Secret Wars Reading Order: The Complete Comics Guide

YsmaelByEng Published on
0 Comments
Our Editorial Policy.

Share:

Originally released in 1984, Secret Wars was one of the most popular storylines in Marvel Comics history as it was one of the most ambitious crossovers the world has seen. In 2015, Secret Wars was given new life on its 30thanniversary as a new storyline was introduced involving the entire Marvel Comics universe.

Of course, it was announced by Marvel Studios that there would be an Avengers movie called Secret Wars in the future. This movie should be the biggest event in MCU history as it is going to be the event that will allow the different properties of Disney (Marvel Studios, X-Men, and the Fantastic Four) to merge into one universe. So, if you want to get to know more about the Secret Wars storyline in the comics, we have a reading order that you should look at.

Secret Wars Reading Order At A Quick Glance

  • Original Secret Wars #1 to #12 (1984 – 1985)
  • New Avengers #1 to #3
  • Avengers: Time Runs Out Volume 1
  • Avengers: Time Runs Out Volume 2
  • Ultimate: Enemy, Ultimate: Mystery, Ultimate: Doom
  • Ultimate Comics Ultimates Volume 1
  • Ultimate Comics Ultimates Volume 2
  • Avengers: Time Runs Out Volume 3
  • Avengers: Time Runs Out Volume 4
  • Secret Wars #0 to #8

Secret Wars Reading Order

When it comes to Secret Wars, it is very important for you to understand more about the characters involved in the story because of how vital it is for you to have an idea of who the heroes and villains involved in the storyline are. That said, it is also important for us to return to the original Secret Wars, a 12-series comic book that was released from 1984 to 1985. Now, let’s look at the reading order for Marvel’s Secret Wars.

1984 Secret Wars

It is perfectly fine if you want to read the original 12-issue release of the Secret Wars comics that were released in 1984. However, you might want to read the prelude comics that will allow you to understand the events that led to the Secret Wars. Most of these comics focus on the characters in their respective comics, but they do allow you to understand how some of them were able to sense the Beyonder before the events of Secret Wars.

RELATED:

Who Will Be The New Avengers In Secret Wars? Predictions

Here are some prelude tie-ins you may want to read.

  • Amazing Spider-Man #249 – #251
  • Uncanny X-Men #178 – #179
  • New Mutants #13
  • Avengers #240 – #241
  • Hulk #293 – #294
  • Iron Man #181
  • Captain America #292
  • Avengers #242
  • Thing #10
  • Uncanny X-Men #180
  • Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars #1 – #12
  • After the Secret Wars Tie-Ins
  • Thor #383
  • Fantastic Four #265
  • Avengers #243
  • Hulk #295
  • Amazing Spider-Man #252
  • Uncanny X-Men #181
  • Thing #11 – #22

Secret Wars II

Secret Wars II tells the story of how the Beyonder had already arrived on Earth, but it is quite a disappointing series that really isn’t as good as the first release. Not a lot of people enjoy Secret Wars II, but you might want to try looking into it if you are interested in the storyline and if you loved the original Secret Wars.

  • Secret Wars II #1
  • New Mutants #30
  • Iron Man #197 
  • Captain America #308
  • X-Men # 196
  • Secret Wars II #2
  • Web of Spider-Man #6 
  • Amazing Spider-Man #268
  • Fantastic Four #282
  • Secret Wars II #3
  • Avengers #260 
  • Daredevil #223 
  • Hulk #312
  • Secret Wars II #4
  • Dazzler #40 
  • Alpha Flight #28
  • Avengers #261
  • Secret Wars II #5
  • The Thing #30
  • Dr. Strange #74
  • Fantastic Four #285
  • Secret Wars II #6
  • Cloak & Dagger (1985) #4
  • Power Pack #18
  • Thor #363
  • Secret Wars II #7
  • Defenders #152
  • X-Men #202
  • New Mutants #36
  • Amazing Spider-Man #273
  • Spectacular Spider-Man #111
  • Secret Wars II #8
  • Avengers #265
  • New Mutants #37
  • Amazing Spider-Man #274
  • Fantastic Four #288
  • X-Men #203
  • Secret Wars II #9
  • New Mutants #38
  • Avengers #266

Secret Wars III

While this isn’t necessarily an official Secret Wars storyline, it might still interest you because of the fact that it involves the Fantastic Four. However, the Beyonder is no longer as involved in this storyline, but it does allow you to understand his origins and how he plays a role in the entire Marvel Universe.

