Revisiting Secret Wars 1984 has a positive impact...

[enyawd72]

I think I had an epiphany last night...I was re-reading the original Secret Wars series via TPB and realized I'd forgotten how different 80's Marvel was from even 70's Marvel, and how much I didn't care at all at back then. Wolverine was in his brown suit. Storm was sporting a mohawk. Spidey got his black costume. Hulk was smart, then gray, then a mob enforcer, and I loved every minute of it. Got me thinking...why am I so resistant to change now?
The entire Marvel Universe was only a little over 20 years old when Secret Wars came out in 1984, and it had already changed significantly. I remember how much I loved the new villains like Hobgoblin and Venom, and even the new Ghost Rider with Danny Ketch. That was 25 years ago!

I think it's time for me to stop thinking of everything old as good and everything new as bad, and just go along for the ride and enjoy what's out there.

[Hedji]

OR... Maybe that was when it jumped the shark, and you were too young to care. Maybe the lifespan of any good fictional universe is about 15-20 years before it grows so large and cumbersome, the only thing left to do is shake it up such that it no longer resembles what you originally fell in love with.

OR... You're right and you have to evolve with it.

Bottom line is you like what you like. No need to apologize for it, and no need to force yourself to like what you don't. If you think the new stuff is bad, then it is. Just own it.

One thing's for certain, there are more stories than we have time on this earth to enjoy, so don't waste time on what you don't like. Be open minded enough to discover the good in all stories, but if early on you realize it's not for you, cut bait and don't look back.

[LonnieFisher]

I hated the changes made in the 80's, except maybe for the black Spidey suit. I hate Venom, though.

[Hedji]

Something about the new look of Doom bothered me from the get go. It made Secret Wars feel a little, I dunno, cheap.

[VintageMike]

The changes now are more radical than from the 70's to 80's but you're on the right track. I don't love everything happening, but I buy what I like and drop stuff if I don't. The way I see even if you only find a couple of books a month you like it's a win. One big positive I see, though I don't know how it will play out post SW, is they are different shooting for the established audience with the tie ins. Disco version Dazzler in A -Force, X-men series with take4s on "Inferno" and "Days of Future past" to name a few.

[hedrap]

The difference to me is the 80's changes all had an internal logic that developed a layer to the original characters and advanced their stories. Cap/US Agent/Flash Smasher, a mortal Thor, Hostile Grey Hulk, organic symbiote vs invention, Armor Wars. Even the Avengers Masters of Evil storyline hit new ground.

The changes today don't have that feel as it seems very soap opera, (which is not comic book), and very obvious its all being done for IP/film-tv storyboarding. Between Cap's "death" and Falcon-Cap, nothing of character value has really been added to Steve Rogers. He died...no he was trapped in time/space...he lost his powers...maybe not. If Rogers stayed dead, then Bucky took over, failed, replaced by Falcon, and then you had Bucky sacrifice himself so Rogers could be pulled from a time-stream and brought back, that would be a real storyarc, to me.

[Bruce Banner]

Something about the new look of Doom bothered me from the get go. It made Secret Wars feel a little, I dunno, cheap.

Apparently that was done at Mattel's request. They wanted a more "sci-fi" look to the Doom armour for the action figure.