Marvel Collector Corps: Secret Wars

So what’s Marvel and Funko suppose to do with the Collector Corp box when there is no movie to promote? The answer is, of course, “Promote a comic series.”

It’s the usual loot inside, but with one minor exception. The box includes the pin and the patch. It also includes a comic book, a t-shirt, and…..TWO Pops!

The comic book was a pleasant surprise. The cutesy Funko Pop on the cover belies something more serious between the covers. Apparently, there’s a bunch of multiverses running through the Marvel Universe and they’re all being destroyed. It sounds very similar to  DC’s Crisis of Infinite Earths, but it’s even more reminiscent of DC’s more recent Infinite Crisis.

I’m not saying Marvel copied DC’s idea. However, in a field with limited ideas and one where readers are all about “continuity” multiple universes tend to confuse readers. The notion that stories can be independent of each other is a foreign concept to most comic book readers. DC had a good idea with their Elseworld imprint. The stories printed under the Elseworlds banner had nothing to do with the titles under the DC banner. However, DC couldn’t resist leaving the Elseworlds stories alone and had to fold a lot of it into the DC universe. Marvel, on the other hand, hasn’t had an imprint for independent stories- it’s all in the Marvel Universe.

The interior art of the comic was good, much better than I expected from comic book art. Most of comic book art all looks the same. The only way a reader can tell characters apart is the costume. However, the art in Secret Wars seemed to be a step above the normal comic book art. The dialog was typical comic book dialog-Everyone is yelling, everything is serious and, because the writing is usual subpar, a reader never knows how something is being said.  To reiterate how serious everything is the last page is an epitaph for the Marvel Universes. This should not be confused with the end of Marvel Comics. I’m sure what it means is a whole new line of issue number ones comic book readers will scramble to buy.

The shirt is also on the cutesy side. The previous two shirts had nice design elements. This shirt is a copy of the shirt included in Amazon.com’s Funko Pop bundle of  Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen. Okay, it’s not a complete copy. The Amazon.com shirts had some catchy phrases printed on them. This shirt just says “Secret Wars” with cartoon versions of Funko Pops. Personally, it’s not a t-shirt I would wear in public, but there are plenty of Pop collectors who will proudly display their love of these vinyl figures.

This month the Marvel Collector Corps box included two Pops. At first, the box seems to be a little light on the swag. The Ant-Man box had a t-shirt, comic, Pop, and two mini Ant-Man figures. The Avenger’s box had the Vision Dorbz, the comic book, shirt, and the Hulkbuster Pop. The Hulkbuster Pop was worth the price, but when you think it about it two Pops definitely makes up for the lack of a mini-Pop. As a Pop collector, I would rather have two Pops than one Pop and a mini.

These are two of the cooler Pops in the Pop line up. As usual, they’re both exclusive to the Collector Corps box which will make them very sought after by Pop collectors.

The Thor is a little more detailed than other Pops. The button on the belt aren’t painted on, but actually stand out on the belt. The boots have small details missing from other shoes found d on Pops. The stand out touch is the design on the helmet and the detail on the hammer. If you like Thor, the female Thor should make a nice companion piece for the male Thor. 

The Spider-Man doesn’t have nearly as much detail as the Thor, but it more than makes up for  in the costume design. It’s one thing to see the black and red in a comic book, but another thing to see it on a vinyl Pop figure. The spider on its chest  and back (even if it looks like a tick) pop out. The eyes stand out on the white eyes really makes it look like Spider-Man is looking at you. This is a must have if you’re a Spider-Man fan.

The Secret Wars box is all about the “cute.” Yes, Pops are cute, but Marvel and Funko could have cut the sugar a little. Only get this box if you love Pops and are willing to spend the monthly price on what amounts to two Pops.

The only other question is “Why are they pushing a year old comic?”