, having said that I wanted to highlight certain events, I should add that there’s much more than just a detailed exploration of what already happened, there’s a lot of new stuff going on as well.

BF: The breakneck speed of the original maxiseries was such that many events in the War were covered at a very brisk pace. If there’s one Spidey-centric event that always seemed to be explained just too quickly it was his acquisition of the Black Costume in #8. In what level of detail will you be examining that rather momentous plot twist?

PT: Oh boy. The black Spider-Man costume? Hmmm… well, that’s dealt with in issue three of our series, and I really played with this one. It’s much more entwined with a major character that I personally believe is always downplayed. Was that vague and opaque enough for you? Sorry.

BF: Will the book be revealing anything new or heretofore untold about any of the major elements of the Secret Wars?

PT: Yes. That’s what it’s really all about. This is by no means a recap… this is new. Some (and only some) of the "new" is the behind-the-scenes of certain events… I looked at the established events as the classic tip-of-the-iceberg scenario… taking what already happened, and then asking myself WHY it happened, what else was happening, and what else was it affecting.

BF: On a similar wavelength the Beyonder’s origin went through a major retcon not so long ago in the New Avengers: Illuminati miniseries. Is his true nature something that will be touched on at all in this run?

PT: All I can say at this point is that the Beyonder is like a magician with an origin up his sleeve.

BF: Is there anything else you can let slip at this point about what upcoming issues will cover?

PT: Sure. Certain events will get some background detailing, but the main themes of the issues are the Hulk holding up the mountain to save all those other irritating weak-kneed heroes (issue one) and a look at what was happening in Denver, Colorado, which the Beyonder transported to Battleworld, and how the events there play a part in the creation of Titania and Volcana (issue two) and then a dual issue of the time period when Spider-Man got his black costume, and also the fight against Galactus (issue three) and then issue four deals with (among other things) just how Doctor Doom was able to overcome the Beyonder and steal his powers. Again, those are the main themes of each issue… not the only tidbits to be had.

BF: What can you tell us about what artist Patrick Scherberger is bringing to the book’s visuals?

PT: Pure glory. The man loves himself a fight scene. He’s about the only artist I work with that I have to be really careful not type out, "And then Doctor Doom and Spider-Man have to team up to fight a million guys," because Patrick will take that literally, and draw 1,000,002 people in the fight.

BF: Finally, what else is coming up from Paul Tobin inside and outside the Marvel line? What other projects are you currently working on?

PT: Let’s see, for Marvel, besides the Secret Wars project I’m finishing up Models Inc., and am working on Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man, and Marvel Adventures: Super Heroes, and Black Widow & the Marvel Girls, and then two series that have not yet been announced. Outside Marvel, Colleen Coover and I are working on the Gingerbread Girl graphic novel, and then I have another graphic novel in the works, and am also working on some prose novels. I run my website at http://www.paultobin.net/ and put up occasional announcements there, as well as a regular stream of ramblings and vulgarities.

Spider-Man and the Secret Wars #1 is out this December from Marvel Comics priced $2.99. The Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars Omnibus is also currently available priced $99.99.