  • Fantastic Four #318 – #319
  • Fantastic Four Annual #23
  • Fantastic Four #351

Thanos Meets The Beyonder

During the early 2000s, we were able to see Jim Starlin’s take on Thanos and how he was able to meet the Beyonder, which was introduced into the Marvel Comics universe. This isn’t necessary for you to understand Secret Wars, but it still is quite interesting if you want to see how the Beyonder was reintroduced.

  • Thanos #7 – #12
  • Annihilation: Silver Surfer #3

Note: It is better for you to read the entire Annihilation storyline for this comic book issue to make sense as it is connected to all of the other issues.

The Retconned Illuminati

The Illuminati is a secret organization that is composed of some of the leaders of the superhero groups on Earth so that they can share relevant information regarding a common enemy. We even saw the Illuminati of a different universe in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. And this is the comic book that will allow us to see how they got together and how the Beyonder’s story got retconned as well.

RELATED:

15 Best Illuminati Comics to Read After Doctor Strange 2

  • New Avengers: Illuminati 

Prologue to the Secret Wars

The prologue to the Secret Wars follows Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers and New Avengers, a storyline that ran from 2012 to 2015. We call these storylines a prologue because knowing what the deal is behind the events surrounding the Avengers and the New Avengers will make better sense of the events in the Secret Wars storyline released in 2015.

  • New Avengers #1 – #3
  • Avengers #1 – #6
  • New Avengers #4 – #6
  • Avengers #7 – #13
  • New Avengers #7
  • Avengers #14 – #23
  • Infinity #1 – #6
  • New Avengers #8 – 13 
  • Avengers #24
  • New Avengers #14 – #15
  • New Avengers Annual #1
  • Avengers #25 – #28

The original sin tie-ins may also be supplementary when it comes to understanding the overall storyline.

  • Avengers #29 – #34
  • Original Sin #1 – #8
  • New Avengers #16 – #23
  • Captain America #16 – #22
  • Avengers World #17
  • Avengers #34.1, #34.2, #35
  • New Avengers #24
  • Avengers World #18
  • Avengers World #19
  • Avengers #36
  • New Avengers #25
  • Avengers #37
  • New Avengers #26
  • Avengers #38
  • Avengers World #20
  • Avengers World #21
  • New Avengers #27
  • Avengers #39
  • New Avengers #28
  • Avengers #40
  • New Avengers #29
  • Avengers #41
  • New Avengers #30
  • Avengers #42
  • New Avengers #31
  • New Avengers #32
  • Avengers #43
  • New Avengers #33
  • Avengers #44

As you can see, the prelude to the Secret Wars storyline requires that you should understand the storyline of the Avengers and the New Avengers storylines by Jonathan Hickman in order. That’s because you won’t be able to understand the 2015 Secret Wars without understanding the personalities of the characters involved and the events that happened prior to Secret Wars.

Ultimate Comics Ultimates

While it really isn’t connected to the entire Secret Wars storyline, Jonathan Hickman’s Ultimate Comics Ultimates does have a role in the Secret Wars series, even though it isn’t really that big. As such, this is a supplementary read.

  • Ultimate Fantastic Four #1 – #6
  • Ultimate Extinction #1 – #5
  • Ultimate Enemy #1 – #4
  • Ultimate Mystery #1 – #4
  • Ultimate Doom #1 – #4
  • Ultimate Fallout #1 – #6
  • Ultimate Comics Ultimates #1 – #6
  • Ultimate Comics Ultimates #7 – #12
  • Hunger #1 – #4
  • Cataclysm: Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1
  • Cataclysm: Ultimate X-Men #1 – #3
  • Cataclysm: The Ultimate’s Last Stand #1
  • Cataclysm: Ultimates #1
  • Cataclysm: The Ultimate’s Last Stand #2
  • Cataclysm: Ultimates #2 – #3
  • Cataclysm: Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #2 – #3
  • Cataclysm: The Ultimate’s Last Stand #3 – #5
  • Survive #1

Secret Wars 2015

Finally, we get to the actual 2015 Secret Wars event that can be traced back to the first comic book issue we have on this list. While it is more of a “remake” of Secret wars, Hickman’s storyline of the Secret Wars includes a lot of different comic book stories in between each Secret Wars book. This will allow you to fully understand the story and the characters involved in Secret Wars.

