Secret Wars – Warzones! – Armor Wars (2016) 

Writer – James Robinson 

Artists – Mark Bagley and Marcio Takara 

In Technopolis, Baron Tony Stark and Marshall James Rhodes work together to protect its inhabitants from the machinations of The Kingpin and Arno Stark. Tragedy strikes when Spyder-Man is killed, just before he is able to bring to light the cause of the sickness that runs rampant throughout the futuristic city. Rhodey must catch the killer and uncover the truth Peter Urich discovered before his untimely death. 

When Secret Wars was released back in 2015, there were numerous tie-ins that featured the different realms that made up Battleworld. Once in a while, I’ll see a trade of these mini-series and I’ll either pick them up if they are cheap or borrow them from the local library. I must have bought this one a long time ago and I decided to sit down and read it. One of the interesting things about Battleworld is that each locale has a Baron and a Thor that runs the show. Not only is Rhodey the head of law and order but he is also a Thor. Most times a Baron is a supervillain that works closely with Lord Doom and it was a nice change of pace to see a hero in charge for once.

There are two mysteries in this mini-series that kept me interested from beginning til end – the whodunnit already mentioned and why the inhabitants of Technopolis must where armor at all times in order to survive. These two are linked in a fashion and you don’t get any answers until the final two issues. There are a few red herrings but once the answers come to light, you’ll be shaken to your very core! 

After I finished this trade paperback, I made a list of all of the Secret Wars tie-ins and there are a whopping FORTY -THREE that round out the entire collection. Can you imagine the amount of time and money you had to expend in order to keep up with all of them? As of this writing, I have read six of them, including Armor Wars. If I’m looking for something to read over the next few months, I might just check out which ones are available on Hoopla and the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. There are some that piqued my interesting, while others made me scratch my head and think, “Why did they make THIS a mini-series?” I’m very curious to see if any of these characters will be featured in the forthcoming Avengers: Secret Wars movie. It might be time to check ye olde dollar bin to see if I can find these for cheap before the speculators try to beat me to it. If you haven’t done so, I do recommend checking out the main Secret Wars series event (both 1984 and 2015 versions). 

I know Marvel Comics has given up on the direct to DVD movie route but this would make a great animated feature. At the very least, these are good templates for future episodes of What If? on Disney Plus. The sight of The Kingpin in armor, flying around a futuristic city, doing battle against Tony and Rhodey deserves to be seen and is worth the price of admission for this tie-in alone. 

Armor Wars is currently available instantly on Hoopla. Check your local library for availability in your area.