RELATED:

Avengers: Secret Wars Plot – What It Could Be About (& Comics It Could Follow)

  • Black Widow Vol. 5 #19 – #20
  • Secret Wars #0 – #1
  • Secret Wars #1
  • Loki: Agent of Asgard #14 – #15
  • Captain America & the Mighty Avengers #9
  • Ms. Marvel Vol. 3 #16 – #19
  • Magneto Vol. 3 #18 – #21
  • Ant-Man: Last Days #1
  • Silk #7
  • Silver Surfer Vol. 7 #13 – #14
  • Loki: Agent of Asgard #16 – #17
  • Secret Wars #2
  • Secret Wars: Battleworld #1 – #4
  • Secret Wars Journal #1 – #5
  • Old Man Logan #1
  • Secret Wars #3
  • Master of Kung Fu Vol. 2 #1 – #4
  • A-Force #1 – #4
  • Planet Hulk #1 – #5
  • Spider-Verse Vol. 2 #1 – #5
  • M.O.D.O.K.: Assassin #1 – #5
  • Infinity Gauntlet Vol. 2 #1 – #5
  • Inferno #1 – #5
  • Secret Wars 2099 #1 – #5
  • Where Monsters Dwell Vol. 2 #1 – #5
  • X-Men ‘92 #1 – #4
  • Years of Future Past #1 – #5
  • X-Tinction Agenda #1 – #4
  • Giant-Size Little Marvel: AvX #1 – #4
  • Future Imperfect #1 – #4
  • Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #1 – #5
  • Armor Wars #½ – #5
  • Marvel Zombies Vol. 2 #1 – #4
  • Weirdworld #1 – #4
  • 1602: Witch Hunter Angela #1 – #4
  • Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps #1 – #4
  • Mrs. Deadpool and the Howling Commandos #1 – #4
  • 1872 #1 – #4
  • Runaways Vol. 4 #1 – #4
  • Old Man Logan #2
  • Squadron Sinister #1 – #4
  • Age of Ultron vs. Marvel Zombies #1 – #4
  • E for Extinction #1 – #4
  • Korvac Saga #1 – #4
  • Secret Wars #4
  • Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde #1 – #3
  • Inhumans: Attilan Rising #1 – #5
  • Future Imperfect #5
  • Secret Wars: Secret Love #1
  • Ghost Racers #1 – #4
  • Thors #1 – #3
  • Red Skull Vol. 2 #1 – #3
  • Spider-Island #1 – #5
  • Captain Britain and the Mighty Defenders #1 – #2
  • Civil War Vol. 2 #1 – #5
  • Age of Apocalypse Vol. 2 #1 – #5
  • Guardians of Knowhere #1 – #4
  • Hail Hydra #1 – #4
  • Old Man Logan #3
  • Ultimate End #1 – #4
  • House of M Vol. 2 #1 – #4
  • Howard the Human #1 
  • Secret Wars #5
  • Siege Vol. 2 #1 – #3
  • Old Man Logan #4
  • Hank Johnson: Agent of Hydra #1
  • Secret Wars #6
  • Siege Vol. 2 #4
  • Secret Wars: Agents of Atlas #1
  • Thors #4
  • Secret Wars #7
  • Secret Wars #8
  • Secret Wars #9
  • Ultimate End #5
  • A-Force #5
  • Old Man Logan #5
  • Weirdworld #5
  • Silver Surfer Vol. 7 #15
  • Secret Wars Too #1
Ysmael

Ysmael “Eng” Delicana is a writer based in Davao City, Philippines. He earned his bachelor’s degree in economics at Ateneo de Davao University before continuing to teach part-time at the same university. While teaching was a fun gig, being a geek and a writer seemed to be his calling. His expertise includes fantasy shows and movies, comic books, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and popular RPG video games. Ysmael also excels at learning new things and getting to know new topics that are interesting yet foreign to him, and that’s why he can also be called a jack of all trades. He also works as a part-time writer for books about sports. As an avid fan of fantasy TV shows, video games, and books, Ysmael is fond of watching, playing, and reading things related to fantasy, magic, and mystical creatures. However, he is also a huge fan of anime, as he spends a portion of his time watching shonen anime. As long as something is interesting and worth his time, Ysmael tends to devote his effort to it, as he has been great at geeking out about a certain topic. Ysmael’s writing style tends to be quite conversational in the sense that he likes speaking to the readers instead of making them feel like they are reading something tedious. He picked up this during his teaching years because he needed to find ways to simplify topics that tend to be foreign and complex to students. Ysmael also writes for Comic Basics.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments